Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

Mary Roach was born in 1959 in Hanover, New Hampshire, and attended Hanover High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wesleyan University in 1981. After college, Roach moved to San Francisco, California. She worked as a freelance copy editor for a few years and was later hired by the public affairs office of the San Francisco Zoological Society to write press releases. For this job, she initially worked in a trailer next to the gorilla exhibit. Roach has written for publications such as Vogue, GQ, The New York Times Magazine, Discover Magazine, National Geographic, Outside Magazine, and Wired.

Roach’s approach to researching Gulp exemplifies her hands-on methodology and willingness to investigate uncomfortable subjects that others avoid. Her lack of formal scientific training inspired her to ask fundamental questions that experts might overlook and to translate complex concepts into accessible language. The book demonstrates her characteristic technique of embedding herself within research environments, from pet food laboratories to medical facilities performing fecal transplants.

Roach has published seven New York Times bestsellers: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003), Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife (2005), Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (2008), Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void (2010), Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal (2013), Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War (2016), and