GORGE

From Roman emperors vomiting between courses to medieval kings bankrupting kingdoms for a single feast, from Victorian pie-eating contests to modern-day hot dog champions-humanity's relationship with competitive and excessive eating reveals our deepest desires for status, power, and spectacle.

GORGE takes you on a jaw-dropping journey through history's most outrageous food competitions, ceremonial feasts, and displays of culinary excess. Discover the ancient Greek symposia where drinking contests could prove fatal, the Aztec banquets where thousands of turkeys were sacrificed for a single meal, and the Gilded Age dinners where millionaires served courses on horseback-literally.

This meticulously researched fact book reveals:

• Royal extravagance: How monarchs used banquets as weapons of political power and bankruptcy
• Deadly competitions: Eating and drinking contests throughout history that actually killed participants
• Cultural ceremonies: The role of competitive feasting in establishing social hierarchies across civilizations
• Modern madness: How today's professional eating circuit emerged from carnival sideshows and immigrant traditions
• Bizarre customs: From pie-eating Englishmen to sake-drinking samurai, the strangest food competitions ever documented
• Economic impact: Feasts that cost more than wars and bankrupted entire regions
• Hidden histories: The marginalized communities who turned food competitions into survival strategies and cultural preservation

Each chapter delivers 20-25 verified, shocking, and entertaining facts that will change how you view competitive eating, holiday feasts, and food culture forever. Perfect for history enthusiasts, food lovers, and anyone fascinated by humanity's capacity for excess.

Warning: Contains accounts of extreme gluttony, political intrigue, cultural appropriation, and the occasional exploding stomach. Not recommended reading immediately before large meals.