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Tarrare began his life of gluttony as a street performer wowing crowds by eating anything they gave him. He'd gobble down sacks full of apples, handfuls of corks, bags of coins, just about anything. HowStuffWorks
There once was a man named Tarrare
Whose appetite was rather bizarre
Despite constant consumption
So, he binged until he bid au revoir
Coins, corks, live kittens and puppies, eels and even corpses — nothing could satisfy the insatiable appetite of the 18th century Frenchman Tarrare. He was such a slave to his hunger that he would do anything to repress it.
The brief and disturbing life of Tarrare is a fascinating case study of perhaps the most bizarre eating disorder ever, and one that remains a medical mystery some 250 years later.