Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

"Her funniest and most sparkling book" (Janet Maslin, New York Times ).

In Gulp we meet scientists who tackle the questions no one else thinks—or has the courage—to ask. Why is crunchy food so appealing? Why is it so hard to find names for flavors and smells? How much can you eat before your stomach bursts? Can constipation kill you? Did it kill Elvis?

With Mary Roach at our side, 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. We also 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.

"As engrossing as it is gross." — Entertainment Weekly

"With its wealth of you'll‐never‐believe‐it facts and oddball experts, it's a charming conversation starter. (But maybe not at the dinner table.)" — People

"An absolute delight. . . . I can't even think of another modern writer, or anyone from a previous era, who has so thoroughly—and so engagingly—written about the way scientists go about their work." — Washington Post