Eat, Poop, Die

NAMED A TOP-TEN BEST BOOK OF 2023 BY SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

A “fascinating” exploration (Elizabeth Kolbert) of how ecosystems are sculpted and sustained by animals eating, pooping, and dying—and how these fundamental functions could help save us from climate catastrophe.

• "Joe Roman's argument that animals remake the world is a fascinating one. In our current age of extinction, it deserves the widest possible audience."
  Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction
• "Absolutely fascinating—and you will read it with an entirely new appreciation and respect for the role that all the other animals on this earth play in making it work.”
  Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature
• “Absolutely fascinating. A compulsively readable scientific exploration of earth's ability to sustain life, but also a collection of entertaining anecdotes from Joe Roman’s career as a biologist who has spent a considerable amount of time studying… well, poop. Eat, Poop, Die helped me better understand our planet and gave me a fresh burst of motivation to advocate for it.”
  Shelby Van Pelt, author of Remarkably Bright Creatures
• “Joe Roman knows how to handle words. In this, his latest book, he ventures afield and spins a series of great and important stories about the many surprising threads that bind together the living world. And his writing just happens to be so good that he sweeps a reader along.”
  Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words and Alfie and Me
• "One of those rare books that truly changes the way you look at the world."
  Lucy Cooke, Scientific American
• “An engrossing, timely, and important contribution to ecological writing for the general public."
  Ferris Jabr, The Los Angeles Review of Books
• “With expert knowledge and wry humor, Roman returns animals to their rightful place at the center of the environment.”
  Kirkus Reviews
• “Peculiar trivia (the size of an elephant's bowel movement is approximately five gallons) about the importance of excrement makes for perfect bathroom reading.”
  Tony Miksanek, Booklist
• “This playful pop science outing satisfies.”
  Publishers Weekly
• “In Eat, Poop, Die, Roman provides a compelling argument for the conservation of wildlife, showing that protecting these creatures isn’t just an ethical choice, but a necessity for maintaining the health of our planet.”
  Nicholas Vincent, One Green Planet