Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal in Science and Inquiry

Aug 22, 2014 Petra X rated it liked it

Shelves: 2014-reviews, medicine-science, 2014-read, reviewed

I've finished the book. I'm left with the feeling that lies somewhere between TMI, an author's perverse, small-boy like joy in slightly shocking the adults by talking about farts and turds, and actually being interested in the transformation from a Michelin chef plate of food into, moments later, a disgusting saliva-covered bolus no one even wants to look at.

The book is punctuated with many small revelations that won't change my life in any way but are good to drop into a conversation for that ...more

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Apr 13, 2014 Mag rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, science

It maybe a definitive work on flatus, or this is what really stuck in my mind. This and Elvis’ megagut. The megacolon, as it is properly called, that killed him, it turns out. It’s actually a condition and it wasn't most probably brought about by his prodigious appetite. It’s something that a person can be born with, or it can be acquired following other medical conditions.

The book is quirky, full of weird and wonderful factoids, probably not a definitive handbook on physiology of the digestive ...more

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Jan 20, 2014 Kathleen rated it really liked it

Shelves: science

Funny, gross, informative, and at the end gives one a new perspective. Mary Roach does it again!

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Apr 08, 2013 Gofita rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science, audiobook, biology, 2016-read, 2016-favorite

Mary Roach is funny and smart. Her books tell human stories all wrapped up in science and discovery. This one was no different. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the gut and how we digest our food. Gross and fascinating.

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