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9780805082715

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Rose George's subject--the global politics of defecation--is both superbly indelicate and morally imperative. With the basic health and dignity of several billion poor people at stake, we need to take s**t seriously in the most literal sense. Human solidarity, as she so passionately demonstrates, begins with the squatting multitudes. --Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums <p> In Rose George's hometown in England, impoverished immigrants took up residence in the new public latrines. ('Fighting over the more spacious disabled cubicle was fierce.') Which is worse? Living in a toilet or living without one? George bravely--and sometimes literally--submerges herself in the tragedy and occasional comedy of global sanitation. Sludge, biogas, New York City sewage: I ate it up and wanted more! The most unforgettable book to pass through the publishing pipeline in years. --Mary Roach, author of Stiff <p> This fascinating, wise, and scrupulously drawn portrait of the world and its waste will last long as a seriously important book. Like a literary treatment farm, it manages to turn the completely unpalatable into something utterly irresistible. Rose George, a brave, compassionate, and ceaselessly impeccable reporter--and, when needed, a very funny one too--has performed for us all who care a very great service. A big necessity, indeed. --Simon Winchester, author of The Man Who Loved China <p> This engaging, highly readable book puts sanitation in its proper place--as a central challenge in human development. Rose George has tackled this critical topic with insight, wit, and a storyteller's flair. --Louis Boorstin, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation<p> Rose George has trolled the guttersof the world for the predictable low-matter and come up with something weirdly spiritual. Worship the porcelain god, revere its ubiquity and protest its absence: George reveals that the act of private and sanitary defecation is the key to health, the wealth of nations, and even civilization itself. --Lisa Margonelli, author of Oil on the Brain

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<p>Rose George is a freelance writer and journalist who regularly contributes to Slate, The Guardian, The Independent, and the Financial Times. She lives in London.

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