I obtained The Story of Shit by Midas Dekkers as a NetGalley ebook. The cover caught my eye, so I decided to give it a try. I could not finish the book. The book was translated from Dutch to English, and the term "lost in translation" comes to mind. The research done for the book is in-depth. There are things I never knew about the history of #2. The humor gets lost in the information though. Reading it was confusing as the story went all over the place.

4.5 Stars

This book is bound to polarize reviewers. It’s informative, sometimes revolting, and irreverently funny, even if some of the author's conclusions are a bit far-fetched. Not for those who are easily offended, or anyone about to enjoy an expensive meal.

<I>Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an digital ARC. All views are my own.</I>

“‘See you later,’ you murmur, but you don’t really mean it. ‘Take care now,’ and you pull the chain”
A fun and funny journey through the literal story of shit.
Perhaps too lengthy in it’s telling but informative nonetheless.

I'm fascinated by societal norms and how they come to be. I liked the idea of this book because that's what Dekkers is addressing: why is it okay to talk about some bodily functions and not others? It started out strong, I was laughing and learning interesting stuff. I appreciate the author's snarky tone and fitting toilet humor.

However, I couldn't get through this book without skimming large portions. Once I got about 40% in, the content felt redundant. The author bounces all over the place, from the science of digestion to pregnancy and birth, to urination, to ancient Greece, and back again all over the course of a couple pages.

Because this is translated from Dutch, I suspect there are cultural differences that made the writing style difficult to follow. Also, my digital advanced copy did not contain many paragraph breaks, making the already dense material even more so.

This may be worth giving a try in a different format if you are interested in the history and biology of digestion, defecation, and other bodily wonders in relation to societal expectations.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the humour and I enjoyed the comprehensive information conveyed. Sometimes the author seemed to use cruder language than he needed to (or that I appreciated). But this is a fairly minor quibble. I would definitely read another book by this author. He has the ability to convey substantial information in an entertaining manner.

My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review.

It was interesting and covered related topics to poop. I wish there were more original content, as opposed to quotations taken from others' or other books.

My first thought when I saw this listed on NetGalley was - "surely, it can't be a book about actual shit" but, to my amazement, it actually is. I feel that this is the perfect way to write a book on such a taboo subject - lots of facts and detailed information on one of the bodies natural functions which Dekkers injects with laugh-out-loud humour throughout making what could've been a particularly dry topic, a pleasure to read.

Initially, this book was brought to my attention by my favourite weekly magazine - New Scientist, who wrote a glowing review for it and described Dekkers as being "in possession of a golden pen." I was particularly interested in learning about digestion with it playing a big part in the issues I have had going on with my abdomen for what has got to be close to ten years by now. The NHS is becoming such a liability, patients have to learn things for themselves in order to try and work out what it is that is wrong with them. It's times like these when I wish I could go back and choose between a law degree and a medical degree again, as this time I would've chosen to become a doctor. Hindsight is 20-20, as they say.

I have seen various complaints about some of the language used in the book e.g. crude language, but honestly what did you expect with a title like that!? I feel that had the "The Story of Shit" only talked about the biological functions without the humour there would be many more people complaining it was boring. You can't please everyone, I guess. If you're prone to being prudish, this is definitely not for you!

"The Story of Shit" is a real triumph and Dutch writer Midas Dekkers certainly knows how to entertain an audience, keeping them laughing and learning the whole way through this book. He is a bestselling author and biologist so he knows his stuff on this subject. I didn't realise that this was translated into English from the Dutch, this usually means the translator has done a sterling job - kudos to Nancy Forest-Flier. I sometimes feel a translator doesn't get the recognition they deserve as, in some ways, a book's success can rely on an excellent translation. I am glad she is mentioned by name here.

An informative, educational and quick read for me. I simply cannot stressjust how funny it is - literally, there were points when tears were streaming down my face from laughing so hard! Dekkers is so unbelievably witty and has written an accessible and engaging book. I imagine that this will be the most unconventional read of 2018 for me, an accreditation it deserves.

I hope the topic doesn't stop people from reading it and learning about their own bodily functions. The book actually goes beyond discussing just crap and delves into the subjects of wind and urine, toilet paper, and the CIA's use of transmitters disguised as tiger turds to eavesdrop on the Viet Cong. There are some intriguing anecdotes all the way through the book. A great job by all involved.

Many thanks to Text Publishing for an ARC. I was not required to post a review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I read an advanced reading copy from NetGalley and Text Publishing Company. Thanks!

As an avid reader of Mary Roach’s books like Stiff Gulp and Bonk, I read the description of this book, and immediately wanted to read it. And I enjoyed it quite a bit.

It is a wide-ranging book, including scientific, historic, literary and cultural information about its title subject. It is quite readable and often humorous.

My only issue with the book is that some of the earlier chapters seemed overly long. I think this was because these chapters were more about the personal experience of moving the bowels and your feelings about those whom you love and their excreta. At one point he bemoans the fact you can tell your friends about a great meal, or wonderful sex, but “it’s best to modestly maintain a stony silence about the pleasure your shit has just afforded you.” Although I am pretty sure that this was meant humorously, my apparently differing opinion about the pleasurability of the latter act still made this whole section feel rather idiosyncratic and I found it somewhat tedious.

However later chapters were less about his personal experience and more about scientific information, or historical beliefs, inventions and descriptions in literature, and I found these sections much more engaging.

Likely to be the most unconventional topic you read about this year, Dekkers' book is what you think it's about, and then a little more.

It's blunt, humorous, informative, and well-written---the book reads like it's a rocket on rails. Subjects range from the cultural perceptions of going number two (showcases in media, sexual fetishes) to tromps through history (evolution of city sewer systems and toilets) and even a fair deal of science behind, well, poop, and just about everything you wanted to know about it (maybe some stuff you didn't, too). Lots of interesting tidbits on other animals and their excretory processes.

Not to be too exclusive, there's a extensive chapter about farts and urine as well.

It takes a special kind of author to chase this information down and condense it into one place for your leisure; it makes sense that an author not borne of Western sensibilities produced this. I would have pegged us as too uptight to give something such as this a go.

I encountered parts where I felt that certain elongated points were re-trodden and some of Dekkers' points felt more like a soapbox rambling than "just the facts, man" (which the book is, for the most part), but if you're reading a book that's literally about crap, then I think it's a massively simple thing to surmount.

Yes, I learned a great deal. It's liberating to read books on subjects such as this. Any reader that just wants to learn will glean something from these pages. Read on.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing Company for the advance read.

I didn't like this book nearly as much as I had hoped to. It's a genuinely interesting subject which, treated with real wit and the right tone can make a fascinating and readable book – as Richard Jones showed us in his excellent Call Of Nature. As the style of the title here will tell you, Dekkers has written a rather different book. New Scientist persuaded me to try this by saying that this "shows Dekkers once again to be in possession of a golden pen." Well, maybe – but whatever his pen is made of, I wasn't keen on what he has written with it.

There are good things here. Dekkers knows and has researched his subject, so there is a wealth of information on all sorts of aspects of defecation; the biological insights you'd expect, but also stuff about toilet paper, social aspects of toilet use, how defecating is treated in films and so on. For me, though, this was swamped by the book's flaws.

One problem is Dekkers's style which I found to be overblown and off-puttingly crude. Obviously, this is not a delicate subject, and I can see that Dekkers is trying to break conventions and taboos – hence the deliberate coarseness of the title – but the book is so relentless in its use of crude language that it begins to grate, like a teenager setting out to annoy. (This includes the c-word used as an anatomical descriptor, which, especially in a factual book from a male author, I find very questionable.) Add to this a bombastic flow of sometimes very dodgy arguments and I really began to struggle. Just as a single example:
"We still love with all our heart. That’s why we hate it so much when something goes wrong, and we’re willing to spend so much money to have our heart and blood vessels repaired. Heart surgeons and blood specialists share in the honour that accrues to their favourite organs.
Gastroenterologists gnash their teeth. They know that the only purpose of blood vessels is transport. Real life takes place in the intestines."

I'm afraid I find that plain silly. We hate it so much when something goes wrong with our heart because it can kill us in short order – and then real life wouldn't be taking place in the intestines, would it? Yes, the only purpose of blood vessels is transport, just as the only purpose of any vital organ is a small, specific but essential part of the complex processes of life – and that includes the intestines. Dekkers asserts that "You are not your brain; you don’t love with your heart; and even the horniest man is more than his dick. We are our intestines." The first sentence is self-evidently true; the second is self-contradictory nonsense. There was too much of this sort of stuff in the book for me to ignore.

So, not for me in either style or content. The real and valuable science and analysis in the book were swamped by the flaws and I can't recommend it.

(My thanks to Text Publishing for an ARC via NetGalley.)

When I first saw this title I thought it was kind of odd to call a book “The Story Of Shit”. It couldn’t actually be about shit. Could it?

Upon reading and seeing the pictures that were in the book, this was a great read. It was also pretty educational with the history how things were dealt with in the 1800s. The humour that is brought in the book made this a quick read.

This book has anything an everything that has to do with shit.

There were some parts that made me laugh out loud and some cry from laughing.

If your looking for a laugh out loud book, then this is for you. Unless you don’t like the idea of a book being wrapped around “Shit” then maybe this book isn’t for you.

I got this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review