Perfectly Contended Meat-Eater Guide to Vegetarianism [Paperback]

Mark Warren Reinhardt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1998

Meat-eaters aren't often eager to learn about vegetarianism. When confronted with the topic, their common reaction is to shake their heads and roll their eyes. Maybe one reason for this is that vegetarians tend to take themselves and their favorite subject oh so seriously.

As someone who's never been accused of taking anything seriously, Mark Reinhardt wanted to do something about this. He decided to laugh in the face of death and destruction, and so produced The Perfectly Contented Meat-Eater's Guide to Vegetarianism -- an irreverent yet comprehensive book that teaches meat-eaters (and vegetarians too!) both the fundamentals and all the quirky idiosyncrasies of vegetarian life, and does it in a fun, humorous way.

The book will delight vegetarians who thought they'd heard it all before, and is the perfect gift for doubting parents and all those friends and relatives every vegetarian has been trying to convert for years. The book comes with an extensive resource section for those who want to follow this book with materials that actually say something a little more serious.

"Hey", writes Reinhardt, "If meat-eaters are going to shake their heads and roll their eyes anyway, it may as well be because of my bad jokes!"

Product Details

• Paperback: 249 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826410820
• ISBN-13: 978-0826410825
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,201,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid, immensely entertaining treatment of vegetarianism, August 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Perfectly Contended Meat-Eater Guide to Vegetarianism (Paperback)

I picked up this book primarily because I was interested in thinking about my diet. Although I had heard you could become a vegetarian without atrophying, drying up, and blowing away, as a former meat cutter I was skeptical. Moreover, I wanted a non-threatening introduction to this topic -- how imposing can a book be when you hold the ultimate power over the book? -- after all, you can always pitch it in the trash or, for that matter, use it to kindle your next barbecue.

But there's a catch -- this book is very, very funny, and once you start reading you just keep going for the laughs. That's when it sneaks up on you, and the author starts slipping in information about diet and meat, all of which gets you thinking. Okay, you'll say to yourself, maybe he's got a point but before it gets too serious let me just get through a few more of these jokes, especially the ones about the vegetarians. Then I'll put the book down.

As the force of the nutrition arguments starts to take hold, you begin to think that a change in your diet may just save you a few years -- or at least make your remaining years more pleasurable. At just about that time, your second thoughts start coming in -- do I have to eat tofu all the time? Are there any people not wearing tie-dyed shirts who are into this? Can I ever date again? The author is ready -- he provides some important insights, the frank truths about vegetarianism, and some good hints about living through the rough spots until you get used to it.

Now, you may expect me to say that I experienced an epiphany, that I am now a card-carrying vegan, and that I geech at the thought of eating "food with a face." Not quite --maybe my years as a meat cutter hardened my soul, maybe I just don't have the sort of robust sense of imagination required to appreciate fully the moral problems with eating meat. Nonetheless, I dramatically changed my diet, eliminated the consumption of most meat products and by-products, and improved my health markedly.

I think I could have read fifty books on nutrition, health, and diet and never ben affected enough by any of them to take steps to change my diet. This book sets out the vital information well enough, but this author's true gift is his ability to package the message in an entertaining medium to keep readers' attention spans long enough to have some effect.

This is a book I whole-heartedly recommend to any thinking reader.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT BOOK!, January 26, 2000

By 

Donna Ladd (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfectly Contended Meat-Eater Guide to Vegetarianism (Paperback)

I bought this book for my boyfriend right after we discussed going vegetarian. I thought it was a cookbook to help ease us into a meatless diet, which we were considering primarily because he wanted to lose weight. Instead, it changed my boyfriend's life -- addicted, he kept coming into the room to read me sections. It gave us permission to be vegetarians (year and a half now) for ALL the right reasons -- love of animals, the environmental and hunger problems perpetrated by the meat industry, all-around health, etc. -- although he did lose 30 pounds without getting hungry! This is a perfect antidote for all the stupid Adkins/Zone/high-protein diets that are so unhealthy -- and are only excuses for people to keep eating too much meat (which is *any*, now that we've read this book). And it's so funny and light-hearted that you'll be an avowed vegetarian before you know what hit you. Give a copy to everyone you know! We're sold.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entetaining as Well as Educational, April 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Perfectly Contended Meat-Eater Guide to Vegetarianism (Paperback)

This book is an outstanding review of the health, ecological, and moral reasons for refraining from eating animal products. Having said that, it is neither "preachy" nor sanctimonious but rather downright entertaining. I loved it. It made a vegetarian out ofme.