Rumbles

A Curious History of the Gut: The Secret Story of the Body's Most Fascinating Organ

Elsa Richardson

The fascinating—and often secret—history of the body's most fascinating system: the gut.

The stomach is notoriously outspoken. It growls, gurgles, and grumbles while other organs remain silent, inconspicuous, and content. For centuries humans have puzzled over this rowdy, often overzealous organ, deliberating on the extent of its influence over cognition, mental well-being, and emotions, and wondering how the gut became so central to our sense of self.

Traveling from ancient Greece to Victorian England, eighteenth-century France to modern America, cultural historian Elsa Richardson leads us on a lively tour of the gut, exploring all the ways that we have imagined, theorized, and probed the mysteries of the gastroenterological system. We'll meet a wildly diverse cast of characters including Edwardian bodybuilders, hunger-striking suffragettes, demons, medieval alchemists, and one poor teenage girl plagued by a remarkably vocal gut, all united by this singular organ.

Engaging, eye-opening, and thought-provoking, Rumbles leaves no stone unturned, scrutinizing religious tracts and etiquette guides, satirical cartoons, and political pamphlets, in its quest to answer the millennia-old question: Are we really ruled by our stomachs?

Elsa Richardson is an academic at the University of Strathclyde, England. She holds a Chancellor's Fellowship in the History of Health and Wellbeing at the Center for the Social History of Health and Healthcare. In addition to lecturing in the history of medicine, she also curates arts and science events for public institutions, including the Wellcome Collection. Recently she was named one of the BBC Radio 3/AHRC New Generation Thinkers. Elsa lives in England.

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Endorsements & Reviews

“A cultural history of the digestive system traces our attitudes about eating through considerable twists and turns. The material, in scope and erudition, is absolutely delicious.” The Wall Street Journal

“Rumbles could not come at a more apt or more dyspeptic moment. Richardson is interested in the gut’s workings, but she is also interested in its symbolism. In other words, she is interested in why we are all sick to our stomachs. Richardson makes a number of fascinating forays into corners of history that I had never thought to wonder about. In addition to its many charms as a source of information, Rumbles is a compelling compendium of ideas. Its discussion of gut disease as an emblem of modernity leaves readers with much to digest. The perfect book for our golden age of indigestion.”
Becca Rothfeld, The Washington Post

"It is engagingly written and is full of fascinating trivia. The smorgasbord of topics covered in Rumbles is vast, ranging from religion, racism, colonialism, animal rights, etiquette, and capitalism to obesity, constipation, and gender, and the book is a hearty read." Science

"Richardson, a health historian, effectively explains why the gastrointestinal tract deserves its share of esteem. Her attention is directed more toward the medical history, sociology, cultural impact, and metaphors associated with the digestive system than its physiology. Richardson's discussion is populated by philosophers, literary writers, suffragettes on hunger strikes, medical scientists, bodybuilders, and psychologists. She touches on toilet habits and taboos, the gut's relationship with the brain and immune system, its microbiome, diet, and folklore. An unexpectedly absorbing, sometimes slightly strange 'scoping' of our relationship with the gastrointestinal tract." Booklist, starred review

"Richardson serves up a piquant cultural history of the stomach. Readers will be more than happy to come along for the ride. A fascinating history." Publishers Weekly

“Fascinating. A window into our relationship with the gut as mediated by medicine, literature, politics, and language.” Times Literary Supplement

“A brilliant new cultural history of the gut.” The Daily Mail

“A vivid cultural history of changing metaphorical, political, and scientific visions of our guts.” The Guardian

“Marshaling a wealth of resources, Richardson offers eye-popping (and sometimes gut-wrenching) insight into how our presumed cutting-edge understanding of the gut is not as new as we might want to believe. Rumbles will persuade you that to listen to the ‘rumbles’ of our gut is to immerse ourselves in an abiding historical legacy, for better or for worse.” Professor Jean Walton, author of Dissident Gut

“A thrilling and surprising journey into the science and culture of an organ that refuses to be civilized.” Paul Craddock, author of Spare Parts