Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

RAW DOG : THE NAKED TRUTH ABOUT HOT DOGS by Jamie Loftus

5 reviews

mattyvreads's review against another edition

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

slimshaedy92's review against another edition

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

jourdanicus's review against another edition

5.0

This might be my most unexpected 5 star read this year! I have been in a serious book slump, and it's been even worse with audiobooks, so for a... Hot dog... Memoir? To take me out of it is pretty fun.

Yeah, idk, it was good. Interesting. If you like "micro histories" you'll like this. If you're vegan you will either love this or hate it. You'll definitely like it if you like podcasts. Being narrated by the author makes the audiobook even better!

Re: content warnings - they are listed in the beginning of the book so that's helpful if I missed some here.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Eating disorder, Police brutality, Stalking, Alcohol, and Colonisation

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

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