Customer Reviews

Perfectly Contended Meat-Eater Guide to Vegetarianism

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
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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.

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.

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.

This is a fantastic book. After a difficult holiday with relatives I picked up this book and wished I had had it with me before the holiday had started. Since then I bought 8 more copies and have given them to friends and relatives alike. Information on the benefits of being vegetarian is presented in a non-emotional way with excellent facts to support the information. It covers issues ranging from nutrition to environment to factory farms. There are scenarios for dating, a whole chapter on dealing with relatives, and tips on how to be vegetarian during the holidays without going hungry. There's no meat-eater bashing in here. In fact, a lot of the writing is pretty funny. Its just a very straightforward presentation of information and armed with non-emotional information makes it so much easier to have a conversation with people who try to challenge your choices. I highly recommend this for anyone who is vegetarian/vegan as well as for anyone who loves/knows someone who has made such a choice and you want to understand why. Its absolutely one of the best books I've read and has helped me immensely. Plus there are some really funny parts. Enjoyable and quick to read

I found this book to be very helpful and fun to read but,I haven't picked it up again since my first read through. I think this would be a great gift to a new vegatarian or a lender to a person interested in learning more about the specifics. Informative and fun....just not a whole lot of new info for this long-time reader and veggie eater!

As an avid reader of "scads" of books related to vegetarianism/veganism - and as a vegetarian of nine years, vegan of one - I've got to say this is by far THE MOST ENTERTAINING BOOK I've read on this topic! I've gasped, winced and even cried reading non-fiction portraying the ghasly side of human behavior and how we treat animals, but I've never laughed out loud - until now! (My cats think these seemingly unprovoked outbursts indicate that I've finally gone insane.) Definitely not just for the flesh-eater, as the title may lead one to conclude, this book is jam-packed with facts and the author's insightful observations. Reinhardt, perhaps the only ethical attorney in existence, asks you to question your behaviors, consider the alternatives and make the kindest, most logical alterations in your lifestyle for your physical health, your conscience, the planet and of course, the animals. Don't pass this one up - buy it used, contact the author, track down an unsuspecting vegan in the tofu department and beg to borrow it! I love this book and am buying copies for all of my redneck, backwoods relatives who still can't pronounce "what it is exactly that I am." (Veee-gun, Aunt Edna.) This one is fun and informative - get a copy and enjoy!

It may be hard at first, but there is so much help out there now. It is one of the best decisions we ever made at our house. One of the best things about it is we can now eat as much as we want. It's really just a matter of changing your tastes to like veggies, grains and fruits instead of the high fat flesh products.

This book is pretty good and we gave it away as a gift. There is lots of information about how much it takes to feed animals to feed us. It's really amazing how wasteful eating meat is.

One of the reasons we changed was because we noticed that even cutting back on the standard american diet is still not good. You really have to change your diet (not a change just to lose weight and then go back, but a true change). Our local school serves french fries four days a week (I know, vegetarian, but it's not good). This told us how far society has come to try and fix things with a pill or shot and how much change had to start with me and my home.