Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Eat This Book A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Circuit by Alfred Ryan Nerz The gagging and the glory. Ryan Nerz spent a year on the competitive eating circuit -- land of therapeutic vomiting, esophagus control and "meat sweats." By Sarah Goldstein. Published April 19, 2006 11:30AM (EDT) Shares. It was while she was working at the Burger King on Andrews Air Force Base in D.C. that , an immigrant from , first got the idea that perhaps her staggering appetite was not an insatiable curse but a gift. Shocking her co-workers, the waifish 38-year-old would throw back 20 chicken nuggets, a Chicken Whopper, three orders of large fries, and a couple of Diet Cokes for her midday meal. It was abundantly clear to anyone who watched Thomas eat that her stomach was made for greatness. And so at the suggestion of friends, Thomas began to enter competitive eating contests. After an incredible first year -- she was named the International Federation of Competitive Eating's rookie of the year in 2003 -- she continued to break IFOCE records: 8.4 pounds baked beans, 2 minutes, 47 seconds; 161 chicken wings, 12 minutes; 11 pounds Downtown Atlantic Cheesecake, 9 minutes. Thomas -- aka The Black Widow -- is just one of the dozens of eaters that Ryan Nerz profiles in "Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit," an exhaustive, sometimes disgusting, account of his year as an emcee of eating contests. Eaters range from the 100-pound Thomas to the 6-foot-6-inch, 440-pound New York City subway operator and amateur rapper Eric "Badlands" Booker, to 6-foot-8- inch, 406-pound Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, a successful real estate broker from Long Island. For what is still referred to by most people as a "subculture," competitive eating is garnering an increasing number of salivating fans. ESPN televises the Alka-Seltzer US Open of Competitive Eating, Fox shows the Glutton Bowl, 20,000 people show up each year for 's , and documentaries about professional eaters premiere at art house film festivals. And Nerz does not even have a corner on the competitive eating literary market -- "Horsemen of the Esophagus," by Jason Fagone, was also published this month. With an official league like any other professional sport and a mainstream television market, competitive eating has made impressive strides since the blueberry pie mass vomit scene in "Stand by Me." Is it absurd to compare eating matzo balls to shooting basketballs? Probably. But sports are about mythologies, and if Japanese eater 's record-breaking feat of 53 and one-quarter hot dogs in 12 minutes is not Jordanesque, then neither is apple pie American. I recently met with Nerz over lunch at the Cedar Tavern in New York City where we talked about, among other things, overeating, the meat sweats, and how to keep down 13 pounds of watermelon. I had the veggie burger with salad, he the salade niçoise. Our waitress was distressingly thin. Can you explain the "belt of fat" theory, which I understand is why eaters like Takeru Kobayashi and Sonya Thomas -- skinny people -- win eating competitions? It is the layer of fat, the adipose tissue that composes a "belly," which actually restricts the ability of the stomach to expand. Basically this theory was put forth not by a scientist, but by a competitive eater named Ed Karachie, a big guy who lived in Queens. He was a hot-dog-eating champ in the mid-'90s who was dethroned by a tiny Japanese guy. That was the first time the Japanese started taking the title away from American eaters. Some say Karachie's theory is the product of sour grapes -- he was very embarrassed to have been beaten by this little guy, and he was just trying any way to explain what happened to his boys in Queens. But he actually talked to doctors about his theory, and they said that it makes sense. When your belly is expanded to such a great degree, the pressure of fat against it will actually slow you down and restrict you. I talked to some doctors too about the "belt of fat" theory. Some say it makes sense; others aren't convinced. In general, though, aren't most of the guys on the circuit big, overweight guys? Yes, that's true. I emcee these contests locally and the guys who come out of the crowd and are good are almost inevitably big guys. But the trend now is toward the big guys trying to lose weight to get better, because of the belt-of-fat theory, which is ironic. Among the eaters in the top 10 now, at least five or six are thin. Sonya Thomas is 100 pounds, Kobayashi is unbelievably fit, buff with a six-pack. Apparently, from talking to doctors, your stomach has a really insane ability to expand. I actually think that because what you're testing in competitive eating is speed, one's talent has less to do with stomach capacity and more to do with esophagus control. You mean like swallowing control? Exactly. There are sphincters in your esophagus from what I understand, one that controls the gag reflex and one that's kind of a cardiac sphincter lower down that controls nausea. The eaters are like sword-swallowers. I mean these are involuntary contractions when we swallow but you can, by using your brain and practice, learn how to control them somewhat. And I think that's really what Kobayashi and Sonya have -- either they have an innate talent or they learn it or both. OK, after reading the book I am pretty convinced this is a sport. But I feel like throughout the book you tread a line between taking it seriously and then being very tongue-in-cheek, and I was just wondering. How serious am I? Yeah, how serious do you take competitive eating? Is the tongue-in-cheek part because you think the audience might want to get some laughs? Good question. To tell you the truth I'm not sure that I know. When I started, I was totally tongue-in-cheek. I was an American studies major. I thought, OK only in this cultural moment in this society would we make a sport of eating! But then I started to meet the eaters, and you know, guys like Badlands Booker, who's the nicest guy in the world, who has two CDs of competitive-eating-themed hip-hop and is totally not ironic, totally earnest and dead serious. And you just start to absorb that. Some critics of competitive eating say it symbolizes overconsumption in America. But it's really big in Japan too, and there are eaters from around the world, so it seems to have some sort of universal appeal. I do think it's universal. I've talked to guys from all over who have eating bets -- where they put in money and say how many McDonald's can Ronnie put down for lunch in 10 minutes? Guys are always saying, "How much can you eat, man? How much can you drink?" The sport seems to teeter between having "average Joe" appeal and being a freak show. And someone like Kobayashi is clearly superhuman -- I mean on Fox he competed against a bear. So in your interactions with the guys on the circuit, is the sense that it's a more a sport, or a carnival stunt? As far as the sideshow part of it, it is a very fine line to tread, and I think that part of the major success of IFOCE is that they tread that line between making it funny for the crowd but not making the eaters feel like freaks. And that includes talking about it like it's a sport, putting the records online, which I think is genius. I've seen people who haven't thought things out as well try to do an eating contest, and it devolves into "Eat! Eat! Eat!" and "Go, fat guy, go!" and that's sad. But at real events it's treated much more professionally. Say what you will about it, freak show or sport, these guys do something that you can't do and they just made $2,500 in 10 minutes. Can you talk a little about the stress on the body? How dangerous is competitive eating? I tried to talk to quite a few doctors, and many said they just didn't know -- there's been no funded research on it. But some doctors speculated, and they said, basically, if a guy ate in a dozen 10- to 12-minute contests a year, it would not likely have a huge impact on their overall health. However, if that person was already at risk, say a 400-pound man who is doing 15 contests or a guy who's predisposed to diabetes, then it could be unhealthy. You talk a lot about vomiting in the book -- or "reversal of fortune" as it's called on the circuit. You've competed in eating events. Have you ever vomited? I haven't. I'm also a really slow eater. I'm just slow, and I've always been slow. That's why I think I realized that one of the main talents is the esophagus and how you swallow -- being able to swallow large chunks of unchewed food. That's what Kobayashi does that no one else can beat him at. Everyone else has the same stomach capacity, they can all eat huge amounts, but he can finish a in three bites. That's insane. If you've ever tried to do something like that, it's really uncomfortable, and you think you're going to choke. It's scary. So there's a bravery in that, and I think it probably comes from some innate talent. Anyway, I think there's probably more vomiting than the competitors admit. I imagine some guys purge after an event. The interesting thing is I don't know if it would be healthier to absorb the food or to vomit it. I mean obviously you don't want all that acid coming up -- we know from bulimics it screws up your teeth and esophagus. Badlands Booker, Kobayashi, the LeFevres -- as a point of pride, they keep it down. But probably some younger guys get rid of it, especially if it's something really oppressive like hot dogs. What else is really hard to eat and keep down competitively? From what I understand, hot dogs really are the toughest because there's all that sodium and nitrates and then there's the bun -- most eaters dunk the buns in water because they are easier to swallow. What are "meat sweats"? When I first heard the term I thought it was another made-up term on the circuit. But then I heard people talk about it, and I don't know what it is about meat, but in the same way that asparagus emanates through your urine, meat perfuses through the skin. It's the essence of meat coming through you. Do you think you'll be entering any contests soon? I've done a couple of burger-eating contests, and for fun I even competed against Kobayashi at one point, which was like playing one-on-one with Michael Jordan. I ate like 13 hamburgers in eight minutes, which is a lot for an amateur, but for competitive eaters it's kind of like, oh cute Ryan. Next time I want to do something . something easier to swallow than a or hot dog bun. Something like pudding. I'm sure competitors get more respect, though, when they eat more challenging foods like hamburgers or hot dogs. Right. I was making the analogy yesterday that maybe someday people will think of hot dogs like they do baseballs. One of the reasons you don't think of eating as a sport is because with baseball you can see someone like Barry Bonds with his huge biceps. If you could see Kobayashi's internal muscles you would see how he's in good eating shape. Ryan Nerz. Alfred Ryan Nerz is a freelance journalist who has written for NPR, Esquire and the History Channel. To support his writing habit, he has modeled for teen romance novels and emceed dozens of eating contests worldwide. His appearances have included The Today Show and with Jon Stewart, where he discussed his previous work, "Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit." Given the spread of legalized marijuana availability in the U.S., Nerz covers the growing market for pot, examining economic and cultural impact of the shift in public policy. As a contributor to Fusion’s digital and TV platforms, Nerz explores all aspects of cannabis culture and the business it is generating as states such as Colorado legalize its sale for recreational use. Nerz has written for NPR, Esquire and cabler History. He’s reported extensively on marijuana issues as the author of “Marijuanamerica: One Man’s Quest to Understand America’s Dysfunctional Love Affair with Weed” and “Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit.” Fusion has also ordered “The Cannabusiness Report,” a limited series of half-hour specials to be hosted by Nerz. He has spent the past several months developing the program through segments on Fusion’s morning show, which now airs in primetime as “Fusion Live.” All American Speakers Bureau is a full-service talent booking agency providing information on booking Ryan Nerz for speaking engagements, personal appearances and corporate events. Contact an All American Speakers Bureau booking agent for more information on Ryan Nerz speaking fees, availability, speech topics and cost to hire for your next live or virtual event. Tag Cloud. Ryan Nerz Booking Agency: Celebrity Appearance Fees and Availability. Contact a booking agent to check availability on Ryan Nerz and other top corporate entertainment. Exclusive Buyer's Agent that Books Celebrities, Entertainers and Speakers like Ryan Nerz for Speaking Engagements, Appearances and Corporate Events. Please Note : All American Speakers Bureau is a full-service talent booking agency providing information on booking Ryan Nerz for speaking engagements, personal appearances and corporate events. Contact an All American Speakers Bureau booking agent for more information on Ryan Nerz speaking fees, availability, speech topics and cost to hire for your next live or virtual event. Related Tags: Information on keynote speaking engagements, personal appearances, corporate entertainment and appearance fees for Ryan Nerz , an inspirational motivational speaker. bio for Ryan Nerz agency, manager, speaker fees, speaking agency entertainment booking agency, speaker's fee, how to book, booking agencies for lectures, speaking event, celebrity appearances for hire, who is agent, manager, publicist, who represents, speakers bureau management who represents Ryan Nerz. Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit by Alfred Ryan Nerz. Relishing the Competition | Ryan Nerz defends America�s tradition of professional gorging. This Fourth of July any true-blue American will be focused on only one thing: who will win the Nathan’s Famous hot dog–eating contest on Coney Island? Will Vallejo native break his world record of 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes or will dethroned Japanese eating champion Takeru Kobayashi regain his crown? Ryan Nerz, the spokesperson for , hosts eating competitions nationwide, such as the recent Nathan’s hot dog qualifier in Daly City and the deep-fried asparagus–gorging contest in Stockton. Nerz has written Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit (St. Martin’s Press 2006) about his experiences on tour with America’s foremost “gurgitators” (the term Major League Eating has coined for its athletes). I tracked Nerz down recently at his headquarters in Gotham for some trash talk about the sport that literally puts food in his belly. Paul Kilduff: New York City and Japan are hot beds for competitive eating—what are the chances that the politically correct capital of the known world, Berkeley, will ever join this list? Ryan Nerz: It’s funny one would even question whether there’s anything p.c. about competitive eating because we’ve always considered ourselves the United Nations of sport. We know no geographic or political boundaries. Everyone eats. It’s an equal opportunity sport—if you’re a tiny little woman or a large man. If you’re in shape or out of shape, you can always be in good eating shape. PK: If Berkeley had a contest what would be masticated? Granola? Tofu? Fruits and nuts? RN: Tofu is a great contest. It’s not much of a jaw strength contest. It’s so chewable. But it definitely tests your esophageal sphincters and your swallowing. I was always thinking, why not a farmers’ market contest where you just go and you pick one thing from each stall? Just sort of graze almost like a cow. Also you could do a kale-smoothie drinking contest. Patchouli oil-chugging contest. PK: Do you do patchouli oil normally? RN: We haven’t stopped at anything. We just had a pig-skin eating contest. We’ve done cow brains. I don’t see why not. PK: On a serious note, how do you justify such conspicuous consumption when people are starving, even in America? RN: It seems on the surface at least a perfectly logical sort of complaint and, obviously, we field it a lot. The problem people have is it’s food being used in a manner that doesn’t seem to be about nutrition. It’s more about some contest. But really, it’s a very slippery slope because you can critique this but you never hear people complaining about NASCAR being a waste of gas. Or the $20 million you pay Alex Rodriguez per year that he then goes and spends on 15 SUVs as being a waste of money. There’s so much gratuitous consumption that goes on in America and in all these sort of developed countries. In New York City alone on any given day there is a buffet at the Renaissance Hotel in midtown for a business conference where 10 percent of massive quantities of food goes untouched. But all that stuff sort of goes to the wayside because competitive eating is a little bit in your face about it. We try to focus the emphasis on positive things. We try to get our clients to be more charitable. Nathan’s Famous has offered to give 100,000 hot dogs this year to Food Bank For New York. And MLE [Major League Eating] has given to date about $35,000 to Food Bank For New York and other hunger organizations in New York. We just try to keep the emphasis positive and say that it’s about fun and it’s a time-honored tradition that goes back to American festivals and state fairs and the sort of standard pie-eating contest with the hands behind your back. And really when it comes down to it, compared to other professional sports and how much money is being spent and how much money is spent on concessions and contracts and what goes into the lavish lifestyles of the players and such, the amount of consumption that goes on in these contests is equivalent total to who knows? The contests are all very short and we try to make them shorter. I mean they’re speed-eating contests. So, it’s eight minutes, 10 minutes. The amount of money and resources that companies spend on advertising and other things is actually much more lavish and much more of sort of a waste of resources that could be spent towards providing for hunger across the country. And also, these guys, they clean their plate. You gotta give ’em that, right? PK: Wow. That is literally a mouthful. We are one of the most overweight countries in the world. Does competitive eating encourage overeating? RN: I don’t think so at all. What these guys do transcends gorging on the level of the Romans. Sitting down at the table for four or five hours, going to the Vomitorium, coming back, eating more. What they’re doing has a level of athletic discipline. A lot of these guys really are gourmets. People who are into food. Pat Bertoletti is a chef. Crazy Legs Conti is more knowledgeable about sort of esoteric New York eating habits than anyone I know. But in terms of competitive eating, it’s not really for enjoyment. It’s more about pushing your body to limits. And 66 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes, which was Joey Chestnut’s record last year, almost barely resembles traditional eating in any way. It’s almost like a magic act. You watch it and you really can’t believe it. I mean you see six hot dogs and buns go down in one minute and I just don’t understand how he’s doing it. PK: So, this doesn’t encourage obesity? RN: You look at the top 10 [competitive eaters] and down to a man they’re all in good shape. They become very in-tune with their bodies. They become very in-tune with caloric intake. Calories in versus calories out. Kobayashi is a power lifter. Tim Janis is an obsessive workout-a-holic. Sonya “the black widow” Thomas weighs 105 pounds. Juliet Lee is a tiny little woman. She’s ranked 10th in the world and she’s in great shape. PK: What’s going on in Japan? Why can relatively small Japanese people power down humungous amounts of food so quickly, dominate the sport and then not gain weight? RN: It’s a good question. I think it’s really a mystery to us all. In terms of the training they’re very closed-lipped about what they do and I don’t really know but obviously it involves sort of treating your internal muscles, your esophagus, your swallowing mechanism, your tongue, your digestive track, as a muscle in the same way that Barry Bonds works out his biceps and his forearms. These guys really do learn how to stretch their stomach and I think that’s part of it. In terms of competitive eating in Japan they have these TV shows where they do a sushi challenge and they don’t even always do the speed eating. They’ll go for an hour and it’s about just how far can you push your body. And I think that’s the real tradition in Japan that works well with competitive eating. PK: The Japanese influence has changed the sport, correct? RN: It certainly has. If there’s a moment it was July 4, 2001 when Takeru Kobayashi came over. The previous record was 25 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes, HDBs as we say. And he doubled it. Fifty. It was just sort of staggering. It was this tiny man. And before that it had always been these traditional red-blooded American factory-worker type guys. Big guys from Queens. PK: In your book you write about the belt of fat theory for why skinny people are top eaters—they don’t have belly fat constricting their stomachs from expanding. Do you have other theories on what makes a champion? RN: There’s this sort of obscure theory with Type A blood. All the main competitive eaters as I understand it have Type A blood. Kobayashi. Joey Chestnut. Sonya Thomas. There’s a weird correlation with good competitive eaters and Type A. I have no idea what that means, but there it is. PK: Vallejo native Joey Chestnut won the coveted yellow mustard belt last year—bringing it back to America. Leading up to this, was nationality injected into the contest with so many Japanese winners in recent years? RN: There definitely were some moments where I think I heard the USA cheer on the Fourth of July. He [Joey Chestnut] is sort of guy X. He’s just sort of a guy you feel like you could go and have a beer with at the local sports bar. PK: Let’s not let him run for President. RN: That’s a good point. Can’t get much worse. It would definitely not be a down grade. PK: The Japanese hot dog–eating technique of separating the bun from the dog, dipping the bun in water and breaking the dog in two and then swallowing them, has also forever changed the sport. Now everyone does it. Will your organization ever have a hot dog–eating contest where the contestants must eat the dogs as God intended, with the dog nestled inside bun? Maybe throw some condiments on there? RN: You’re talking about picnic-style rules. We’ve had many a discussion about whether or not to institute “picnic-style” rules. I find it amusing that there’s this sort of outrage that they’re not eating a hot dog and bun in a traditional format. Obviously it was a shock when the Japanese—and it’s even called Japanesing—came over. And to them, a hot dog and a bun—they don’t eat that over there—so they just looked at it said, well, obviously the fastest way to eat it is not in that traditional format and they just started playing with it. It’s like getting the newest Nike sneakers or using those platform shoes to increase your vertical jump. It’s just an advantage that they got and once the advantage is there, everyone has to adapt. PK: But isn’t swallowing hot dogs disgusting? RN: You see disgust but we see a new athleticism and physical poetry and magic. PK: I’ll bet you do. Any studies on the health risks of competing in these events? RN: There has not been any funded medical research into the effects of competitive eating. I think it’s too young of a sport. I guess the grants aren’t there. PK: Speaking of health risks, Oakland’s recently departed gourmand, Bozo Miller, once famously drank a lion under the table in a martini quaffing contest. Has your organization ever considered drinking contests? Is that off base? RN: There’s been a lot of clamoring for drinking contests. There are a lot of people who feel like they have skills in that realm. But a major concern there is that the winner may or may not die. So, we would never go there. We just are always concerned about anyone taking this health- wise laxly. I mean if we do a 30-second TV fun eating contest at a news channel, we send an EMT [Emergency Medical Technician]. It’s just something where you can’t overestimate the possibility of anything happening like that. With drinking water you have to be really careful because of the hyponutremia [water poisoning] which happens sometimes. PK: So, when you’re talking about people potentially dying, that’s where you draw the line? RN: Yeah. It seems like a decent place to draw the line, don’t you think? Photo courtesy Ryan Nerz. RYAN NERZ VITAL STATS. Age: 34 | Astrological sign: Capricorn. Birthplace: Minneapolis First real job: Editor at a children’s book publishing company Favorite topping: Eggplant (especially the eggplant slice at Garlic Bob’s in New York) Favorite Team: Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League (soccer, for clueless Yankees) Pastimes: Reading, cackling, rollerblading over the Brooklyn Bridge. Eat This Book. A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit. St. Martin's Griffin. BUY THE BOOK. St. Martin's Griffin. St. Martin's Publishing Group. On Sale: 04/04/2006. B&N NOOK Google Play Kindle Kobo eBooks.com iBooks. Journalist Ryan Nerz spent a year penetrating the highest echelons of international competitive eating and Eat This Book is the fascinating and gut- bustingly hilarious account of his journey. Nerz gives us all the facts about the history of the IFOCE (Independent Federation of Competitive Eating)--from the story of a clever Nathan's promotion that began in 1916 on the corner of Surf and Stillwell in Coney Island to the intricacies of individual international competitions, the controversial Belt of Fat Theory and the corporate wars to control this exploding sport. He keeps the reader turning the pages as we are swept up in the lives of Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, "Cookie" Jarvis, "Hungry" Charles Hardy, and many other top gurgitators whose egos and secret agendas, hopes and dreams are revealed in dramatic detail. As Nerz goes on his own quest to become a top gurgitator, we become obsessed with him as he lies awake at night in physical pain from downing dozens of burgers and learning to chug gallons of water to expand his increasingly abused stomach. Sparing no one's appetite, Nerz reveals the training, game-day strategies and after-effects of competition in this delectably shocking banquet of gluttony and glory on the competitive eating circuit. CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR. SIGN UP FOR AUTHOR UPDATES. MACMILLAN NEWSLETTER. Sign up to receive information about new books, author events, and special offers. Book Excerpt Reviews About the Author From the Publisher. EXCERPT. EAT THIS BOOK (Chapter 1)A Carnival Barker in Training Observe the Shea brothers, press agents by trade, carnival barkers in spirit, as they do, in tandem, the most exquisite deadpan in both businesses. --Joyce Wadler, The New York Times. Reviews. Reviews from Goodreads. About the author. Ryan Nerz. Ryan Nerz is a freelance journalist who has written for Esquire , The Village Voice , Time Out New York , ym , and The History Channel . Ryan has emceed IFOCE-sanctioned competitions involving meat pies, pulled barbecue , jambalaya, jalapeno pepper, corned beef & cabbage and more. He currently works at the IFOCE as a part-time announcer. Nerz, Ryan 1974– Born January 13, 1974, in Minneapolis, MN. Education: Graduated from Yale University, 1997. ADDRESSES: Home— Brooklyn, NY. CAREER: Journalist and writer. Part-time announcer and emcee for the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) at IFOCE-sanctioned competitions. WRITINGS: Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit, St. Martin's Griffin (New York, NY), 2006. Contributor to periodicals, including the Village Voice and Esquire, to the Web sites Time Out New York and ym, and to television's the History Channel. SIDELIGHTS: Freelance journalist Ryan Nerz's interest in eating contests leads him to both write about them and serve as an emcee for those that are sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE). In Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit, Nerz writes about the year he spent in the highest echelons of international competitive eating as an emcee for eating contests involving foods such as meat pies, ribs, hot dogs, baked beans, grilled cheese, jambalaya, raw Maui onions, and watermelon. As an IFOCE enthusiast, Nerz is "more mythifier than journalist," wrote Jay Jennings in the New York Times Book Review. Jennings also commented that Nerz "covers a [wide] range of characters—who are indeed a colorful, varied bunch, even without the pro-wrestling-style personalities the I.F.O.C.E. encourages." Nerz provides a history of the IFOCE, which began with a hot dog eating contest as a promotion for Nathan's Famous restaurant on Coney Island, New York, in 1916. He details the individual aspects of various international eating competitions and the record-breaking accomplishments of champions, such as Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi, who ate fifty-three and a half hot dogs in twelve minutes at the 2004 Nathan' Famous contest. Nerz also describes former competitive eater Ed Krachie, who developed a theory about competitive eating. His "Belt of Fat Theory," claimed that thinner people may have a physiological advantage over heavier people when competing in eating contests, because they have less fat in their midsection and therefore more room for the stomach to expand, Carlos Orellana observed in a Booklist review. Krachie even sent an essay outlining his theory to the New England Journal of Medicine, where it was promptly rejected. The author takes a humorous look at the IFOCE, eating contests, and their participants, with names such as Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas and "Hungry" Charles Hardy. Nerz also makes a case for eating competitions to be classified as a sport and examines their growing popularity, with the annual Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest being televised live on the Entertainment & Sports Network (ESPN) each year. "Despite disgusting details—vomiting, distended bellies, etc.—Nerz presents his story with glee and good humor," noted a Publishers Weekly contributor. As the author chronicles the secret agendas and hopes and dreams of contestants, he makes the decision to try to become a top eating champion, known in the field as a "gurgitato." Gobbling down dozens of burgers for training and drinking gallons of water to extend his stomach, Nerz suffers from intense pain emanating from his abused stomach. Along with Nerz's adventures, the reader gains insight into the training, gameday strategies, and after-effects of competition. In a Library Journal review, Tim Delaney noted that Nerz's book will be an "eye opener to those unaware of the competitive eating circuit." BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES: BOOKS. Nerz, Ryan, Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit, St. Martin's Griffin (New York, NY), 2006. PERIODICALS. Booklist, March 15, 2006, Carlos Orellana, review of Eat This Book, p. 13. Library Journal, March 1, 2006, Tim Delaney, review of Eat This Book, p. 107. New York Times Book Review, May 28, 2006, Jay Jennings, "Gluttons for Reward," review of Eat This Book. Publishers Weekly, January 30, 2006, review of Eat This Book, p. 49.