Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs by Jamie Loftus

18 reviews

mattyvreads's review

dark emotional funny informative lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.75

What a strange and fascinating book. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Loftus’s writing is hilarious, irreverent, and that perfect mix of very intelligent yet sophomoric that really does it for me. There is no doubt that she has done her research.

The book is full of hot dog stories, facts, wives’ tales, and scandals. There is astute social commentary and histories about the different individual stands, communities, and organizations which contextualize her opinions on those different businesses. Plus, some conspiracy theory lite™️ (read: technically conspiracy theories that are unproblematic and probably true).

CW: disordered eating —

I struggled a little bit with how she mentions and frames the struggle with her eating disorder on this hot dog road trip. I have complicated feelings. As someone who has struggled with an eating disorder for almost my whole life, I am grateful she spoke about this openly and honestly, and acknowledge that is a very vulnerable thing to discuss publicly. Having said that, she just mentions it a couple times in passing like “this was a day that I felt disgusting and worthless in my body” (I’m paraphrasing), but those feelings seem completely unresolved. Even in a day to day snapshot, where we might see a light at the end of the tunnel (even briefly). BUT! I also understand where she is coming from. As the book went on, I could guess a motivation for leaving those few, scattered mentions. It is ever-present and it is unresolved. There is no happy resolution on most eating disorders. It’s ongoing. Maybe it’s just because of my own historically disordered eating that I saw it through a lens of how I would have discussed the issue? Not my book!

All in all, the book was incredibly witty and refreshingly modern. She is a terrific writer. My favorite quote: “10 years ago, we would call this a Woody Allen day. But now we know better and call it a Nora Ephron day.” Chef’s kiss.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Eating disorder, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Vomit

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

I never thought anyone could store s whole book just about hotdogs. Nor did I ever think I could read such a book, especially since I’m vegetarian. More than the discussion of what makes a hotdog and how they are made, I felt sick thinking about what it must feel like to eat so many hotdogs. Some chapters were light and funny. Others were very serious and talked about heavy topics like racism, sexism, and even rape, (who knew hotdogs could have so much gravitas, right?).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Vomit, Colonisation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

xinawebb's review against another edition

funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Eating disorder

grabman's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Eating disorder, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

breadbummer's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.5

Very funny and very informative! Probably not a book for boomers (my boomer parents, at least) with Loftus' consistent jokes relating to sex and/or diarrhea; I, being raised by the true god of older gen-z, the YouTube Poop, thought these were hilarious. I especially loved how this was all blended with the personal histories of the various hot doggeries and figures related to the food. Big bonus for the content warning section at the beginning, too!

My main critiques come from aspects that I'm not really sure can be helped. For one, a lot of jokes/silly comparisons/what have you are repeated multiple times throughout the book, which made me a bit tired of the "(whoever) wouldn't do (a specific thing) if they had (a specific weapon) to their head" (for now). Along with that, maybe it's just because I'm a midwesterner, but I was kind of appalled at how short the trip to the Midwest was. I mean, c'mon, not counting the chapter on Chicago, just Ohio and Wisconsin...? A huge swath of the country is being missed out on. But at the same time, I get it—Loftus has already been on the road for weeks eating variations of the same grotes ue food just about every day and is also

dealing with a breakup

, so I don't think it would be fair of me to complain all that much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Police brutality, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body shaming, Sexual content, Excrement, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Deportation

ivorymusic82's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cursing, Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Violence and Police brutality

corriespondent's review against another edition

funny informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Racism and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Eating disorder, Genocide, Misogyny, Vomit, and Alcohol

sarahyjackson's review against another edition

funny informative medium-paced

5.0

Part travelogue, part food essay, part capitalist critique - ALL VERY FUNNY. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Racism, Sexism, Excrement, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic

slimshaedy92's review

adventurous funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

Jamie balances history, personal and national, in her exploration of the most American of terrible yet wonderful dishes. There are moments when I lose the plot and literally don’t know what we’re talking about but that’s for maybe a sentence. I was horrified and hungry in varying amounts at various times and I want to follow her journey (sans the emotional and digestive turmoil).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Eating disorder, Genocide, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

taylormoore's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: Drug abuse, Racism, and Vomit