Rating:  Summary: Great for beginners, not very useful otherwise. Review: "Living Among Meat Eaters" addresses, in part, the bizzarre belligerent reactions that some meat eater have against vegetarians/vegans, oftentimes completely unprovoked. In my experience, a particular co-worker would start YELLING at me and waving turkey slices in front of my face every time he saw me eating anything, and sometimes when I was just standing there. It really disturbed me - I assumed that he felt insulted, or judged, himself, but I wished to understand it further. I picked up "Living Among Meat Eaters" in hopes that it would shed some real light on this common problem. Unfortunately, it tells me what I already know - the co-worker feels judged and is acting defensively. It also tells me that he, like ALL other meat eaters, is a 'blocked vegetarian'. This idea reeks of the moral snobbery that elsewhere in the book is pointed out as one of the reasons meat-eaters feel so defensive about vegetarians. In fact some meat eaters DON'T believe that what they're doing is wrong, and in some cases, they might be right. "Living Among Meat Eaters" would probably be a valuable guide for a person who had just made the transition to vegetarianism or veganism. The reactions that meat eaters have to such a transition can be shocking, and if it's all new to you, a guide through what to expect and how to hold your ground might help. Adams points out the necessity of restraint, or not pushing your views into meat-eaters faces at every opportunity, which does indeed give us a pretty bad reputation at times, and prevents meat eaters from exploring the veg option further. But she does seem to negate this message with the persistent 'us aginst them' attitude: WE are definately right, no two ways about it... THEY are wrong and deep down inside they all know it and only wish they could be like us (hence they are all 'blocked vegetarians'). If you're a tried and true veg, there's really no need to read this book. If you're just starting out, or having a hard time, give it a go.
Rating:  Summary: Going Vegetarian is Easy... Review: ...it dealing with other *people* that is interesting. I wish I would have has this book long ago! Adams gives psychological insight as to why meat eaters react the way they do to vegetarians and how to address the reactions in several different ways, such as to continue the conversation or to dismiss it entirely. She gives responses to the many cliche remarks we hear, especially from family members. Her attitude is very optimistic, even with hostile people, but you can't let them get to you in any matter in life, be it vegetarian-related or not. I also bought her book The Sexual Politics of Meat, which covers historical vegetarian authors.
Rating:  Summary: Bunk perspective? Review: At first glance, I thought I had an amazing find in this book. However, as a decade long vegetarian, I did not find answers to many questions that a vegetarian might face. The empathy is wonderful, yet I cannot agree with the author's theory that meat eaters are merely blocked vegetarians. The recipes in the back were great offerings and I did take something away with me from this book. But unfortunately, I found much of the information to be book filler material.
Rating:  Summary: Read this and ALL of Carol's books! Review: Carol Adams is simply brilliant. There's boundless wisdom in the pages of her books, and while I only aspire to her utter *sainthood*, I always benefit from exposure to her moral journey.
Rating:  Summary: A Helpful Book for any Vegetarian Review: Carol J. Adams is one of the strongest intellectual voices in the area of animal rights, women's rights and vegetarianism. Her books belong on the shelf of any vegetarian with an inquiring mind. Living Among Meat Eaters is a book I very much needed. Recently I was trounced out of an on-line natural living group because while initially tolerant of different views, gradually came under sway of a rampant anti-vegetarian philosophy. This book helped me through some painful and difficult times. Its ironic that vegetarianism is a peaceful, nonviolent, nutritionally sound and noble philosophy, yet it attracts many hostile critics. Like other progressive movements, feminism, civil rights, labor movements etc., many seem threatened by its peaceful message and feel they must retaliate with anger and scorn, such as that by "a reader from Princeton, NJ." Because the world is full of people insecure about their own knowledge, who feel compelled to attack people who try to live by peaceful and just principles, we *need* a book such as Living Among Meat Eaters. Thanks Carol J. Adams for addressing an important aspect of the vegetarian life style.
Rating:  Summary: not very intelligent Review: I agree with the review from Publishers Weekly, saying, "But she shoots herself in the foot with her central thesis: that vegetarians 'should see every meat eater as a blocked vegetarian'". Stupid book. Let's eat more meat.
Rating:  Summary: Good advice Review: I have not yet finished reading this book but so far I have enjoyed it greatly. As a vegetarian for fifteen years I found many cookbooks and and other instructional aids to becoming a vegetarian but this is the first book I have found that deals more with the social aspect of vegetarianism. I adopted a vegetarian diet for many reasons and one of them is to promote peace for all creatures, humans included. This book helps show how to deal with those with different viewpoints without feeling angry or exhausted. I recommend this book especially for the vetran vegetarian.
Rating:  Summary: A good read for both new and old veggies Review: I picked this book up after hearing praises about it on a vegetarian website. I have been vegan for just over a year and before that was an ovo-lacto vegetarian for almost five years. In that time I had only a few bad experiences with meat-eaters finding out I was a vegetarian/vegan, but these experiences did stand out in my mind and made me rather fearful of confrontations. This book gave me quite a few tools for coping with any bad reactions that I may come across. While I still don't look forward to my aunt finding out that I'm vegan now, I feel better equipped to deal with her reaction this time. I especially liked the author's point that meat eaters see the vegetarian diet as a diet of scarcity and that showing meat eaters just how delicious and abundant a vegetarian diet is can be one of the best ways of dealing with them. As an added bonus, there are about 50 recipes included. So far I've tried three (Roasted vegetables with fennel seeds, mushroom cobbler, and tasty tofu) and found them all to be outstanding. I can't wait to try more. I highly recommend this book and will be giving copies to many of my vegetarian friends.
Rating:  Summary: A Must Read For New Veggies :o) Review: I truly needed to read this book. I have recently made the decision to convert to vegetarianism and the hardest thing was not the adjustment to my new lifestyle, but the belligerent and ignorant meat eaters who are in my life. People are very unaccepting of my change and it has been difficult to deal with their hostility and their jokes that they inflict upon me. Well, this book has helped me to cope with these situations. Adams goes in-depth with this book. It has been extremely helpful. Her methods of dealing with meat-eaters is effective. There is one other advantage to this book; it provides several good recipes. One thing I must note: this book is not for new veggies who are looking for information on a vegetarian / vegan diet. It does provide nutritional facts, etc.
Rating:  Summary: Good for explaininthe veg*n lifesytle choice to flesh eaters Review: I would have rated it higher except I don't agree with the authors theory of blocked vegetarians.
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