''Horsemen of the Esophagus'' by Jason Fagone is a nonfiction book about the sport of

competitive eating Competitive eating, or speed eating, is an activity in which participants compete against each other to eat large quantities of food, usually in a short time period. Contests are typically eight to ten minutes long, although some competitions c ...

and the outsized American appetite. ''Horsemen'' follows three American "gurgitators" during a year on the pro eating circuit: Ohio housepainter David "Coondog" O'Karma, South Jersey truck driver Bill "El Wingador" Simmons, and Manhattan day-trader Tim "Eater X" Janus. ''Horseman'' makes stops at 27 competitive eating contests around the world, including the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island and includes an interview with Nathan's champion at the time,

Takeru Kobayashi , also known as Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi, is a Japanese competitive eater. Described as "the godfather of competitive eating", Kobayashi is a six-time champion of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and is widely credited with popularizing the spor ...

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