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Rating: 
Summary: The adult version of "Everyone Poops"
Review: "For some reason, among the most fragrant coffees of Java are reputed to be those made by roasting beans that have passed through the intestinal tracts of civets."
How could anyone possibly object to a book that disseminates facts such as the above as freely as certain birds disseminate seeds in their droppings? Ralph A. Lewin, professor of marine biology at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography thoroughly investigates the science, culture, and social history of coprology even down to the motto that was supposedly stamped on the British Navy's official toilet paper, i.e. "England expects every man to do his duty."
This book is a hoot--or maybe I should say 'a toot,' most especially the chapter on "Smells and Other Chemical Components, including Gases." Lewin quotes everyone from Hildegard von Bingen (ca. 1155) to President Clinton, beginning in the chapter on "Terminology and Cultural Attitudes" in which he somewhat coyly does not translate a couple of expressions in Greek and Latin. One of the most interesting revelations in this chapter is that the Chinese don't generally make a vulgar expletive out of their term for excrement, i.e. 'da bien' which the author translates as "the 'big convenience' (as distinct from the more fluid 'small convenience')..." Most languages, including the sign language used by chimpanzees embrace this most common example of coprolalia.
Another interesting revelation (this book is full of them) is the French restatement of Murphy's Law: "La loi d'emmerdement maximum."
The final chapter "Myths, Legends, and Holy Ordures" covers some of the supposed medical uses of feces: "Hippocrates asserted that pigeon droppings were efficacious against baldness, though whether this claim was based on personal experience is not recorded." Perhaps Hippocrates was correct, since one hardly ever sees monuments to bald generals in public spaces. This might also be the reason that some people believe it is lucky to be decorated by a bird dropping.
Barring the first and last chapters, most of the text is devoted to the physical manifestations of feces, and the various ways that animals and humans deal with this common organic by-product. This includes discussions of territorial markers, chamber pots, sewage, abstergents such as toilet paper and corn cobs, nutritional values, and uses for construction and decoration.
"Merde" is short enough to read in a single evening, but you may spend the rest of your life quoting bits of it to your friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Unusual historical survey & essay re excrement
Review: "Nobody seems to pay any attention to the south ends of animals!" Scientic literature is full of mouth anatomy and gut physiology, but what about the net result, the single most ubiquitous material in the living world? Is it impolitic to claim that Dr Lewin has treated the subject with relish? (It's been teated with almost everything else, from disdain to quicklime...) This is an amusing, wide-ranging book,written in the form of a personal essay rather than as a "scientific" tome, scientifically sound and educational, and an utter blast to read. I, as a matter of fact, read it in one sitting, part of which was on the .... oh well, never mind. Now, I have to admit to a bit of bias here: Ralph and I have spent some time together at sea, doing research, and invoking his first name repeatedly over the port fantail rail: I knew the book was in the works. I've waited several years for it: the wait was worth it. If you are curious at all, or if you just appreciate fine British tongue-in-cheek humor, buy it. Buy several: you will NOT be able to hang onto your own copy, and surely there's someone on your list who, for whatever reason, rates it! (I bought ten as gifts and will likely do several more.) A bravo to Ralph. Now if we could just locate his first volume of erotic poetry in Esperanto....
Rating:
Summary: Most informative book I've seen on the subject
Review: For those who have no fear of the subject, Merde is a wondrous look deep into the world of faeces. Often humorous and always infromative, Lewin surveys the human and animal world of excretions. Great book to read aloud to your friends, should you find you have too many.
Rating: 
Summary: Good bathroom reading, but that's about it...
Review: Lewin's research has an amazing breadth, and his organization is amazingly bad. You'll be exposed to more random bits of information about feces than you ever expected. The sorting of information into chapters is not bad, but the structure of those chapters is stunningly awful. Facts and two sentence anecdotes are thrown together willy-nilly with no thought as to how to connect them. Lewin jumps from Hippos to Amtrack trains between sentences. I have no idea how he decided where to begin new paragraphs. Other than that, this is a fascinating book. It is ideal for when you are on the toilet, doing your business, and have a few minutes to read -- open it anywhere and read for while: you don't have to worry about not finishing a section, or forgetting where you were because there is no logical structure. This book is in the bathroom where I work, and the entire office loves it, often discussing it at lunch. Put it in your bathroom, and amaze your guests. Perhaps Lewin wanted to write a book about bowel movements for when you are having one... if so, this was genius.
Rating: 
Summary: It's OK, but not worth the price.
Review: Overall, this book was a mildly interesting, quick read, probably suitable for a weekend around the house. I found myself, however, mildly fatigued due to the awkwardly strung together facts, as if they were simply plucked from their sources and placed on paper with a minimum of effort. Unfortunately, except for a few points, any information in this book isn't "new" and could probably be found, with some effort, in encyclopedia's, National Geographic, etc. In my opinion, I would be willing to pay as much as seven dollars for this book, however, not the publisher's price, demanded by such obvious esoteric subject matter.
Rating:
Summary: It's OK, but not worth the price.
Review: Overall, this book was a mildly interesting, quick read, probably suitable for a weekend around the house. I found myself, however, mildly fatigued due to the awkwardly strung together facts, as if they were simply plucked from their sources and placed on paper with a minimum of effort. Unfortunately, except for a few points, any information in this book isn't "new" and could probably be found, with some effort, in encyclopedia's, National Geographic, etc. In my opinion, I would be willing to pay as much as seven dollars for this book, however, not the publisher's price, demanded by such obvious esoteric subject matter.
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