Product Description

The average American consumes 218.3 pounds of meat every year. But in the face of concerns about Mad Cow disease, dubious industrial feedlot practices, and self-righteous vegetarians, the carnivorous lifestyle has become somewhat déclassé. Now, Scott Gold issues a red-blooded call to arms for the meat-adoring masses to rise up, speak out, and reclaim their pride. 

The Shameless Carnivore explores the complexities surrounding the choice to eat meat, as well as its myriad pleasures. Delving into everything from ethical issues to dietary, anthropological and medical findings, Gold answers such probing questions as: Can staying carnivorous be more healthful than going vegetarian? What’s behind the “tastes like chicken” phenomenon?  And, of course, what qualities should you look for in a butcher? The author also chronicles his attempt to become the ultimate carnivore by eating thirty-one different meats as well as every part, cut and organ of a cow (including tasty recipes), describes hunting squirrels in Louisiana, and even spends an entire, painstaking week as a vegetarian.

From the critter dinners he relished as a child to his adult forays into exotic game and adventures in the kitchen, Gold writes with an infectious enthusiasm that might just inspire readers to serve a little llama or rattlesnake at their next dinner party. This is the definitive book for meat lovers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #115520 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-18
• Released on: 2008-03-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In his first book, former literary agent Gold sets out to probe the joys and mysteries of meat eating. According to his research, the ability to track and hunt for meat, whether hooved, clawed or winged, aided in the development of human intelligence, so we are destined to eat it. But as a carnivore with few qualms about meats, Gold is better equipped than most for this celebration of the meat-eating life. The bulk of the book chronicles his self-described month of meat, in which the author ate 31 kinds of meat in as many days. Alternating between the mundane (chicken) and the exotic (llama), he takes his culinary pilgrimage as seriously as a journey through a country or subculture, something many food writers are doing these days. The result is a hipsterish, lad-lit quasi-travelogue à la Julia and Julia. He takes on filet of ostrich and bull pizzle, vegetarianism and veganism, and argues that the indirect effects of such ethical and dietary lifestyle choices sometimes do more harm than the decision to butcher a single animal. The last and best part of his book is the Tour de Boeuf, which takes Gold through the butchering of a live bovine to the eating of various innards and offal. Fun, though somewhat frivolous, with recipes and sidebars. (Mar)
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Review
"[Gold's] often amusing first-person account of acquiring, cooking, serving and eating his prey is interspersed with occasional recitations of fun factorids. As a writer, Gold is entertaining, with a punchy, extemporaneous tone that sounds like as if he were doing stand-up. He goes for the laughs and often gets them." -- Holly Brubach, The New York Times Style Magazine

"[Gold's] book is laugh-out-loud funny. But it is also quite thoughtful." --Judy Walker, The Times-Picayune

"[Gold] has devoted a good portion of the book to the ethics of eating animals, the comparative merits (taste, health and conscience) of organic and free-range meats and the (rightly) exalted status of the responsible hunter. Gold has the utmost respect for "the integrity of meat" and demonstrates it brilliantly throughout his book." --Christine Sismondo, The Toronto Star

"The Shameless Carnivore is an unapologetically funny, provacative yet meticulously researched examination of the author's red-blooded appetite. The book also maps out the culture wars involving omnivores, vegetarians, vegans, PETA and animal slaughter." --Alexandyr Kent, The Shreveport Times

"Rare in the growing tide of books on vegetarian cooking, Gold's memoir of meat is well done. And while he offers bites of history and health in his "Manifesto for Meat Lovers," the meat of his tale is his mission to eat 31 different meats - from alligator to yak - in 31 days. Our advice to anyone who would try to mimic the good-humored author: Don't fill up on bread!" --Bill Heller, The New York Post

"Gold spent a month eating a different kind of meat each day, including offal, and in the course of a serious discussion about food choices–“Vegetarians also get attacked on a regular basis,” a friend tells him, referring to holiday meals–his book forces the squeam...

Review
"[Gold's] often amusing first-person account of acquiring, cooking, serving and eating his prey is interspersed with occasional recitations of fun factorids. As a writer, Gold is entertaining, with a punchy, extemporaneous tone that sounds like as if he were doing stand-up. He goes for the laughs and often gets them." -- Holly Brubach, The New York Times Style Magazine

"[Gold's] book is laugh-out-loud funny. But it is also quite thoughtful." --Judy Walker, The Times-Picayune

"[Gold] has devoted a good portion of the book to the ethics of eating animals, the comparative merits (taste, health and conscience) of organic and free-range meats and the (rightly) exalted status of the responsible hunter. Gold has the utmost respect for "the integrity of meat" and demonstrates it brilliantly throughout his book." --Christine Sismondo, The Toronto Star

"The Shameless Carnivore is an unapologetically funny, provacative yet meticulously researched examination of the author's red-blooded appetite. The book also maps out the culture wars involving omnivores, vegetarians, vegans, PETA and animal slaughter." --Alexandyr Kent, The Shreveport Times

"Rare in the growing tide of books on vegetarian cooking, Gold's memoir of meat is well done. And while he offers bites of history and health in his "Manifesto for Meat Lovers," the meat of his tale is his mission to eat 31 different meats - from alligator to yak - in 31 days. Our advice to anyone who would try to mimic the good-humored author: Don't fill up on bread!" --Bill Heller, The New York Post

Customer Reviews

Surprisingly Good meaty reading
At the outset, I had mixed emotions about meat eating. Not only have I questioned the merits of meat-eating, but also the agro-industrial complex that produces our USDA Prime. I was happy to see that Gold has the same questions as I do and addresses them in this book. A crucial and highly pivotal moment of the book occurs when Gold shares a story about his brother, a devout Buddhist, living on a monastery. Gold goes to the root of ancient wisdom and give the reader a lot to chew on. Mr. Gold is a funny writer, but the book goes beyond hoopla to critically examine what has happened to our meat supply as a result our of uncontrollable carnivorism and most importantly, how a reverence for life and the animals we eat will result in better lives for all involved.

Meat-arific.
As an avid chili fan, I need meat, and I love food writing- anything from the perfect prose of A.J. Liebling to Michael Pollan's (often unrealistic) findings, to Barry Glassner's sensible advice. This addition to the food-lit canon is funny, informative, and adventurous. Such a fun time reading this, and I think we need a book that celebrates the guilt-free glutton. There's way too many brilliant meat dishes out there. Americans over-intellectualize their food, when they should be out enjoying the possibilities!

A fun journey through the universe of eating meat
Mr. Gold written a thoroughly entertaining, informative, interesting, and fun book. Quite zealous about meat in general and most food from meat in particular, Scott takes us through a journey of the strange and wonderful meats he east, both delicious (most) and disgusting (few). His accounts of 31 animals in 31 days, the Testicle Festival in Montana, slaughtering a cow and eating each edible part of the cow are all fun to read and informative. He walks the line between being fun and humorous and investigating the philosophical and scientific issues surrounding carnivorism. I recommend this book for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike as all can learn a thing or two about the cuts of beef, the Tibetan take on eating meat, and the heath issues of eating meat. It made me hungry and want to try some more non-traditional foods!