Flushed: How the Plumber Saved Civilization

by W. Hodding Carter IV

Book Overview

"The unsung hero of human history was, of course, the Brain of Drains, the Hub of Tubs, the Power of Showers, the Brewer of Sewers...the humble plumber." -- W. Hodding Carter

When we consider the amenities that really make a difference in our well-being, surely good plumbing must rank near the top. But rarely have we taken the time to appreciate the engineering marvels that bring clean water into our homes with the turn of a tap and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743474090
• ISBN13: 9780743474092
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Oh what shall we do with all our poo?

Most people just don't understand the wonder of the flush Now here comes Hodding with his book To get you off your tush The Romans they used aqueducts The French called "Garde L'eau" London stank before they learned to use the water flow Where now exists a porcelain bowl With custom seat and lever Once plagued the mighty London town with cholera and fever All the people in the world Make tons of poop each day We never bother where it goes Once we flush it away We need to find efficient ways To utilize our waste A topic that we all ignore And treat with much distaste So all hail the humble plumber-guy No joking `bout the crack Without his help the stuff you flush may soon be coming back A simple, concise, funny book the writing's off the wall The perfect gift for homeowners for reading in the stall Amanda Richards, July 7, 2006

A great book about getting to the basic bottom of things

Some modern conveniences are so accepted without a second thought or the slightest hint of complexity that it is truly difficult to discover their origins or vital role in society. Good plumbing is one such topic. Carter handles it with skill, insight and loads of poop (see the definition next paragraph). Basically, good plumbing brings good water in and takes bad water out so that leaks don't become leaks. He also spends enough time dealing with the solid substance of bad water to emphasize the importance of the whole subject to modern health and life. To understand plumbing takes more than knowing pipes; it also requires knowledge of the materials moved in those pipes. It is an often blunt book. Everyone pees and poops, but few think beyond flushing. My 'Handy College Dictionary' with "over 100 printings" defines copulate but not coprolite or poop, except to define "poop" as the raised deck in a ship's stern or, in slang terms, "information". (This suggests an interesting scenario: a foreign student, with some schoolyard English and a handy college dictionary, is invited to the White House and tells the host "I need to leave you some 'information' from my country". The gracious host responds, "Just leave it on the desk in the Oval Office". Funny people, these Americans. They have some really useful dictionaries.) Okay, so maybe that's not very likely. After reading this book it would be utterly impossible, and a person would be well versed in understanding the complexity of matters handled by plumbers and municipal sewage plant workers. He doesn't deal directly with 'Montezuma's Revenge', but he offers grim details of the "revenge" of not having good plumbing. On that basis, it is an invaluable introduction to modern ecology. Clean water and waste disposal are trivialities in a world with only villages and small towns; but, they become matters of life and death for dense towns and cities. This applies to everything from human waste to waste newspapers to automobile and factory wastes. Carter takes the simplest and most prevalent of waste and explains the competence and complications of safely handling it. It makes this book an ideal after-dinner topic; not to be gross, but to understand the essence of ecology -- there are consequences to everything we do. It's a basic book for a society as inhibited and prudish as America. One final example: Carter seems astounded that castle moats were the latrine. Okay, I've stayed in castles. Ever see those little "bay windows" very high up on a castle's outside walls, often with a long dark streak down the wall under them? Just what do you think made those long dark streaks? (I did my bit.) Why do you think the host explained, "these conveniences were not used when the castle was under siege"? So, if Disneyland wants reality, perhaps some long dark brown streaks need to be painted in strategic spots down its castle walls to be truly authentic. Really now, "au

Smelly History

I liked reading about some of the gross things in this book. It was a good way to learn about history. I guess we are pretty lucky to live in a time when there's indoor plumbing. I always thought it would have been cool to be a knight but I wouldn't want to fall into a moat, which I learned was a big toilet bowl. I don't think I would have liked being an ancient Roman, either. They though using the bathroom was a team sport, No privacy whatsoever. But the best thing about this book was how it made me think about what the world will be like in the future and just what are we going to do with human, um, waste as the world's population gets bigger and bigger. We've got to come up with some new ideas, and soon!

Fluhsed: How the Plumber Saved Civilization

This book is beyond clever: its captivating, informative and funny. I could not stop laughing and recommend it enthusiatically to all who think that they know everything about everything. With dexterity and wit, Hodding Carter shows we "know-it-alls" that we know next to nothing about plumbing, but we should. Flushed fills in the gaps in one's knowledge from the church in the Middle Ages to the current, innovative Japanese bidet. This is a "must read" for all who care to place the evolution of human behaviour and one's relationship to one's body in a historical context. Carter seems abit obsessed about bodily functions, but perhaps, we should overlook this fact. Without his personal preoccupation with all things scatalogical, he would not have written this wonderful book.

Freaky Serendipity

We were eating at Balthazar's yesterday and found this book in all places--the bathroom or the BUD (Bathing, urinating and defecating room), as Mr. Carter would have us call it. It is hilarious--had me laughing on the floor 2-3 times and chuckling out loud in bed--which is really weird since I thought it was just going to be a typical guys book. He writes about the things I've always been afraid to talk about with charm and serious understanding. I loved it. Great stuff on the dalit (untouchables) in India near the back of the book. His writing reminds me of some other author I can't remember right now that I use to love--very simple and straightforward.