Eating Animals

By: Jonathan Safran Foer

Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross

Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Jonathan Safran Foer spent much of his teenage and college years oscillating between omnivore and vegetarian. But on the brink of fatherhood - facing the prospect of having to make dietary choices on a child's behalf - his casual questioning took on an urgency.

His quest for answers ultimately required him to visit factory farms in the middle of the night, dissect the emotional ingredients of meals from his childhood, and probe some of his most primal instincts about right and wrong.

Brilliantly synthesizing philosophy, literature, science, memoir, and his own detective work, Eating Animals explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits - from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth - and how such tales can lull us into a brutal forgetting. Marked by Foer's profound moral ferocity and unvarying generosity, as well as the vibrant style and creativity that made his previous books, Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, widely loved, Eating Animals is a celebration and a reckoning, a story about the stories we've told - and the stories we now need to tell.

©2009 Jonathan Safran Foer (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"The everyday horrors of factory farming are evoked so vividly, and the case against the people who run the system presented so convincingly, that anyone who, after reading Foer's book, continues to consume the industry's products must be without a heart, or impervious to reason, or both." (J. M. Coetzee)

"A work of moral philosophy...After reading this book, it's hard to disagree [with Foer]." ( San Francisco Chronicle)

"For a hot young writer to train his sights on a subject as unpalatable as meat production and consumption takes raw nerve. What makes Eating Animals so unusual is vegetarian Foer's empathy for human meat eaters, his willingness to let both factory farmers and food reform activists speak for themselves, and his talent for using humor to sweeten a sour argument." ( O, The Oprah Magazine)

Some Interesting Point, Not Well Presented

At first I thought it was just me but friends have made the same comment about this book: it jumps all over the issue and never really scores a solid point except perhaps that the factory farm needs to be less cruel which has nothing to do with going vegan---as repeatedly pointed out by the author himself.

There is some interesting information in the book if you are willing to sort through Mr. Foer's struggle with what seem to be some personal issues.

It's not what you think---It won't shock you into giving up meat. It may not even effect you except you'll be upset with how food animals are raised---though you have little control over that process.

Chris Reich

An exceptional must read for anyone who eats food

An exceptional book that has a compelling message. I've recommended this book to everyone I know and will continue to do so. A completely eyeopening story of food production and what the meat industry and factory farming are doing to the environment, our food, and our health. My husband and I, both of us happy omnivores have become vegan since reading this book and are happier and healthier than we've ever been. I thank Jonathan Safran Foer for bringing this information to the light of the public and think more people should know about the horrors going on and the reality of the food they put into their bodies on a daily basis. Jonathan is not only a wonderful author but a great narrator. The best credit I've ever used!

one of the most amazing books I have ever read.

this book will change lives if people will take the trouble to read it. it's been a long time since I've been so moved by any book

Everyone needs to read this book

Truly eye opening - this should be a required read for high school & college students or any animal lover

Can't Ignore the Facts

Where does Eating Animals rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is the first non-fiction book that I have listened to, and I thought the reader was average. He made strange pauses and there was too much wait time inbetween chapters.

What three words best describe Jonathan Todd Ross’s performance?

Average.
Somewhat lacking.

Any additional comments?

The book itself is amazing overall with the amount of facts that it holds. Foer makes some philosophical leaps that I can't hang with, but on the whole this is a book that you can't ignore and forces you to look at your moral code and decisions on a daily basis.

Better than i expected

What did you love best about Eating Animals?

I would have rated this 4.5 stars, but there is no option and I consider it closer to 5 than 4, because I thought that it was very well done.

What I loved was the balanced and reasonable viewpoint. I expected this book to lead straight to vegetarianism being the answer, but instead found it to be a quite balanced exploration.

It was a great book to read after Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemna" because it brought up different issues, and focused on different areas of meat eating.

Who was your favorite character and why?

A chicken farmer in one of the chapters. He really loved farming chickens the right way and treating them well, and is what a farmer should be.

Have you listened to any of Jonathan Todd Ross’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

All It Took

This book is all it took for me to give up eating meat with the intent to eventually give up dairy and go vegan. My boyfriend is a vegetarian and I have always contemplated the idea of meat-free diet. I didn't understand the extent of the cruelty in factory farming until I listen to this book. I cannot ignor this harsh truth any longer. If you are curious about a vegetarian lifestyle or curious about the conditions of factory farming, read this book. I also want to point out that the author does a fantastic job of presenting the information in a factual sense and leaves the reader to make his or her own choice.

meat

this is a thought provoking book, to say the least..and it was published in 2005, 2020 we could tell about that next pandemic. very good read

loved it. it's my favorite book

this book had me feeling every emotion I have. Foer is an excellent author and really knows how to get a point across to the reader. just great

Very informative

Nicely done. This expose on the agri-industry will give you a glimpse behind the Styrofoam packaging that your food comes in.