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breadbummer's review against another edition
4.5
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
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
sarahyjackson's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Racism, Sexism, Excrement, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Cancer, Racism, Excrement, Police brutality, and Grief
jonna_doucette's review against another edition
1.5
For its faults, of which there are many (see: Loftus’s a-hole choice to flout lock-down and travel/research this book during the height of the pandemic), this book had the makings of something better that was lost along the roadside of Loftus’s journey. A travelogue? Yeah. A culinary history? Maybe... if you squint. Capitalist critique? Certainly not. Unfortunately, for the small amount of ink Loftus spares for actually interesting, prescient topics, like industrial safety standards for slaughter houses, meatpackers, and the animals we farm for food, or ethnocentrism within competitive eating, she wastes twice as many pages playing at being an insecure girl next door from Bah-ston and hoping we’ll accept her anyways, like so many of the humble, working-class delicacies she’s sampled across our great country.
For anyone interested in actual meat-centered food history/commentary, I suggest the following:
Meathooked: The History and Science of Our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession with Meat
The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating
Sorting the Beef from the Bull: The Science of Food Fraud Forensics
Salted and Cured: Savoring the Culture, Heritage, and Flavor of America's Preserved Meats
Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed, and the Fight for the Future of Meat
Graphic: Cursing and Excrement
Moderate: Eating disorder and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Racism
tiffanyg's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Eating disorder, Violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, and Vomit
rhiannonafternoon's review against another edition
5.0
Throughout this book you’ll get a taste of Loftus’ journey to document hot dog history, the unsettling creation of the beasts themselves, and learn that the best hot dog stands have burned down at least once. She’s got great one liners, and reminded me that for some strange reason, I still know the words to the Oscar Meyer Wiener song.
Moderate: Excrement, Cultural appropriation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Eating disorder and Misogyny
knenigans's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Eating disorder and Excrement
Minor: Animal cruelty
caseythereader's review against another edition
3.75
- A few days after finishing RAW DOG, I'm still not sure what to make of it. I do know that I was riveted, deeply invested in Loftus' physical and emotional journey of eating hot dogs across the country.
- Loftus is able to place the history of the hot dog into the larger context of the country, connecting them to everything from the Great Depression to modern gentrification.
- It made me desperately want a hot dog, but also gave me vicarious meat sweats. While I think it was a bit overlong in the end, if you can stomach all the meat talk and want a read outside your usual lane, RAW DOG is worth checking out.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Racism, Sexual content, Excrement, Vomit, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
imstephtacular's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Colonisation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical content, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail