Product Description

Curious about veganism? Want to be a vegan? Already a vegan? Just wondering how to be vegan without going insane? In this informative and practical guide on veganism, team Torres helps you love your inner vegan freak. Loaded with tips, advice, stories, and comprehensive lists of resources that no vegan should live without, this book is key to helping you thrive as a happy, healthy, and sane vegan in a decidedly non-vegan world. Witty, opinionated, and eminently useful.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #153575 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 196 pages

Review

About the Author
Tattooed vegan freaks themselves, Bob and Jenna Torres both hold PhDs from Cornell University. The authors maintain a vegan blog (veganfreaks.org) where they refined the ideas that grew into this book. Bob and Jenna teach at a small liberal arts college in far upstate New York, where Bob has taught classes on animal rights and vegetarianism.

Customer Reviews

I'm OK (Vegan) and You're OK - And this book Rocks
If you're vegan or even considering it you'll want to pick up this book. Vegan Freak is like having a good friend cheering you on, reminding you that it is possible to be Vegan in a world that often labels vegans as freaks. Call it Vegan Freak pride, call it mentoring, or just call it fantastic support, this book is chock full of advice and information that's essential for anyone even investigating veganism. Bob and Jenna Torres bring together a ton of information from a wide array of sources into an extremely quick and easy read. Their conversational style is refreshing, warm and friendly. The book is much more about supporting a vegan lifestyle than slamming non-vegans, so if you're not yet vegan you won't feel like you're under attack. The subtitle for this book could be I'm an OK Vegan and You're OK, it's incredibly supportive and inspirational and I highly recommend it.

Great book for anyone interested in veganism
Vegan Freak is a great resource for new vegans, longtime vegans, people who are toying with the idea of veganism, or people who know vegans. Bob and Jenna Torres do a great job of explaining the feelings of "freakdom" that often accompany the shift to veganism, but offer comfort in the idea that being freaky really isn't such a bad thing.

There is a lot of great information here, written in a very accessible style, including a fair bit of wry humor. The book focuses not only on the ethical basis of veganism, but also includes suggestions for how to get along as a vegan in a largely meat-eating world. The appendix is chock-full of resources (including reading lists, helpful websites, online stores, veg-themed blogs, and so forth), which is incredibly helpful especially for new vegans and/or people who don't have a big ol' in-person vegan support system at the ready.

Vegan Freak does a great job of filling a gap in the vegan booklist: it's perfect for people who just want the straight story about living as a vegan. As a relatively new vegan myself, I've done a lot of reading in the past year, and I found Vegan Freak to be on par with Obligate Carnivore in the "tell it like it is" arena. This is a good thing--you won't be disappointed!

Veganism for beginners
"Vegan Freak" is unlike any vegan book on the market because it is a survival guide to living vegan in a non-vegan world. According to the authors, "All of us who are vegan have at some point felt like absolute outsiders..." These authors embrace they're vegan freakdom and combine knowlege, wit, and personal experience into book that is both survival guide and handbook to living vegan.

"Vegan Freak" begins with the 'whys' of veganism. The authors give some basic definitions of veganism, how to go vegan in three weeks, how the authors went vegan, and possible pathways to veganism. The book continues with an indepth discussion of Animal Rights, specieism, and factory farming. The authors strongly suggest that the most horrific treatment of animals will only end if conserned persons chose a vegan lifestlye. This idea is furthur echoed in thier discussion of vegan health and nutrition.

The following section explains the 'hows' of veganism. The authors give a through discussion of dealing with others such as friends, family members, and co-workers. The authors even discuss dealing with vegetarians and how deal with those who believe veganism is "taking it too far". Bob and Jenna also give food advice in the chapter titled "What do vegans eat anyway?", giving tips on survival the grocery store, resturants, how to travel vegan, and even vegan pet food.

The final section gives a basic overview on the non-food elements of veganism. The authors cover alternatives to fur, leather, and wool and how to dispose of them once you become vegan. They also give advice of finding cruelty-free alternatives to most soaps, tooth pastes, shampoos, and other tolietries that are usually made with animal products. The book ends with two appendixes full of ways to get involved an extensive list of books about Animal Rights, veganism, health, and cooking.