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daniandsn's review against another edition
3.0
This book reflects on the cultural impact of hot dogs. Whether it is hot dog stands gentrifying local neighborhoods, Nate's Hot Dog Eating contest clearly favoring the men's competition, a lot of gendered pickles, or poor working conditions, Jamie analyzes what it means to be American through the eyes (taste?) of the hot dogs made there.
"Look I'm as American as anyone, and I don't know what I mean when I say that, but I know how i feel, and it's insecure with a throbbing need to prove something."
It is at once a memoir and a critique of capitalism. We feel Jamie's discomfort, although it is left unsaid, about frequently being the only one in a room wearing a mask. This book is more of a time-capsule of what America looked like in 2021 than it is about hot dogs.
I think this book fell a bit short for me here though. There was so much potential, but much of the critique felt shallow and unexplored. We were granted peaks into her inner life along the way, but not enough to understand why it connected to the rest of the book. Many crude and often sexual jokes undercut the point that was being made. All together, it was an interesting concept and some chapters really did stand out (who doesn't want to hear about the inner workings of a hot dog eating contest?), however it left me wanting more than what it could give.
The audiobook was a pleasure to listen to. Jamie narrated it herself and gives so much life to each of the interesting people she observed on her journey. Her emphasis and accents made it work in a way that I'm not sure that words on a page could.
Approach this book understanding that it isn't really about hotdogs. It is casual entertainment, and although I was disappointed, I did find myself entertained.
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Eating disorder
lalvarez9's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Cursing
breadbummer's review against another edition
4.5
My main critiques come from aspects that I'm not really sure can be helped. For one, a lot of jokes/silly comparisons/what have you are repeated multiple times throughout the book, which made me a bit tired of the "(whoever) wouldn't do (a specific thing) if they had (a specific weapon) to their head" (for now). Along with that, maybe it's just because I'm a midwesterner, but I was kind of appalled at how short the trip to the Midwest was. I mean, c'mon, not counting the chapter on Chicago, just Ohio and Wisconsin...? A huge swath of the country is being missed out on. But at the same time, I get it—Loftus has already been on the road for weeks eating variations of the same grotes ue food just about every day and is also
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racism, and Animal death
Moderate: Excrement, Sexual content, Stalking, Body shaming, and Murder
Minor: Mass/school shootings, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Fatphobia, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Vomit, and Alcohol
ivorymusic82's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Vomit, Cursing, Eating disorder, Body shaming, and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Animal cruelty, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Police brutality and Violence
joe_del's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Cursing
Minor: Police brutality, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Eating disorder, Racism, Medical trauma, Genocide, Medical content, and Toxic relationship
jonna_doucette's review against another edition
1.5
For its faults, of which there are many (see: Loftus’s a-hole choice to flout lock-down and travel/research this book during the height of the pandemic), this book had the makings of something better that was lost along the roadside of Loftus’s journey. A travelogue? Yeah. A culinary history? Maybe... if you squint. Capitalist critique? Certainly not. Unfortunately, for the small amount of ink Loftus spares for actually interesting, prescient topics, like industrial safety standards for slaughter houses, meatpackers, and the animals we farm for food, or ethnocentrism within competitive eating, she wastes twice as many pages playing at being an insecure girl next door from Bah-ston and hoping we’ll accept her anyways, like so many of the humble, working-class delicacies she’s sampled across our great country.
For anyone interested in actual meat-centered food history/commentary, I suggest the following:
Meathooked: The History and Science of Our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession with Meat
The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating
Sorting the Beef from the Bull: The Science of Food Fraud Forensics
Salted and Cured: Savoring the Culture, Heritage, and Flavor of America's Preserved Meats
Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed, and the Fight for the Future of Meat
Graphic: Cursing and Excrement
Moderate: Eating disorder and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Animal cruelty, Racism, and Animal death
marieee_greeen's review against another edition
4.25
Moderate: Eating disorder
Minor: Animal death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, Cancer, and Cursing
ramsfan1963's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Cursing
caseythereader's review against another edition
3.75
- A few days after finishing RAW DOG, I'm still not sure what to make of it. I do know that I was riveted, deeply invested in Loftus' physical and emotional journey of eating hot dogs across the country.
- Loftus is able to place the history of the hot dog into the larger context of the country, connecting them to everything from the Great Depression to modern gentrification.
- It made me desperately want a hot dog, but also gave me vicarious meat sweats. While I think it was a bit overlong in the end, if you can stomach all the meat talk and want a read outside your usual lane, RAW DOG is worth checking out.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Animal death, Cancer, Alcohol, Cursing, Vomit, Drug use, Excrement, Gore, and Racism
imstephtacular's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Pandemic/Epidemic, Classism, and Cursing
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Racism, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Police brutality, Mental illness, Medical content, and Eating disorder
Minor: Excrement, Vomit, Violence, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief