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Edible Secrets: A Food Tour of Classified U.S. History by Nate Powell, Mia Partlow, Michael Hoerger
trevoryan's review against another edition
2.0
It seems this book doesn't know what it wants to be. Light-hearted satire? Radical, subversive, serious info? It goes back and forth between being a little silly and pretty darn preachy. And then out of nowhere it talks about recording artists doing "backmasking" and I can't tell if the author really thinks The Beatles put hidden backwards messages in their music or if this is meant as humorous satire. A frustrating read, to say the least.
rachelwalexander's review against another edition
4.0
A nice approachable intro - organizing through the lens of food helped stuff feel cohesive while covering a lot of ground. Also appreciate the page design and use of actual declassified documents.
saidtheraina's review against another edition
3.0
This expansion of a zine tells the story of amerikan government conspiracy through the filter of cases which have some connection with food. Each chapter includes images of formerly-top secret, recently-released documents from the government, an essay explaining the case, and additional graphs, lists, and charts. We learn about the framing of Fred Hampton, CIA experiments with mind control, the plot to assassinate Castro, and more.
Don't expect any sequential art here, even though there are illustrations by [a:Nate Powell|51924|Nate Powell|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1360540007p2/51924.jpg]. As someone who harbors an amateur historian's love for Abbie Hoffman and the yippies, I really enjoyed the way these authors brought primary government documents to life.
The only part that dragged for me was a pair of chapters about Coca-Cola's far too close relationships with every president since Eisenhower. Although I'm totally a fan of sticking it to major corporations, those chapters didn't contain the personal stories inherant to most of the other pieces.
The book is very visual and dynamic, and feels like the beginning of what could become a life's work.
Don't expect any sequential art here, even though there are illustrations by [a:Nate Powell|51924|Nate Powell|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1360540007p2/51924.jpg]. As someone who harbors an amateur historian's love for Abbie Hoffman and the yippies, I really enjoyed the way these authors brought primary government documents to life.
The only part that dragged for me was a pair of chapters about Coca-Cola's far too close relationships with every president since Eisenhower. Although I'm totally a fan of sticking it to major corporations, those chapters didn't contain the personal stories inherant to most of the other pieces.
The book is very visual and dynamic, and feels like the beginning of what could become a life's work.
phenomenecology's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting. The idea to filter classified documents through the lens of food is creative and makes for an interesting array of tidbits and insights into the dark past (and present) of America.
againsley's review against another edition
3.0
i liked it but it's sort of shallow. Still, anyone who thinks states are benign service providers to their citizens and providing them greater access to our lives would make our lives easier/streamline services should read this. states are fucked.
bluepigeon's review
4.0
Left-leaning (more like all-the-way-over-to-the-Left) political commentary seeded by declassified secret and confidential U.S. government documents loosely gathered around the theme of food. When I say loosely, I really mean it in a generous way, as there is no unifying theme here, or rather, the unifying theme or thesis (governments, especially the U.S. government is not benign and does not hesitate to harm its own citizens to oppress them and bully other countries to further its capitalist aims) has nothing really to do with food. Sure, the documents all mention some food, and in one case (Coca-Cola), the main thesis and food really do have something substantial to do with each other.
Nevertheless, if you don't mind left-wing political opinions strongly expressed to interpret each document, this is a nice cross-section of American history from the lens of classified documents, from the Black Panthers and the Civil Right Movement to Cold War efforts to Coca-Cola and the spread of American brand of capitalism in the world. Just to read the documents neatly presented here in a nice format was interesting. Unlike those who claim they didn't learn anything new from the book, I learned a lot, probably because I am not familiar with American history in general and don't know much about the Civil Rights Movement, for example, beyond the most publicized key events. It is hilarious that Coca-Cola's relationship with the White House is so transparent (something we don't see [the transparency, I mean] in my country or outside the West in general). And so it is shocking that the voting American public is so OK with all this.
Most importantly, it will be near impossible not to think about the Rosenberg case as I have my Jell-O pudding snack!
Nevertheless, if you don't mind left-wing political opinions strongly expressed to interpret each document, this is a nice cross-section of American history from the lens of classified documents, from the Black Panthers and the Civil Right Movement to Cold War efforts to Coca-Cola and the spread of American brand of capitalism in the world. Just to read the documents neatly presented here in a nice format was interesting. Unlike those who claim they didn't learn anything new from the book, I learned a lot, probably because I am not familiar with American history in general and don't know much about the Civil Rights Movement, for example, beyond the most publicized key events. It is hilarious that Coca-Cola's relationship with the White House is so transparent (something we don't see [the transparency, I mean] in my country or outside the West in general). And so it is shocking that the voting American public is so OK with all this.
Most importantly, it will be near impossible not to think about the Rosenberg case as I have my Jell-O pudding snack!
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