Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Foodie Books - Or the Lack Thereof

I tried to get into Michael Pollan, I really did. But Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation tainted me (the movie's okaay). It's like comparing a New York Times editorial to one in USA Today. Schlosser writes like he's serving me a small milkshake, short and sweet. Pollan writes like we're all super smart and care about learning more than anything. Go figure.

I haven't tried the famous first food hit In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, just the more glamorous sister, Omnivore's Dilemma by recommendation. There's a handful of previous books on other smart topics and also a new read, Food Rules. Omnivore killed me but I really wanted it to sustain me. I wanted to learn more info than a nutritionist in one sitting, and be gripped. Obviously this is not possible, so it might be somewhat my mis-assumption. But then how did Schlosser grip me and teach me and make we wanna spread the word? I think it's the manly writing, I call it (actually I just heard someone else say this too, so I can't take credit: Nicole on Hemingway - must try). Short sentences, storytelling, journalism. Not so many numbers and footnotes. Spread that s*** out. Fast food, cheap labor, and profit-driven compromises will not sink in for me unless you wrap it up nice and plain. Just my two cents.

Other Schlosser books I'll try if you do -
Chew on This
Reefer Madness
And a new one's coming out on the American prison system.
Hey, at least those last two are about learning and not just to help put me in the diet know.

2 comments:

Nic said...

Woo! Thanks for the shout-out, Al. Almost makes up for the Pollan diss ;) I'll admit the corn section drags a bit. I tried to help by highlighting everything in my copy before I gave it to you, ha. Also read it in book club, so the digestive discussion helped too. Food Rules pretty much boils Omnivore's Dilemma down into bite-size morsels packaged in a small, paperback treat. xo

Aly Lawson said...

Good to know Food Rules might fit in my mouth better.