miharekar's review against another edition
3.0
I heard good things about this book from an activism perspective. So I went into it hoping I’ll learn something about that. And while there certainly are some good ideas, it’s very outdated (internet and social media only mentioned in passing), focusing primarily on pamphlets and showing VCR tapes (yes, really) on a TV and educating people who pass by.
The vast, *vast* majority of the book is about why we should stop eating animals. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, and I agree that in the future we’ll look back at this period of factory farming with horror, it is not why I picked up this book or what I hoped to get out of it.
So if you need convincing to go vegetarian/vegan, and/or are interested in spreading that word, give this book a go. It’s great. But if you’re not in the subsection of that Venn diagram, feel free to skip it.
The vast, *vast* majority of the book is about why we should stop eating animals. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, and I agree that in the future we’ll look back at this period of factory farming with horror, it is not why I picked up this book or what I hoped to get out of it.
So if you need convincing to go vegetarian/vegan, and/or are interested in spreading that word, give this book a go. It’s great. But if you’re not in the subsection of that Venn diagram, feel free to skip it.
tanel's review against another edition
1.0
Promotes vegetarianism, baby steps and "effective activism"
daisymoon's review against another edition
3.0
This was a short but very interesting read about animal rights activism. The two authors wrote about their experiences and tried to share the rules they created from their long experiences as activists. A lot of it was very interesting and opened a lot of possibilities.
I have to admit that I had issues with the book. My biggest issue was that the authors said over and over how other issues were less important to them. I get that they chose animal rights as their work, as their fight, but I personnaly can't accept to chose only one fight. I believe you have to fight against injustice and suffering as a whole, not only your little corner. I really feel the intersectionality of it all was really missing for the book, and felt at times that it was mostly written for straight cis white men.
Also there were weird stances at time : one against tattoos (and other "countercultural" looks), one saying vegan should date omnivores to convince them (even when they "belittle" the vegan).... Both ideas were only said in passing but weirded me out for some very obvious reason. The authors seemeds to always say being to radical would be counterproductive, which is a point that can be okay, and then they said people should basically use their love life to "convert" others. That was really weird.
I have to admit that I had issues with the book. My biggest issue was that the authors said over and over how other issues were less important to them. I get that they chose animal rights as their work, as their fight, but I personnaly can't accept to chose only one fight. I believe you have to fight against injustice and suffering as a whole, not only your little corner. I really feel the intersectionality of it all was really missing for the book, and felt at times that it was mostly written for straight cis white men.
Also there were weird stances at time : one against tattoos (and other "countercultural" looks), one saying vegan should date omnivores to convince them (even when they "belittle" the vegan).... Both ideas were only said in passing but weirded me out for some very obvious reason. The authors seemeds to always say being to radical would be counterproductive, which is a point that can be okay, and then they said people should basically use their love life to "convert" others. That was really weird.
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