Christopher Hart
Shit Happens
The Big Necessity: Adventures in the World of Human Waste
By Rose George
Portobello Books 336pp £12.99
I am not altogether sure why the editor keeps sending me books to review on filth, stench and defecation. I don’t think I have any greater interest in these subjects than is normal. Nevertheless, it must be said that this latest offering, a survey of worldwide lavatorial habits, is strangely fascinating. The Big Necessity is shit from beginning to end – but not in a bad way. In fact, Rose George’s bold claim is that ‘shit doesn’t have to be – and shouldn’t be – a dirty word’.
She wishes not only to describe the world, but to change it. (She has written for The Guardian.) Many of the facts she adduces certainly suggest that something needs to be done. Poor sanitation in developing countries means that people there may ingest as much as ten grams of faecal
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Paul Gauguin kept house with a teenage ‘wife’ in French Polynesia, islands whose culture he is often accused of ransacking for his art.
@StephenSmithWDS asks if Gauguin is still worth looking at.
Stephen Smith - Art of Rebellion
Stephen Smith: Art of Rebellion - Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux
literaryreview.co.uk
‘I have fond memories of discussing Lorca and the state of Andalusian theatre with Antonio Banderas as Lauren Bacall sat on the dressing-room couch.’
@henryhitchings on Simon Russell Beale.
Henry Hitchings - The Play’s the Thing
Henry Hitchings: The Play’s the Thing - A Piece of Work: Playing Shakespeare & Other Stories by Simon Russell Beale
literaryreview.co.uk
We are saddened to hear of the death of Fredric Jameson.
Here, from 1983, is Terry Eagleton’s review of The Political Unconscious.
Terry Eagleton - Supermarket of the Mind
Terry Eagleton: Supermarket of the Mind - The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act by Fredric Jameson
literaryreview.co.uk