Gulp

Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

By: Mary Roach

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Best-selling author Mary Roach returns with a new adventure to the invisible realm we carry around inside. Roach 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 as our guide, 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.

©2013 Mary Roach (P)2013 Tantor

Humorously clinical analysis of digestive system

What did you like best about Gulp? What did you like least?

Narration is very good and Roach describes, using detailed research and graphic but appropriate language, a clinical context that is fasinating to anyone in the medical field or with interest in the digestive system.

Part history, part science, part funny, all Mary.

Where does Gulp rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of my favorites. Mary Roach is great!

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

What I love about Mary Roach's books is that they tickle the science part of my brian with weird yet interesting topics. In this case the topic is something we all have and use everyday, our digestive tracks. I can see why some may not be able to stomach (pun very much intended) the topic, but she handles it with grace and comedy. The book is truly more interesting then disgusting.

Any additional comments?

If you've read any other Mary Roach and liked it you should enjoy this one. If you haven't read any of her other stuff and you like funny, historical looks at science and discovery check out any of her books.

I Love Mary Roach!

I have been hooked on her writings since Stiff. This is a journey that bounces around all different areas, but ties in nicely. It was no STIFF, but VERY interesting and funny in parts. Worth a listen.

I now have a greater respect for my farts :-)

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Mary Roach does a great job at balancing humor and science writing while taking us down a journey through the alimentary canal. Like a talented tour guide, she presents facts in a digestible format relevant to both a ten-year old making scatalogical references or an adult interested in some entertaining bite-sized science fact. I can't wait to listen to or read Bonk and Packing for Mars. They are next on my reading list, just as soon as I click submit.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I now have a deeper respect for Elvis Presley and his 'taking care of business.'

Entertaining and informative!

I picked this book up on a whim during an Audible sale, and I'm so glad I did! I've recently discovered I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome and have been doing a lot of reading about how to manage it, as well as digestion in general. Frankly, most of the information I've come across is so dry and boring that I have a hard time even paying close attention to what I'm reading. Not this book!! Don't misunderstand me - this book is in no way a book about how to manage IBS or any other intestinal disorders, but it is a very interesting and frequently humorous look at how food enters our bodies, how it leaves, and everything in between. I found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion! The narrator also does an excellent job and I can't imagine anyone narrating it better. She has such a natural style with the material that I actually thought it was narrated by the author until I thought to check! I highly recommend this book to anyone even interested enough to check out the reviews. I'm pretty sure I would have finished this book in one sitting if the rest of my life could have been put on hold for a few hours ;)

I wanted more science and fewer anecdotes

This is amusing, sure, but I wanted more science. I learned some things in an amusing way, but I was hoping for an accessible introduction to more of what's happening in my body. But, since it's not fair to judge a book on what I wanted it to be and not what it is, I'll say this: It's sometimes amusing, sometimes informative, sometimes a little gross, and often goes on tangents when it is none of those three. It was fine but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who asked. And Emily Woo Zeller's voice annoyed me.

Fascinating but not for the squeamish

I enjoyed this book and appreciated the descriptions of things that I frankly never bothered to think about much. She goes into deep detail. having read this you will know more than you might even want to know about the elementary canal and so many aspects about it that felt like what I like to call 'yoga for the imagination', who knew? But if you're into nutrition and that sort of thing it can really be very interesting. Definitely worth reading or listening to!

Great narration, great writing, poor audio quality

This was my first Mary roach book and it will not be my last. Her style is very accessible and fun. I feel like I got a lot out of the book, there were a lot of cool stories and she had a fun way of taking you on a journey through your body. This is a book I will listen to again and probably soon too. The narrator had the perfect voice for the writing, but man was the audio quality bad for such a new book.

educational - things you didn't know you didn

I was very informed, amused, and taken aback buy some of the information in this text. All of this information is not for those with a weak pallet, after all the title is Gulp. biology was my strongest subject of the Sciences, but we never delved into any of the topics covered, especially not nearly as deeply as this book.

Great Read

I love how Mary Roach can make even the most disgusting things delightfully fascinating. I have enjoyed both Gulp and Stiff. It was Stiff, which I read in a Creative Non-Fiction class that first got me interested in the genre. Roach slyly blends story, information, and humor together into an incredibly readable (listenable) book.