This didn't quite live up to my expectations, but I finished it. It was interesting in some parts. I found myself skimming some of the chapters (like how people in prison smuggle things into the prison and how drug runners smuggle drugs -- no thanks).
Her stories of visiting all the specialists in these fields are strangely amusing, probably out of some weird curiosity about who-in-the-world-would-study-some-of-this-stuff? Did you know that each person has a bite pattern almost as different as your fingerprint? Did you know that saliva is a good stain remover and germ killer (and mostly you get sick from rubbing your eyes and nose)? Did you know that chewing your food excessively can make you eat more? Did you know that they used to cut out the colon and throw it away when doing autopsies (so it wasn't well studied)?
The last chapter on "digestive tract bacteria transplants" (I'll call it that to spare you your lunch) to c.diff. patients is something I have read about in other scientific magazines recently and I think it is fascinating. So while that chapter has a serious ick factor, it was also interesting.
This book is definitely not for the squeamish. The alimentary canal is gross. It is also amazing how it works and what it can do. Her humor is borderline "potty humor" in a couple places, but it is a book about the alimentary canal... so, I gave her a pass on those.
Pages 327
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