Rating: 
Summary: An appetite for cannibalism and hype
Review: Richard Rhodes seems to have an appetite for cannibalism. His previous books include a novel about the infamous Donner party and a childhood memoir of being treated cruelly by a stepmother whom he said cannibalized his identity. The "Deadly Feasts" of the book title is a reference to the ritual cannibalism practiced by native tribes in New Guinea which spread a degenerative brain disease called Kuru. Rhodes also focuses heavily on the dangers of diseases spread through what he calls high-tech or industrialized cannibalism -- human organ and tissue transplants and use of animal-derived protein supplements in animal feeds. Rhodes' book is entertaining but entertaining is one thing, factual is another. He goes overboard with some very transparent hype (read: I'm trying to sell books here) about the dangers of so-called "Mad Cow Disease" being transmitted to humans. A glaring omission is the lack of any information from U.S. Dept. of Agriculture scientists. If you read The Hot Zone and you're not worried about imminent death from the Ebola virus, you should adopt the same approach to Deadly Feasts. That is, after you read the book - kick back, relax and have a nice, juicy burger
Rating: 
Summary: It's fillet only from now on
Review: Richard Rhodes visits a topic that no one wants to talk about. I first read about the New Guinea Fore tribe and their sorcery illness (which came to be known to western science as "kuru") in an anthropology class. I remember being horrified by the idea that people would eat spoiled pork, much less each other. The more I know about how meat is prepared and consumed in the United States, the less horrific the Fore diet seems. It is not a big surprise to find out that there are likely contaminates in American beef just like the ones in British beef. Rhodes' scientists estimated that by 2015, there may be 200,000 deaths annually as a result of bovine spongiform encephalytis (BVE) which is the god-fearing American's version of Mad Cow Disease. Well, if we start feeding our cows vegetarian diets (which is what they are supposed to be eating anyway), and when we slaughter them we are mindful of the spinal column and brain, then we should be able to manage the situation. Imagine, there's spinal cord and brain tissue in hamburger, unless the butchering is done with care. Why shouldn't the butchering process be as mindful in the slaughterhouse as it is on the farm? All we have to save is our souls (well, our brains anyway.)
Rating: 
Summary: I'll never eat another hamburger again.
Review: Richard Rhodes writes an exceedingly good book. He organizes this hard to swallow material in an easy to follow way.I have not eaten much beef in the last year or so as I am trying to loose weight and watch my cholesterol intake. After reading Deadly Feasts, I am not sure whether I want to ever eat any meat again, but if the facts are correct, being vegetarian only lessens the chances of being infected. I was appalled at the lack of care given the continued innoculation of children with growth hormones. I've always suspected that some medical practioners do not live up to their oath, but this is something that actually proves that. The governments don't seem any too keen to come up against major industries for the sake of the people they govern. I say this is a book you must read. You will probably not want to read it, but on the other hand you won't be able to put it down due to its pertinence to all of us. This book is scary, but very necessary. This information was out there when Oprah was being sued. It definitely proves a point
Rating:
Summary: The real thing or boy crying wolf?
Review: Richard Rhodes' "Deadly Feast" is a warning about the likelihood of an epidemic of brain disease caused by eating meat. The apocalyptic stuff is in the forward and the last chapter. In between is a lot of detail about lab tests and internecine bickering among scientists. I saw in the newspaper where this book has been sold to the movies. It would have to be a documentary, as there is no real plot. One problem with the book is credibility. At one point, Rhodes writes, "...more than seven hundred thousand BSE-infected cattle had entered the human food supply in Britain... That was more than two percent of approximately three million cattle the British slaughtered annually..." Actually, more like 23%. For an argument dependent on facts and statistics, this type of gaff erodes credibility. Another thing that bothered me was Rhodes' unwavering defense of his primary source, Carleton Gajdusek, especially when he (Gajdusek) confessed to child molestation. If Rhodes' predicted plague occurs in Britain in 2015, I'd say this is a great book. We'll just have to wait and see. Still, I'll be laying off the hamburgers for a while, just in case
Rating:
Summary: My good friend just died of this horrible disease
Review: Six or eight months ago, I purchased a copy of the audio version of this book. It was excellent; fascinating and frightening. I've never purchased a book or audio which was exclusively on a single disease before. I've got health books and such...but this was a first of its kind. Imagine my shock and horror to find out last Thursday that my wonderful friend had been diagnosed with CJD - Spongiform Encephalopathy. I found out very late as he did not want his wife to tell anyone until the last moment. Little did she know when she called to say he had two months to live, that he would be dead by the next day. I just got back from the Memorial service today; a real tear jerker. There are those who say the disease is different from Mad Cow disease, but I did not come away with that impression from the tapes of "Deadly Feast". My friend ate lots of meat and frequented hamburger establishments; he was allergic to fish. Furthermore, he never traveled; he only left the US once, and that was AFTER he was diagnosed. It was a degrading way to die for a very dignified man and it broke many hearts. I had forgotten the name of the tapes I had purchased and today, responding to a post I made, a friend mentioned "Deadly Feast", I thought I'd come here and order a copy. When I saw the cover of the audio, I realized this WAS the audio book I had listened to. Because I misplaced the tapes, I'm going to purchase a paper version for reference. Little did I know when I first bought that set, this strange disease would strike so close to home.
Rating:
Summary: Cuts Through the Baloney
Review: The spins and factual errors I was hearing on news reports about "mad cow" in the U.S. sent me back to Rhodes's excellent work for another look. Deadly Feasts is basic to a layman's understanding of the problem. If more people read this book, we could build a better support base in this country for reforming operations of our food industry, especially how we feed and test animals to be processed for our dinner tables. If we cheat ourselves of this knowledge, however, we'll be making the same mistake we made in the 1940s and 50s. We ignored scientific evidence of the harmful effects of radiation from atomic fission, and we sent people out to test sites just to see what might happen to them. I don't care what the information or precautions or necessary reforms do to "the economy." I don't want my children's and grandchildren's brains wasting away 20 years from now because of the slow but relentless effect of "mad cow."
Rating:
Summary: Cuts Through the Baloney
Review: The spins and factual errors I was hearing on news reports about "mad cow" in the U.S. sent me back to Rhodes's excellent work for another look. Deadly Feasts is basic to a layman's understanding of the problem. If more people read this book, we could build a better support base in this country for reforming operations of our food industry, especially how we feed and test animals to be processed for our dinner tables. If we cheat ourselves of this knowledge, however, we'll be making the same mistake we made in the 1940s and 50s. We ignored scientific evidence of the harmful effects of radiation from atomic fission, and we sent people out to test sites just to see what might happen to them. I don't care what the information or precautions or necessary reforms do to "the economy." I don't want my children's and grandchildren's brains wasting away 20 years from now because of the slow but relentless effect of "mad cow."
Rating:
Summary: Gripping and spooky!
Review: This abridged version of the bestselling book is narrated by the author himself, and it takes a little listening to get past the sheer dryness of the voice. Fortunately, his fascinating subject matter shines through, telling a captivating tale of prion diseases (most famously, Mad Cow Disease in Europe) as they've made their way through the food chain and into human beings. Rhodes' predictions are a little grim, and the book does not end on a happy note. But though his style is sensationalistic at times, you can't flaw Rhodes' research or the suspense-filled way he lays out the facts. When you finish this book (IF you have the stomach to finish), you WILL reassess your meat-eating habits. You will squirm and wonder if it's not already too late. Rhodes sets himself up as a prophet of doom and he delivers most capably, with all the meticulous scientific detail modern readers expect. Deadly Feasts will creep you out, but also send you scurrying to buy copies for your friends, neighbours and probably your local butcher, too. You'll regret having read it, but you'll never forgive yourself if you don't...
Rating:
Summary: Frightening
Review: This book has the stated goal of frightening the readers, which it accomplishes quite well. In the message to the reader at the beginning of the book, the author compares spongiform encephalophies (Mad Cow and related diseases) to Ebola, pointing out how much more common the encephalopies are, how much harder they are to kill, and how much more virulent they are. Rhodes then traces the history of research on spongiform encephalophies, starting with Carleton Gajdusek's research on kuru in New Guinea starting in 1957. He describes how scrapie and Mad Cow came into the picture, and how they were all found to be in the same family as Creutzfeld-Jacob disease. The author seems to have several goals. In the beginning of the book, he goes a bit overboard in trying to shock the readers, deliberating choosing questionable vocabulary such as "Mangrove swamps fouled its tropical coasts" or "Marriage barely tamed them" to describe Papua New Guinea and its inhabitants. Later in the book, he switches his focus to the controversies created by the researchers working on spongiform encephalophies, going into great detail why Prusiner and his work on the topic is not universally accepted in the scientific community, although "prion", the word he invented to describe the pathogen behind the diseases, is now well known. Overall, the book is quite informative, providing an extensive background about a family of diseases that may bring about frightful epidemics in the future. It's also interesting as a behind-the-scenes story about how real science gets done, about what gets published by whom, and what doesn't.
Rating:
Summary: Frightening
Review: This book has the stated goal of frightening the readers, which it accomplishes quite well. In the message to the reader at the beginning of the book, the author compares spongiform encephalophies (Mad Cow and related diseases) to Ebola, pointing out how much more common the encephalopies are, how much harder they are to kill, and how much more virulent they are. Rhodes then traces the history of research on spongiform encephalophies, starting with Carleton Gajdusek's research on kuru in New Guinea starting in 1957. He describes how scrapie and Mad Cow came into the picture, and how they were all found to be in the same family as Creutzfeld-Jacob disease. The author seems to have several goals. In the beginning of the book, he goes a bit overboard in trying to shock the readers, deliberating choosing questionable vocabulary such as "Mangrove swamps fouled its tropical coasts" or "Marriage barely tamed them" to describe Papua New Guinea and its inhabitants. Later in the book, he switches his focus to the controversies created by the researchers working on spongiform encephalophies, going into great detail why Prusiner and his work on the topic is not universally accepted in the scientific community, although "prion", the word he invented to describe the pathogen behind the diseases, is now well known. Overall, the book is quite informative, providing an extensive background about a family of diseases that may bring about frightful epidemics in the future. It's also interesting as a behind-the-scenes story about how real science gets done, about what gets published by whom, and what doesn't.
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