 | |
 View Larger |
Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World By Bob TorresJenna Torres ( Tofu Hound Press )
Release Date: 2005-07-01
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $13.95
Price: $11.16
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.
Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
|  Add to Cart |
|
|
Product Description
Curious about veganism? Want to be a vegan? Already a vegan? Just wondering how to be vegan without going insane? In this informative and practical guide on veganism, team Torres helps you love your inner vegan freak. Loaded with tips, advice, stories, and comprehensive lists of resources that no vegan should live without, this book is key to helping you thrive as a happy, healthy, and sane vegan in a decidedly non-vegan world. Witty, opinionated, and eminently useful.
|
|
 Vegan Freak ( lydeljbertasz )
Not quite what I expected. It is written for a younger, more hip, audience. It is hard to believe that the two authors have PhDs.
The information is pertinent, and there are pages of ressources in
the back of the book.
|
 Better information on the vegan lifestyle on the web for free ( sprklwnk )
I wanted to like this book, I really did. An approachable, comprehensive look at going vegan seemed right up my alley. Afterall, I have a lot of vegetarian friends and eat primarily vegetarian food, but have had a hard time with the idea of going vegan, or even vegetarian. What disapointed me most was how light on substance this book was. I expected more in-depth facts or stories about animal rights or tips about making the transition from being an omni to a vegan, and it simply wasn't there. Related to the later the only bit of advice I got was that I should go cold turkey for three weeks. Nothing more than that. I've found better advice from reading vegan blogs and message boards and I get access to those for free.
The second thing that bothered me about this book was the authors' writing style. I found it verbose, repetitive, and hypocritical. There were so many tangents and opinions that it got in the way of the facts they were trying to convey. I'm the kind of person that is more swayed by being given hard facts and being left to make my own decision. It's as if the authors didn't think the readers were intelligent enough to come to these conclusions on their own. They also spend a lot of the time repeating themselves. For example, they give tips on navigating situations with family members, friends, and co-workers. Each of these groups gets a separate section, yet the advice is largely the same. They also spend a lot of time talking about the stereotypes of vegans and complaining about this only to stereotype others. For example, they paint an unflattering portrait of the kind of "ex-hippies" they say primarily use Coops making them sound self involved and interested in organics only as a passing fad. They also talk about how as a vegan you shouldn't preach, yet only offer one way to go vegan (cold turkey) and provide footnotes along the way that suggest if you aren't swayed by their facts then you must be out of your mind.
The one redeeming part of this book, and the only reason I am giving it two stars instead of one, is that it did recommend a ton of other books about going vegan and animal rights to read. I've noticed the book is being reissued so perhaps they have addressed some of the reviewer complaints. However, after my experience I highly recommend checking it out from the library before purchasing it as well as checking out vegan websites, message boards, and blogs instead.
|
Worth Reading
Loved the tone of the book, not your avarage boring health book. Looks at food and society from a very different view. Will get you thinking... and questioning everything!
|
Decent... helpful... nothing mind-blowing
As a long-time vegetarian who just decided to go vegan I wanted a book that could help with with my transition. Some decent & basic advice is given on how to travel as a vegan, addressing folks in your life who have questions and smart ways to deal with the negative feedback you often get from people around you, along with other logistical things you may want to consider.
Although the authors do communicate that they really want to respect other people's choices they get a bit 'preachy' in many areas of the book. I prefer to lay low and not become one of those annoying vegans/vegetarians who share a 'holier then thou attitude'. The authors do feed into that stereotypical annoying group of people a little bit. If you're someone in the same boat as me, a new vegan, you can look past the annoyances with your open mind to learn a few things. Like any book, take what you like, leave what doesn't work for you and move on.
The style of writing makes it a pretty fun book; it's enjoyable and easy to read. I reccomend reading this one to beginner vegans.
|
Must Have Tough Skin
I thought this book was good and provided a lot of information, but the authors were in my opinion, a bit too judgemental. Ive been a vegetarian for years and have been a vegan only a few months. It has been a challenge for me with determining whether a product has animal by-products. The authors make you feel like the worst person in the world if you call yourself a vegan and accidently eat a by product. They really hard core put you down if you are not a "perfect vegan" which earlier in the book they praised people for trying. Towards the end of this book it turned into a "BASH ALL THE VEGANS WHO ARE TRYING BUT MIGHT NOT BE 100% YET" which turned me more off to veganism than on. So, if you do not have tough skin, do not read this book.
|
|
|
