Hunger: An Unnatural History - Tapa dura

A subject as big as history and as everyday as skipping lunch - hunger and how it works - is explored in this thought-provoking, kaleidoscopic blend of science, anthropology and personal reflection. Every day we wake up hungry. Every day we break our fast. Hunger explores the range of this primal experience. Sharman Apt Russell, the highly acclaimed author of "Anatomy of a Rose" and "An Obsession with Butterflies" here takes us on a tour of hunger, from eighteen hours without food to thirty-six hours to seven days and beyond. What Russell finds - both in our bodies and in cultures around the world - is extraordinary. It is a biological process that transcends nature to shape the very fabric of societies. In a fascinating survey of centuries she discovers an ability to adapt to it that is nothing short of miraculous. From the fasting saints of the early Christian church to activists like Mahatma Gandhi, generations have used hunger to make spiritual and political statements. Russell highlights these remarkable cases where hunger can inspire and even heal, but she also addresses the devastation impact of starvation on cultures around the world today. Written with consummate skill, a compassionate heart and stocked with facts, figures and fascinating lore, "Hunger" is an inspiring window on history and the human spirit.

Sharman Apt Russell is the author of many award-winning works of natural history. She teaches writing at Western New Mexico University and at Antioch University in Los Angeles, California. She lives in Silver City, New Mexico.