Our discussion of Gulp by Mary Roach

We met last night to discuss Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach.   Here are some of the highlights from our lively discussion:

• A reader began our discussion with some comments on the footnotes in the book.  She said she found that she couldn't turn the page without reading them, and really enjoyed them.    On the other hand, however, other readers found them too distracting.   One reader said that she found them distracting enough that she couldn't get past page 40 of the book.    So, we had some mixed opinions on the footnotes, with some readers really liking them, and others not liking them at all. 
• Two readers said they actually listened to the audiobook, which was quite good.   They said that the reader not only read it well, with different accents for the people in the book, but that they read the footnotes as if they were within the book, and this made it much more seamless.
• This was the third book by this author that the group has discussed, and one person remarked that she found it much easier to get through than Stiff (mostly because that had a lot about animal experiments).    Fans of this author found this book to be just as good as her other books, although one person said that she didn't want to read this one while eating (which everyone agreed with).
• Readers found many parts of the book to be really interesting.   For example, we had some general discussion about Roach's explanation of the research that goes into cat food and dog food.   
• We also talked about how much history Roach brings into this book.  Readers liked that she discussed research from the past, especially because it was interesting to see the progression into today's research.
• We also had some discussion about her research and how she presents it in her books.   One reader made a comparison to last month's book, The Sibling Effect, and said that for her, that book felt like the author was "regurgitating research," and in this book, it felt like Mary Roach went to great lengths to present what she found.    Another person noted that Roach seems to ask a lot of good questions, and another added that he always feels like Roach "asks a question before I finish my thought."   Readers agreed that she asks a lot of questions that the average person might think of, but wouldn't have the courage to ask about.
• Roach's humor is also something that many readers enjoyed.  As one person said, "Her snarkiness got me through; otherwise, it would be a textbook."   Another person said, "You can hear her joy at discovering things," and said that to her, Roach's books always feel both "joy-driven and research-driven."
• Something else that many readers noted was how Roach doesn't "slow it down too much," with what she's covering in the book.   She's thorough, but she doesn't dumb down anything, and puts things in an easy-to-understand context.
  One reader said she sometimes was surprised by what she learned in book.  For example, the part about crispy foods (p. 140-1) and Chen's theory about why people might enjoy them so much made her think about her own eating habits, and how much she liked cunchy foods (and perhaps why).
• One person did ask us all what we thought of the ending, which she found to be rather abrupt.  Some readers said they expected a bit more, and one said it ended abruptly, although not badly.   And, one person said, "I wanted 8 more chapters!".   To which, another person replied, "You're a Mary Roach junkie!"   Yes, some of us in the group admit it: we are big fans of this author.

I also wanted to mention a book that one reader talked about in our discussion, Year of No Sugar: a memoir by Eve Schaub.   We do have this book at the library, and we may just add it to a list of future ideas for discussion for this group.

We always welcome more discussion, so please feel free to add a comment!