Don't Eat This Book

Don't eat this book? How about, don't read this book.

Filmmaker (and now author) Morgan Spurlock has made a full-time job out of his crusade against fast food and the role it plays in the alarming increase in American obesity rates. In his documentary film Super Size Me, he struck fear into the hearts of Hamburglars everywhere by showing the effects of a month-long, all-McDonald's diet. While the results were surprising, they weren't nearly as surprising as how long Spurlock was going to ride the fast food-bashing gravy train. If watching him smugly eat (and regurgitate) fast food in the movie wasn't enough for you, he's written a book that basically makes the same points.

People may be drawn to this book because it investigates topics explored in Eric Schlosser's excellent Fast Food Nation. But, where Schlosser's book is an exemplary piece of investigative journalism, Don't Eat This Book is a raging testament to one man's super-sized ego. On the movie poster for Super Size Me, we were treated to Spurlock's mustachioed visage, his gob full of french fries (looking a lot like the guy in the Guinness Book of Records trying to smoke the most cigarettes at once). On the book's cover he replicates the movie poster's aesthetic by shoving a burger into his mouth. And, now that he's got a show about to air on one of the basic cable channels, my guess is that Spurlock wants to be the next Michael Moore.

Just how full of himself is Spurlock? In just about every other sentence he interjects himself in some doltish fashion. In the beginning of the book, he describes the costs of overeating in terms of drugs needed to counter its effects. Then he throws out a number: "In 2003, we Americans spent $227 billion on medications." Not content to let the fact speak for itself, Spurlock needs to interject one of his witty observations: "That's a whole lot of drugs!" Never mind the fact that he never explains how much of that pharmaceutical cornucopia is directed at the consequences of fast food versus, let's say, epilepsy or depression. But just the need to remind us, as if the word "billion" didn't imply a staggering amount, that a lot of money is spent on drugs, is nothing more than self-important self-editorializing. Later on, as Spurlock is discussing the toxicity levels of different animal products, he can't leave well enough alone, adding "Kinda makes you wonder what's in the Colonel's secret recipe! Mmmm." It's not that Spurlock is wasting time writing about things that don't concern the average reader; it's just that, rather than letting the facts stand on their own, he feels the need to interject these little quips that, if he were a better writer, probably wouldn't irk so much.

What makes Spurlock's arrogant editorializing all the more disappointing is that this is the type of writing that gives liberals a bad name. If there is anybody left out there who believes that fast food is good for you, or at least isn't aware of how bad it is for you, they are not going to be converts to Spurlock's crusade by his writing. On one page he's writing, "We're not only eating more food, we're eating more food that's bad for us, that doesn't satisfy us and that makes us hungry for more soon after." But, then, not too much further on, Spurlock writes that because of his vegan (and vegan cookbook author) girlfriend, he's eating quinoa, artichokes, polenta, "bulgar" (sic), and tofu. Spurlock further compounds this folly when he says that Americans are leading more sedentary lives, but follows it up with discussing both the merits of his gym membership, and how much exercise he gets by just living in an East Village walk-up. You start to get the feeling that Spurlock isn't looking in the mirror, but instead pointing fingers.

Yes, Spurlock does make it a point to mention that fast food consumption and high incidents of obesity occur in areas of low income and low education, but how many of these folks will be plunking down 22 bucks to be told how fat, stupid, and lazy they are? More likely than not, this book will appeal mainly to folks who spend enormous amounts of time at high-end grocery stores like Whole Foods, worrying about what should be done while they stock up on quinoa, artichokes, polenta, bulgur, and tofu.

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