First Draft of Foreword

Any resident of New York City rides the subway. Businessmen, the homeless, teenagers, grandparents, babies, and countless other demographics. All these humans share the subway with another type of animal; rats.
As a NYC resident myself, I’ve seen my fair share of rats. While waiting for a train, I can see movements among the brown and grey tones of the subway tracks. I see them scuttle over to empty soda bottles and fast food wrappers people carelessly toss onto the tracks. They feverishly suck out the dregs of said receptacles in a way that only rodents do. To any bystander, this is not attractive or admirable in any way, but after research on our fellow city inhabitants, it doesn't seem so gruesome.
It’s hard to make it the city and rats know this struggle like anyone else. They burrow into subway walls, digging holes deep enough to not be caught and with access to the station’s garbage room. This room is their haven, filled with trash bags to us, but hills of food for them. All stations try to rid themselves of these devilishly clever creatures with poison but rats know what not to eat and what to look out for.
To continue, while rats may cast a gross mood, the underground, dark nature of most subways produces a frightening aura. I wasn’t allowed on the subway alone until I was 12 and at night, the gloom of the subway still scares me. There’s no cell phone service and while stations have help buttons, you never know who will arrive on the platform. Ironically, the most dangerous subway station (highest crime rate) is Broad Channel in Queens. New York Daily News states that, “With just 224 people swiping into the station on an average day, that works out to 27 crimes per 100,000 trips.” Residents of the neighborhood chalk this up to the mix of “hoodlum” teens and tourists. This illustrates how crime rate does not depend on busyness of station but inhabitants.
I’ve seen rats and gotten goosebumps from a dark station and I hope this story combines the two to inspire you, the reader, to help out anyone whenever you possibly can because the city can be daunting and its up to all its inhabitants to keep it as safe as can be.

Critical Thinking Question Synthesis Page

Question-  How does this text address the points of view (perspectives) of other groups, especially those who usually don’t get to tell their side?

The nonfiction book, Horsemen of the Esophagus by Jason Fagone, explores the perspective of a journalist just immersing himself in the world of competitive eating and the perspectives of eaters new and old, stereotypical and not, who do not usually get to tell their stories to the masses.

Fagone shares his journey from news writer to a man traveling the US and the globe to find the joy, perils and little known facts about competitive eating.

• “There was a time, of course- a year and fifteen pounds ago- when I didn't watch people gorge themselves in public and try to figure out what it meant, or if it meant anything at all. I was a serious journalist with a good job.” Page 77. 
• “The contest had come a long way in a very short time. Just eight years earlier, it was so small and obscure that Norbitz himself had to solicit contestants from the ranks of Coney Island’s passerby.” Page 33.

These two quotations display how Fagone did what very few people do; quit their job in the pursuit of something that calls to them. Because Fagone was a serious journalist he describes the competitions with sophistication and details, which are not necessarily associated with competitive eating. He also incorporates facts such as the above quotation from page 33. This demonstrates how because of Fagone’s background, he is able to give a fresh point of view on the growing American sport of competitive eating.

In “Horsemen of the Esophagus,” the reader is exposed to the personal lives and motivations of competitive eaters.

• “Finally, the contest in Middletown. Dave rented a big Dodge and took Lisa and Juanita and Adam on their first trip as a family.” Page 29.
• “And Koby thought that phrase-“fat realtor”-was disrespectful. So no interview.” Page 62.

Besides his own, original perspective, Fagone includes numerous, personal passages from interviews with “eaters.” Dave “Coondog” O’Karma’s start of competitive eating was also the first time his family traveled together, showing how the sport can bring people together. Dave was a painter experiencing a midlife crisis until he began the sport and it had a positive impact on his family as well. In addition, when Takuro Kobayashi canceled his interview with Fagone because he was offended by Fagone’s word’s on another eater, comradery was displayed. Compettitive eaters take their hobby/job seriously and there is a sense of community between them.

Overall, the text is very eye-opening, I began this book disgusted and ignorant on the topic of competitive eating, and while it remains gross to me, I learned so much. Each eater has their own story, whether it be Coondog’s midlife crisis or Kobayashi’s utter commitment to the pastime. I think Fagone wrote it to expose these stories, and while he maybe is not trying to change opinions, he is educating readers with a variety of information on this growing sport.

To continue, while I have no desire to become a competitive eater, this book relates to me because I think I am part of Fagone’s target audience; someone who knew very little about competitive but had negative opinions on it. The book is not a persuasive essay but shows how you should judge something after learning about it. On the outside competitive eating can be gross, barbaric, disgusting and inhumane but beneath that there are real people who don’t think of it that way. They consider it a sport and an art, something that takes practice, skill and time.