Hi all,
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksea...2DBourette
I ran into this book by accident while cruising through my beloved, Barnes and Noble about a month ago. I had no intention of spending money so I don't know why my butt was in B & N.
However, a book with the title "Meat: a Love Story" demanded my purchase. Written by reporter Susan Bourette, this tidbit is a positive awakening to the healthy diet of meat and grease. She, being an investigative reporter, learned the ins and outs of how meat is put on the dining table. In the beginning of the book She worked in a meat plant where she became so disgusted with meat that she became a vegetarian. If you've ever read "The Jungle" you will have a very good idea as to how her experience relates. As a vegetarina, she realized that her health was suffering and her palate cried out for MEAT. If you buy nothing else, you gotta buy this book. I actually found it for 3.95 but I lost that site. So shop around for the best price...just make sure that you get the book.
Jimmy, I would love to hear an interview with this authur. She also wrote the book "Carnivore Chic" ( I might have the title discombobulated but it is something like that ).
Enjoy,
Mary
P.S. If you have never read "The Jungle" get the Cliff Notes.
She sounds amazing, Mary! I'll check into it.
I just contacted her about the interview...cross your fingers!
Jimmy Moore Wrote:I just contacted her about the interview...cross your fingers!
:shy:Yeah Yay. I am so excited! My fingers are so crossed.
Meat: A Love Story, by Susan Bourette
I bought this from an Amazon used-book seller, but the copy I got was brand new, never opened, with a letter to a potential reviewer and a press release, so apparently whomever it was given to in hopes of getting a review never read it.
This is NOT a book about dieting or low-carb eating in any sense. I actually got the feeling the author started out intending to "prove" something; perhaps, given that her boyfriend is a vegetarian and her first stop was working in a slaughterhouse, to convince herself to stick to being a vegetarian. Along the way, however, she met such a varied and interesting cross section of people, along with their cultures and meat-eating habits and beliefs, that she really ended up believing that meat is wholesome and natural and part of the human experience.
I would call this book a travelogue through a world of meat producing cultures, starting with a modern slaughterhouse, moving on to a butcher shop in New York City, then to the Inupiat in Alaska on a whale hunt, then to a Texas cattle ranch, then a moose hunt in Canada, and so on.
If there is any moral message to this book, it is simply that modern, industrial meat production is not as humane as it should be, and that the best quality meat (and the best treatment of animals) comes from small, local producers. I doubt many people would take issue with that message.
My only real complaint about the book, albeit minor, is a tendency of the author to switch context without warning or prologue, such that in a few places it is a bit difficult to follow the story.
On the other hand, the writing is very lively and funny, and Bourette takes you on a delightfully interesting tour of human meat-eating cultures. I found this a very enjoyable and interesting book.
Jim
The reason I am enjoying this book is that it is not about "dieting", it is about the meat culture. It is about the meat business as well as the environment. It is about hunting as well as whaling. Ted Nugent is a big time hunter. As a matter of fact, TN has become more famous as a hunter, than a rocker. It is about cowboys and the elite. It is historical; I never realized, although it does make sense, that women, at one time, were not "permitted" to eat beefsteak as it was the meat reserved for men. Where is the liberty in that I ask you?!?
Some parts of her writing does become mired with aliteration and I skip over some of it because it loses me.
Keldiklutz, I do look forward to trying some moose, I must say. I am a slow reader and I have covered over half the book this summer. That is good for me. I have an idea of what the remainder of the book is going to be about. I just finished the section on pasture raised animals and how important it is to keep animals, destined for slaughter, happy. Pasture fed beef is a little different from organic beef. It adresses the health of the environment. I am not very "green" but I do have "green" thoughts. I like thinking of ways to eat in a way that not only protects, but improves the environment. Pasture fed livestock is a way that these farmers acknowledge and show appreciation for the environment.
Also I am sure that I experienced something similar to "subacute" acidosis which causes beef cattle to eat dirt and kick at their bellies. This is a common condition of grain fed beef. I once had a high grain diet, mostly breads, and I craved dirt, especially while pregnant. Beef cattle who are fed grain for rapid fattening, lack the health factors of grass fed beef.
I have had moose, but it was many years ago. I vaguely remember it being quite dry, but will try it again if I get a chance. As to the book, I agree there is quite a bit of alliteration, but I read pretty fast so I just plowed through them. You have a couple of mild surprises coming up in the book, but I won't spoil them for you. I did really enjoy the book.
Jim
This sounds like an interesting book. I've had moose, reindeer and horse meat. My husband is Swedish so, he wanted me to try some of these traditional meats. I can't say they were bad or that I crave them but, it was interesting all the same.
~Danielle
Thanks for the post about this book! Sounds a lot like me - I'd given up eating meat after learning about slaughterhouses many years ago. Recently I convinced myself that it was "ok" if I ate meat from local farms and not factory farm raised animals. So here I am very-low carb meat/water only and just a short time ago I was a vegetarian and then "vegetarian plus eggs, yogurt, and fish".
Now I'm back to eating raw ground beef like I did many years ago.
I found a new copy of the book at a heavily discounted price online and it just arrived yesterday. Thanks, Mary!
Deborah
KleidiKlutz, I did not read the book this week. After what you posted I will read more of it tomorrow.
Twilight, I saw it at a heavily reduced price and almost regretted purchaasing it when I did. But, then again I bought it because of the title. It was an emotional purchase.
I'm working on an interview with Susan Bourette as we speak for my podcast show.
:cool:Jimmy, That is great to hear. I am so glad that I just happened to see this book. I purchased it solely for the title. Quite an interesting read,I understand that there is an interesting twist coming up so I better get caught up on my reading.
Did you get a chance to read the book? In the eigth chapter "Ode To The Steak House" Susan describes a boss as a veritable billboard of the Atkins Lifestyle. In that same chapter she quotes Julia Child regarding diet food " The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for your steak to cook.":D
I've got a copy of the book on the way to me now. After I read it, I'll be interviewing the author. CAN'T WAIT!
It is an enjoyable book. Jimmy, can't wait till you get a chance to read it. We, being major consumers of the meat business, should get a good education of what goes on in various methods of keeping meat on the table. It wouldn't hurt to add The Jungle, atleast the Cliffs Notes, to this.
It just came in the mail today. I'll be reading it soon and interviewing the author.
KeldiKlutz Wrote:I have had moose, but it was many years ago. I vaguely remember it being quite dry, but will try it again if I get a chance. As to the book, I agree there is quite a bit of alliteration, but I read pretty fast so I just plowed through them. You have a couple of mild surprises coming up in the book, but I won't spoil them for you. I did really enjoy the book.
Jim
I just read something that left my mouth on the floor. I don't want to say anything but I want to send the book to this newsreporter who is always chanting about the benefits of whole grain. I just wonder how she would swallow this.
