I really did not enjoy this book.

I was asked to read this because it is apparently a big influence on many modern detox gurus. I definitely think they should have a better foundation.

This book argues that we are supposed to be breathatarians, meaning no food or water. Since I don’t have room to fully rebut this here, I will tell you my main problems with the text itself.

First of all, I’d love to believe this, and I have seen many of these same cases in other (better) books. It’s very interesting and I found myself begging for more details.

But this book does not give many details. Instead, it quickly tells us about cases and only gives vague references, with no real citation or reference section.

I’d also like to have heard from the author himself. Is he breathatarian? He tells us about sleeping outdoors for a few years, which was a big part of the book (polluted air), but that was very brief. I’d like something to grip onto - “for me, not eating was hard at first, but..”. Anything to make it real.

The author lays down some tenants that breatatarianism rests on, which I think are very weak (“cells don’t eat” - huh?). Barely any explanation is even given for these claims. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and this book treats us like children by refusing to give these much needed details.

The book is extremely repetitive, extremely condescending (we are all degenerates according to him), and the reissued version I have is full of mistakes and lazy formatting, which maybe weren’t in the original. The original is still very poorly organized in my opinion, and is not much more than a rambling, holier-than-though diatribe.

My fellow degenerates, I do not recommend this book.