Gulp Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

Roach, Mary

ISBN 10: 0393081575 / ISBN 13: 9780393081572

Published by W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2013

About this Item

8vo 8" - 9" tall; 352 pages; 1st printing. Superb unread copy in immaculate dust jacket. Entirely as new. Signed by Roach on the title page. From the collection of Norton's mid-Atalantic sales representative. F/F.

Seller Inventory # 33416

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Gulp Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, New York
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393081575
• ISBN 13: 9780393081572
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition; First Printing.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Social History
  • Signed by Author
  • Modern 1st editions

About this title

Synopsis

"America's funniest science writer" (Washington Post) takes us down the hatch on an unforgettable tour. The alimentary canal is classic Mary Roach terrain: the questions explored in Gulp are as taboo, in their way, as the cadavers in Stiff and every bit as surreal as the universe of zero gravity explored in Packing for Mars. Why is crunchy food so appealing? Why is it so hard to find words for flavors and smells? Why doesn't the stomach digest itself? How much can you eat before your stomach bursts? Can constipation kill you? Did it kill Elvis? In Gulp we meet scientists who tackle the questions no one else thinks of--or has the courage to ask. We go on location to a pet-food taste-test lab, a fecal transplant, and into a live stomach to observe the fate of a meal. With Roach at our side, we travel the world, meeting murderers and mad scientists, Eskimos and exorcists (who have occasionally administered holy water rectally), rabbis and terrorists--who, it turns out, for practical reasons do not conceal bombs in their digestive tracts.

Like all of Roach's books, Gulp is as much about human beings as it is about human bodies.

About the Author

Mary Roach is the author of seven best-selling works of nonfiction, including Grunt, Stiff, and, most recently, Fuzz. Her writing has appeared in National Geographic and the New York Times Magazine, among other publications. She lives in California.