History of Shit

By Dominique Laporte, Nadia Benabid (translator), Rodolphe el-Khoury (translator)

Book cover of History of Shit

Book description

"A brilliant account of the politics of shit. It will leave you speechless."

Written in Paris after the heady days of student revolt in May 1968 and before the devastation of the AIDS epidemic, History of Shit is emblematic of a wild and adventurous strain of 1970s' theoretical writing that…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked History of Shit as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Laporte’s poetic and sweeping tour of turds made me realize how flushing my toilet produces and reinscribes cultural norms. Read the history behind our collective fascination with “sewer stories,” whether it’s London’s immense blobs of underground fat or urban legends about deadly crocodiles or mutant goldfish. 

I love how this book has inspired and influenced contemporary metabolic artists. In 2017, Kathy High and Guy Schaffer created a mixed media project “committed to re-imaging and re-inserting feminist and queer stories into our histories of medicine and science” and called their work History of Shit as an homage to Laporte. I am…

From Lindsay's list on metabolism and digestion in the arts.

Want books like History of Shit?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like History of Shit.

Browse books like History of Shit

Book cover of Salt Fish Girl
Book cover of by Alison Knowles: A Retrospective (1960-2022)
Book cover of Consuming Ocean Island: Stories of People and Phosphate from Banaba

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,187

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in poop, Michel Foucault, and urbanization?

Poop 10 books
Michel Foucault 19 books
Urbanization 13 books