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Summary and Reviews of Don't Eat This Book by Morgan Spurlock

Don't Eat This Book by Morgan Spurlock

Don't Eat This Book

Fast Food and the Supersizing of America

by Morgan Spurlock
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • First Published:
  • May 1, 2005, 304 pages
  • Paperback:
  • May 2006, 320 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

Can man live on fast food alone? Spurlock tried to do just that for a month during which he gained twenty-five pounds, his blood pressure skyrocketed, and his libido all but disappeared. In this groundbreaking, hilarious book, Spurlock debuts a wry investigative voice that will appeal to anyone interested in the health of our country, our children, and ourselves.

The literary debut of the funniest and most incisive new voice to come along since Michael Moore-and the acclaimed director of the film phenomenon of the year.

Can man live on fast food alone? Morgan Spurlock tried to do just that. For thirty days, he ate nothing but three "squares" a day from McDonald's as part of an investigation into the effects of fast food on American health. The resulting documentary won him resounding applause and a worldwide release that broke box-office records. Audiences were captivated by Spurlock's experiment, during which he gained twenty-five pounds, his blood pressure skyrocketed, and his libido all but disappeared.

But this story goes far beyond Spurlock's good-humored "Mc-Sickness." He traveled across the country-into schools, hospitals, and people's homes -to investigate school lunch programs, the marketing of fast food, and the declining emphasis on health and physical education. He looks at why fast food is so tasty, cheap, and ultimately seductive, and what Americans can do to turn the rising tide of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes that have accompanied its ever-growing popularity. He interviewed experts in twenty cities-from surgeon generals and kids to lawmakers and marketing gurus-who share their research, opinions, and "gut feelings" on our ever-expanding girth and what we can all do to offset a health crisis of supersized proportions.

In this groundbreaking, hilarious book, "benevolent muckraker" Morgan Spurlock debuts a wry investigative voice that will appeal to anyone interested in the health of our country, our children, and ourselves.

One
Do You Want Lies with That?

Don't do it. Please. I know this book looks delicious, with its lightweight pages sliced thin as prosciutto and swiss, stacked in a way that would make Dagwood salivate. The scent of freshly baked words wafting up with every turn of the page. Mmmm, page. But don't do it. Not yet. Don't eat this book.

We turn just about everything you can imagine into food. You can eat coins, toys, cigars, cigarettes, rings, necklaces, lips, cars, babies, teeth, cameras, film, even underwear (which come in a variety of scents, sizes, styles and flavors). Why not a book?

In fact, we put so many things in our mouths, we constantly have to be reminded what not to eat. Look at that little package of silicon gel that's inside your new pair of sneakers. It says do not eat for a reason. Somewhere, sometime, some genius bought a pair of sneakers and said, "Ooooh, look. They give you free mints with the shoes!"—soon ...

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Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

If you've read Fast Food Nation or Fat Land this offers very little new information but for the many who are still oblivious to the dangers of of eating what passes for food in places such as McDonalds, Spurlock's book or documentary will offer much food for thought...continued

Full Review (461 words)

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(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).

Media Reviews

Kirkus Reviews
Starred Review. A powerful work of reporting and punditry.

Publishers Weekly
Fact-packed and funny, this offshoot of Spurlock's Oscar-nominated documentary Super Size Me serves both as a substitute for and addition to the movie.

Booklist - Mark Knoblauch
Spurlock's ingenuous persona and his bumptious spiritedness added immeasurably to the film's charm.... in print, this gee-whiz approach makes him come across as a lightweight, overshadowing and undermining whatever serious purpose he intended and whatever valid charges he might have brought against today's fast-food behemoths.

Reader Reviews

OSU Comp Student 2009

This book will change your outlook on fast food!
This book gives a supersized portion of information on how the fast food industry is making the nation obese. Throughout the book, Spurlock uses a humorous voice, shocking facts, and pieces of his documentary to make us aware of the lack of exercise ...   Read More

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Beyond the Book



From the book:

  • 37% of American children and adolescents are carrying too much fat.
  • 60% of all Americans are either overweight or obese.
  • One in every three children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime. Diabetes will cut 17-27 years off your life.
  • Each day, 1 in 4 Americans visits a fast food restaurant.
  • In 1972, we spent 3 billion a year on fast food - today we spend more than 110 billion.
  • You would have to walk for seven hours straight to burn off a Super Sized Coke, fry and Big Mac.
  • In the U.S., we eat more than 1,000,000 animals an hour.
  • Left unabated, obesity will surpass smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in America.
  • ...

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Read-Alikes

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