"Get ready to dive into the wondrous underworld of waste. . . . It's perfect for the fatberg fan in your life." –Mental Floss
"Hester goes deep on a topic that few relish: the inner workings of wastewater infrastructure. The book . . . dives into the past and present worlds of pipes and pumping stations, sifts through archives for blueprints, and tags along crews on late-night excursions to tackle gnarly clogs and whale-sized fatbergs - all to answer questions of how human habits are reshaping the environment, and what needs to change." –
Bloomberg CityLab "Takes readers on a journey underground to the meandering pipes and waterways underneath us where waste ferments and disease percolates. The oft-forgotten and hidden-but-so-necessary infrastructure below us has deep implications for urbanization, public health, infrastructure, ecology, and sustainability, not to mention our future." –
Architect's Newspaper "Hester peels off the layers of discomfort of the sewer, and brings readers to a full understanding of the function, history, and future of sewers, and how climate change needs to be factored in to how sewers operate. . . . This is an easy to read, approachable book, written in a captivating style." –
Viewpoint Vancouver "Overall a fascinating and short read, pretty well exactly what it was designed to be. Very much recommended." –
BookAnon "
Sewer gives you that magical feeling of peeking behind the curtain-or should I say, under the manhole-into a hidden world. Let Jessica Leigh Hester be your guide to fatbergs, sea snot, and all the things we might think we don't want to ponder, but which nevertheless become enchanting in her winsome prose." –
Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic "Jessica Leigh Hester drops feet-first into a Hadean underworld of tunnels and drains, bacteria and geology.
Sewer proves that some of our most consequential urban achievements are seldom seen-and rarely so well illuminated. Come for the fatbergs, stay for Hester's lucid history of architecture and engineering, public health and political ambition." –
Geoff Manaugh, New York Times-bestselling author of A Burglar's Guide to the City "This book is really remarkable ... it's personal and it's deeply researched and it's fascinating." –
Randomly Yours, Alex
