Review: Why Fish Fart by Francesca Gould

I was lucky enough to win a galley of this book from a drawing by the good folks over at Tarcher / Penguin.

This is an interesting read. The book is a collection of short snippets of information about various topics, most of which are pretty gross. It is divided into six chapters: Obscene Cuisine, Weird Creatures, Vile Bodies, Pernicious Practices, Disgusting Diseases Curious Cues & Savage Tortures and finally The Final Chapter. In case you had not guesses, The Final Chapter is all about death.

I read this book over a couple of weeks, it is not the kind of book you read from cover to cover in one sitting. In fact, this is more the type of book that you leave in that special reading room in your house. I am not demeaning the book in any way, it is just a casual read.

I have to admit that I did learn quite a few things by reading the book. Some of these things will be used as small talk at work and with friends. Some I will try very hard to erase from my mind.

Did you know that the spray from a skunk can cause temporary blindness? Or that violin string used to be made of catgut, which was actually made from sheep intestines? Did you know that Charlie Chaplin was kidnapped after his death? If you read this book you will learn about all of this and so much more. Enjoy!