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[img]http://imgur.com/a/tZJod[/img]more information: http://www.audible.com/pd/Nonfiction/Dont-Eat-This-Book-Audi…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 U.S. 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.From Publishers WeeklyFact-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. Spurlock spent a month not exercising and eating nothing but food from McDonald’s, filming his declining health and ballooning size. It was a terrific premise for a movie; the book provides even more of its backstory and outtakes. Spurlock describes America’s obesity epidemic, its relation to the fast food industry, the industry’s cozy relations to U.S. government agencies and how the problem is spreading worldwide. He details the long-term and often fatal (albeit well-known) health hazards of the high-fat, high-sugar, factory-farmed fast food diet combined with the sedentary lifestyle prevalent among Americans. The statistics, while grim, aren’t as compelling as Spurlock’s often humorous descriptions of his own gradual disintegration into exhaustion, mood swings, liver deterioration and high blood pressure as his month progresses. Spurlock’s wisecracks make the statistic-laden information easily digestible and possibly useful as a classroom text. He includes inspiring examples of schools that provide healthy, local (even student-grown) food in their cafeterias, and offers lists of resources for parents and educators wanting to make changes in their own communities. Spurlock is surprisingly optimistic about the future, and his book is a powerful tool in his rip-roaring campaign to turn around America’s love-hate relationship with fast food. Agent, Elyse Cheney Literary. (May 19) From BooklistSpurlock, whose film documentary Super Size Me, earned an Oscar nomination and substantial media attention earlier this year, expands into a book his polemic against fast food in general and McDonald’s in particular. He rails against America’s ubiquitous burger outlets, holding them uniquely responsible for the country’s obesity crisis and fretting that these corporations’ overseas successes have spread worldwide the least seemly fruits of U.S. economic and agricultural success. With insight, he links Americans’ expanding girth to consumers’ demand for larger, less fuel-efficient vehicles, such as SUVs. He cites research demonstrating that fats are bad for people, sugar is bad for people, meat is bad for people, and advertising’s seductions multiply these health perils exponentially. This is territory already well explored and thoroughly mapped in Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation (2002) and Nestle’s Food Politics (2003). Spurlock’s ingenuous persona and his bumptious spiritedness added immeasurably to the film’s charm and provided both entertainment and plausibility despite his sweeping generalizations and shaky conclusions. 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; however, the popularity of his documentary will spur demand for his book.