All About Poop

The friends went traveling and came back with a book for me. It's titled 'Poo Knew?' (2014), by Emma Royde and Alex Parsons. I didn't know if I should be bringing this book out to the cafes to read. But whatever. Hahaha. A book about human and animal poop is in no way controversial even if people spy its cover.

You know how conversations among good friends go. And the older we get, the more we aren't embarrassed to talk about health issues. And on same days, poop and pooping are touched on; occasionally, in excruciating detail. That's not to say I initiate these conversations okay. Watch enough 'South Park' and you'll totally get what I mean. Or erm, see screenshot of a portion of a text convo below.  😂🤣💩

Four short chapters. By the time I got to Chapter Four 'Cultural Crap', I was already doubled up with laughter. Besides literary references to poo through the centuries (including Shakespeare's 'A Comedy of Errors', James Joyce's 'Ulysses', and Chaucer's 'The Miller's Tale'), it totally summarizes movies with scenes of well, poo or people crapping, and something bad happens to them. Those movies include 'Jurassic Park', 'Trainspotting', and 'Pulp Fiction'.

The Father of Pop Art, Richard Hamilton, took a trip down this path. He found a cache of old postcards from the French village of Miers, which showed a group of people, skirts up and trousers down, crapping together in a country lane in celebration of the beneficial laxative effects of the local water. He turned the images into a series of paintings, culminating in a small etching and aquatint (edition of 100) of a touchingly neat little turd, entitled Un des effects des eaux de Miers. One was auctioned recently for around $1250 (£750).

This isn't a scientific journal. It's just a well-arranged hilarious book of facts and stories about farts and poo. Huhurhur. Double-check the medical facts okay. It's much-needed light reading that makes me grin.