Introduction
1. Nose Job
TASTING HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH TASTE
2. I’ll Have the Putrescine
YOUR PET IS NOT LIKE YOU
3. Liver and Opinions
WHY WE EAT WHAT WE EAT AND DESPISE THE REST
4. The Longest Meal
CAN THOROUGH CHEWING LOWER THE NATIONAL DEBT?
5. Hard to Stomach
THE ACID RELATIONSHIP OF WILLIAM BEAUMONT AND ALEXIS ST. MARTIN
6. Spit Gets a Polish
SOMEONE OUGHT TO BOTTLE THE STUFF
7. A Bolus of Cherries
LIFE AT THE ORAL PROCESSING LAB
8. Big Gulp
HOW TO SURVIVE BEING SWALLOWED ALIVE
9. Dinner’s Revenge
CAN THE EATEN EAT BACK?
10. Stuffed
THE SCIENCE OF EATING YOURSELF TO DEATH
11. Up Theirs
THE ALIMENTARY CANAL AS CRIMINAL ACCOMPLICE
12. Inflammable You
FUN WITH HYDROGEN AND METHANE
13. Dead Man’s Bloat
AND OTHER DIVERTING TALES FROM THE HISTORY OF FLATULENCE RESEARCH
14. Smelling a Rat
DOES NOXIOUS FLATUS DO MORE THAN CLEAR A ROOM?
15. Eating Backward
IS THE DIGESTIVE TRACT A TWO-WAY STREET?
16. I’m All Stopped Up
ELVIS PRESLEY’S MEGACOLON, AND OTHER RUMINATIONS ON DEATH BY CONSTIPATION
17. The Ick Factor
WE CAN CURE YOU, BUT THERE’S JUST ONE THING
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
ALSO BY MARY ROACH
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