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Title: The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (Large Print Press)
ISBN: 1594132054
Author:
Michael Pollan
Publicate Date: 2007-04-24
Publish: 2007-04-24
List Price: $14.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $8.25
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $8.95
Amazon Merchant Price: $8.25
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Will Change the Way You Think
For me, there is no greater praise for a book. I'm 3/4 through the book now, and already, it has challenged my views on food, farming, markets, and the US. And I kinda want to be a "grass farmer."
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2: Recommended and Delicious
I tackled the book with an "It's another school assignment" mindset. I finished the book satisfied and savvy. After the few chapters I was readying myself for a couple of hours of reading. It may not be a page-turning thriller, but the humorous tone and interesting tidbits kept me reading.
Pollan turns scientific explanations about foods into understandable, plain English explanations about foods. It's easy to comprehend what he's talking about so I don't have to spare an extra brain trying to decode words like dimethylpolysiloxene and glyceride because Pollan follows up with simple, relatable definitions.
Throughout the book he supplies a bountiful amount of quotes from all sorts of people he encountered throughout his journey to trace raw food to our dinner table. He cites many other works and also occasionally pulls a sentence or two from them. He offers a variety of examples and some anecdotes to help support an ethical, healthy, and tasty meal.
A nice thing about his voice is it's not robotic. His writing sounds human, it sounds like a friend even. The casual tone and 2nd person perspective makes the daunting subject of discussing food science seem easier. Yet when information needs to get across he'll say it bluntly. Switching between straightforward, outright explanations and playful, colorful comments keeps the writing interesting.
In the beginning he mostly focuses on the scientific and economic aspects about food. He starts off with the Zea Mays (corn). Instead of boring his audience with a plain description about how corn dominates the supermarket, he uses a variety of interesting wordplay (The Rise of the Zea Mays, Corn Sex, etc) and compares corn to being something like a dictator. This kept me continuing to read on, which I'm glad I did. After he guides the reader through a series of exposition, he enters narrative. He talks about his experience preparing a purely hunter-gather meal (cutting a few corners) and this lets the reader feel. Instead of raw explanation, we now get more emotional and story-like. I thought this was a good move on Pollan's part to help persuade readers to combat the Omnivore's Dilemma and become healthier.
All in all, I enjoy Pollan's style very much. The humor gives good breaks between hefty paragraphs of dry exposition and the entertaining stories he brings helps the reader picture the scenes so that it isn't all dry, groundless science. Never for me has learning about eating healthy been so amusing. Definitely a good read, although slightly chunky and hard to digest at some points.
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3: Brilliant
It took me a long time to get through this book, but it was so worth it. Thank you, Michael Pollan, for opening my eyes!
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4: Five Stars: Lives Up to All the Hype
One of the best books I've read in recent years. Author Pollan swings big, and delivers. An indictment of us, basically, as Pollan covers the entire food industry and the American public's participation in a massive scam designed to support big business.
This terrific read will make you question every bit of food you ever consume.
Highly recommended for all readers. A good book for high school students interested in discovering how the world works, as well.
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5: Must Read (before you eat)
An essential book to inform and humanize us about our place in the food chain and the choices we have in the marketplace (perhaps the best way to vote). Pollard weaves a strand of his own story, affectionate and self-effacing, as he single-handedly bushwhacks the ways of our eating from paleolithic to post genetically modified. Tremendously researched passion and morality into a single meal (I mean book).
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