Summary Of Gulp By Mary Roach

The non-fiction book Gulp by Mary Roach takes the reader on a fascinating and sometimes disgusting journey through the alimentary canal, which she calls “the most powerful taboo in human history”(Roach 18). Throughout the book Roach attempts to entertain, as well as inform, the reader by asking questions that many people would neither think or want to ask. Questions such as “Why do animals lick their wounds? Why don’t suicide bombers smuggle bombs in their rectums? Can constipation kill you?” (Roach 22). She then tries to provide the reader with answers to these difficult and somewhat uncomfortable questions by seeking out and interviewing experts from around the world. In fact, this book is ultimately an assortment of interviews pasted together,

She has no science degree and began her career as a PR at the San Francisco Zoo. But what she lacks in credibility herself, she makes up for by quoting those individuals who are experts. All through the book, Roach is seen traveling the globe meeting with leading scientists and conducting interviews that provide the reader with an educated and accurate view on the aspects of the digestive system that this book covers.
In regards to background information, Roach created this book as a way to share with the reader interesting stories and experiments related to the digestive system that she believes are, “mostly unmined”(Roach 22). The goals of informing and amusing the reader were the catalysts that influenced its publication, and as a result were the central ideas that drove the book forward.
By writing this book Roach was not attempting to persuade the reader, therefore there is no true thesis statement. To reiterate what was stated in paragraph one, the book is just random compilation of stories and interviews with a very general sense of direction that can be found in the subject matter. The early chapters discuss experiments and information regarding the mouth while the concluding chapters take a look at the colon and the end of the system. Roach just tends to digress a bit in order to bring up points that she finds relevant, interesting, or too funny not to mention. These

She then uses this as a transition to discuss the misconceptions about food. Beginning with pet food, Roach explains that most pet food brands are marketed towards humans not the animals. Pointing out that the way a dog shows that it likes a meal is by eating so much it throws up. She then shifts over to the consumption of organs and how beneficial it could be if they were introduced into the average persons diet. Finally Roach tackles chewing, and the question of whether chewing more would lead to a lower need of food consumption? To end her dissection of the mouth, Roach displays the greatness of Saliva and how it does so much more than just