The Last Taboo

by Maggie Black, Ben Fawcett

Except in schoolboy jokes, the subject of human waste is rarely aired. We talk aboutwater-related diseases when most are sanitation-related - in short, we don‘t mention the shit. A century and a half ago, a long, hot summer reduced the Thames flowing past the UK Houses of Parliament to aGreat Stink thereby inducing MPs to legislate sanitary reform. Today, another sanitary reformation is needed, one that manages to spread cheaper and simpler systems to people everywhere. In the byways of the developing world, much is quietly happening on the excretory frontier. In 2008, the International Year of Sanitation, the authors bring this awkward subject to a wider audience than the world of international filth usually commands. They seek the elimination of theGreat Distaste so that people without political clout or economic muscle can claim their right to a dignified and hygienic place togo. Published with UNICEF

Genres: Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Maggie Black is the author of several publications including From Handpumps to Health: The Evolution of Water and Sanitation Programmes in Bangladesh, India and Nigeria and In the Twilight Zone: Child Workers in the Hotel, Tourism and Catering Industry. She has worked as a consultant for UNICEF, Anti-Slavery International, and WaterAid, among others, and has written for The Guardian, The Economist, and BBC World Service.

Reviews

[Arthur · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the first half of this book as required reading for a class, and didn't like it at all. I kept thinking, this is terrible, and could feel my brain dying. The author just keeps repeating fact after fact, with no real transitions between the subjects, and really, everything that was said could have been said in a book a tenth the length. People just feel a book needs to be 200-300 pages, so they fill in a bunch of pages with useless time wasting/mind numbing garbage. On top of that, the authors, Maggie Black and Ben Fawcett kept using profanity, for some reason beyond me. It was horrible, page after page of gratuitous filth!

[Whitney Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

i cannot even construct a coherent review for this book. it's informative, interesting, and thought-provoking. you will never look at waste the same way. this book exposes the global sanitation crises but it also introduces the reader to different cultures and how waste/sanitation is valued and interpreted across the globe. if you end up giving this book a chance (WHICH YOU SHOULD), you'll be presently surprised by how captivating shit can be.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I read this book for my dissertation of course..but it was really really good. I think I cited it about 20 times. So easy to read..and so interesting..even for people who didn't think they cared about the excess of open shit in poor countries..I swear ;)

[Tanvi]

A book everyone must read to understand the undignified life that more than 2 billion people live in this world. While highly informative, this book instills a sense of urgency among those who are fortunate enough to have a clean and closed space to relieve themselves.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best overview. Accessible but informative and detailed. I saw this remaindered in a bookshop and hesitated — now I kind of wish I hadn't.

[Kelly Dombroski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thoughts: extremely dismissive of other ways of doing hygiene and quite 'ranty' in places. But otherwise a great overview of sanitation issues globally.