Synopsis
Loopy journalist Ryan Nerz goes on a year's stomach-expanding retreat into the world of combative eating. From the humble pie-eating contest at the county fair to an internationally recognised governing body and highly-trained sport eaters, the world of the competitive muncher has been quietly growing for years. From a clever Nathan's hot dog promotion that began in 1916 on the corner of Surf and Stillwell in Coney Island to the intricacies of highly-regulated modern competitions, the contest eat has enjoyed a long, colourful and largely unnoticed development into the behemoth of extreme wackiness it is today. Until now. Ryan Nerz dedicated a year of his life to absorbing every aspect of this peculiar universe, ultimately embarking on his own quest to become a top gurgitator. He became swept up in the lives of the men and women who have chosen competitive eating as their playground and their pulpit; he lay awake at night in pain from the gallons of water he was chugging to expand his increasingly abused stomach. He ate mountains of matzo balls and fields of fried asparagus.
And, returned with a gut-bustingly hilarious account of his journey - a wild mix of travelogue, history, party journal and psychological study of the misfits and goofballs whose lives are measured out in chicken wing bones and pounds of pecan pie. From the origins of the sport to the controversial Belt of Fat theory and the IFOCE (International Federation Of Competitive Eating), it's all here - intensive training, game-day strategies and fearsome after-effects; sponsorship and corporate warring over control of the exploding sport; heroes and has-beens; and the great, the good, and the certifiably insane of the larger-than-life world of championship face-filling.
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