kiramke's review against another edition
3.0
Well written, entertaining, reasonably accurate from what I can tell.
merricatct's review against another edition
5.0
I read this on a recommendation from my husband, and I'm glad I found the time to squeeze it in between other reads. Fascinating! I'm always on the lookout for a good microhistory or commodity history, and this certainly fit the bill. It's eye-opening to learn that something as ubiquitous as chicken - in our kitchens, our culture, our religions, our medicines, even our language - has its own incredible back story. We take it for granted, but chicken has played a significant role in many cultures worldwide throughout history.
Reading this has definitely made me a better informed consumer - obviously I know that chicken feeds us, but I didn't know just how extensively we've modified chickens in such a short period of time. I had no idea that chickens are excluded from US regulations regarding the humane treatment of food animals! I didn't think the author was "preachy" or biased, any more than most people who see the reality of the meat industry and have to convey that reality to the rest of us. There's no pleasant way of describing battery cages or the fact that the typical American chicken is so grossly modified that their skeletal structure can't support the weight of their massive breast. I immediately thought of Atwood's Oryx and Crake and the ChickieNobs bucket o' nubbins ... not a pleasant thought, to say the least.
Also fascinating (and sad) is that, like so many other things, raising chickens was traditionally the work of women or slaves. But when (white) men recognized the potential of chicken, specifically during wartime/the Great Depression, it suddenly became big business.
Great read all around. The author has written many articles for newspapers and magazines, but this was his first book. I hope he writes more!
Reading this has definitely made me a better informed consumer - obviously I know that chicken feeds us, but I didn't know just how extensively we've modified chickens in such a short period of time. I had no idea that chickens are excluded from US regulations regarding the humane treatment of food animals! I didn't think the author was "preachy" or biased, any more than most people who see the reality of the meat industry and have to convey that reality to the rest of us. There's no pleasant way of describing battery cages or the fact that the typical American chicken is so grossly modified that their skeletal structure can't support the weight of their massive breast. I immediately thought of Atwood's Oryx and Crake and the ChickieNobs bucket o' nubbins ... not a pleasant thought, to say the least.
Also fascinating (and sad) is that, like so many other things, raising chickens was traditionally the work of women or slaves. But when (white) men recognized the potential of chicken, specifically during wartime/the Great Depression, it suddenly became big business.
Great read all around. The author has written many articles for newspapers and magazines, but this was his first book. I hope he writes more!
trowellingbadger's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great, if pretty rapid, look at the relationship between mankind and the chicken. Lawler covers a great deal from initial domestication of wild species for to the chicken's role in human society over thousands of years, from religion to politics and disease prevention. It's well researched and written in an easily comprehensible style, so rattles along at quite a pace. It is a pretty rapid survey, with some parts feeling a little choppy, and some sections could have done with some more development, but overall it's fascinating and well worth a read. Certainly I learnt a lot about chickens, anyway!
One one level there are all sorts of interesting facts about the birds themselves, and some odd characters he meets along the way. Beyond that I genuinely gained a lot from this, as I'm interested in how animals and humans interact, from domestication onward. I particularly didn't realise just how much of the more pejorative views of chickens are pretty recent and have much to do with their changing role in western society. It is also yet another book which, although not a main purpose of the book, challenges the reader about consuming meat and animal products from an industrial farming system.
Overall, definitely worth a read.
One one level there are all sorts of interesting facts about the birds themselves, and some odd characters he meets along the way. Beyond that I genuinely gained a lot from this, as I'm interested in how animals and humans interact, from domestication onward. I particularly didn't realise just how much of the more pejorative views of chickens are pretty recent and have much to do with their changing role in western society. It is also yet another book which, although not a main purpose of the book, challenges the reader about consuming meat and animal products from an industrial farming system.
Overall, definitely worth a read.
yggdrasil_81's review against another edition
4.0
organisation a bit random but interesting and entertaining
sarrie's review
3.0
2.5*s Unfortunately it was not for me.
This took me forever and a day. I was really excited about this one and unfortunately it didn't quite pull itself off enough to work (or to even keep me awake most days).
The whole first third of the book seemed like a very dull, long winded explanation for 'we just can't track where and when it came from exactly'. There were tidbits and sections I enjoyed mostly in the second third, such at look as it's religious impact and how the eggs are used to study evolution. And at the same time portions I was really interested in were skimmed over. For example, the change of the chicken from a common religious icon to a 'demonic' one was perhaps a page, maybe two. But there was nearly an entire chapter looking at early cultures with touches of 'and this is why they had a chicken'. The last chapter moved back into tedium with looks at companies like Tyson and how chickens are basically just commercialized. There were a few more interesting bits here, such as the woman who worked to save chickens from meat farms. But by this time I was so ready to be finished I struggled connecting.
This took me forever and a day. I was really excited about this one and unfortunately it didn't quite pull itself off enough to work (or to even keep me awake most days).
The whole first third of the book seemed like a very dull, long winded explanation for 'we just can't track where and when it came from exactly'. There were tidbits and sections I enjoyed mostly in the second third, such at look as it's religious impact and how the eggs are used to study evolution. And at the same time portions I was really interested in were skimmed over. For example, the change of the chicken from a common religious icon to a 'demonic' one was perhaps a page, maybe two. But there was nearly an entire chapter looking at early cultures with touches of 'and this is why they had a chicken'. The last chapter moved back into tedium with looks at companies like Tyson and how chickens are basically just commercialized. There were a few more interesting bits here, such as the woman who worked to save chickens from meat farms. But by this time I was so ready to be finished I struggled connecting.
eleneariel's review
Did not finish - don't have the attention span for this kind of nonfiction right now.
vada's review
4.0
this is the most thorough book I have EVER read. who knew there was that much to know about chickens. this man is doing god’s work
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