Review: Good to Eat
Editorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsAn anthropological work examining why people eat what they eat. Different cultures abhor and adore a diversity of foods. Many peoples consume insects, dogs, horses, and some even other human beings, all of which Americans, et. al., find unappetizing and in some cases revolting. Harris attempts to explain how certain groups are biologically and/or culturally predisposed to their particular diets. A myriad of factors are involved, including geography, climate, and history. Among the ""food riddles"" Harris tries to solve are ""meat-hunger,"" cannibalism, hippophagy (horse-eating), pet-eating, the worship of cows in India, and the American love of beef, and shows how these preferences and avoidances can benefit or endanger populations. There is a chapter on milk, examining why some individuals and entire cultures (such as Chinese, and Southeast Asian) loathe the idea of drinking it. All this is intriguing even for those with no bent for anthropology. The book is technical enough to be informative but not so much to make it dry. The various investigations are in fact entertaining, often amusing, and sometimes grotesque. Harris has a lively style and use of first person helps to warm up the subject matter. In some cases Harris deviates and gives more information than seems necessary, but his enthusiasm for his subject more than carries the day. In sum: an appealing study of human eating habits and (excuse us) food for thought.
Review: Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture
User Review - Alissa - GoodreadsOne of the things I really appreciate about this book is that Marvin Harris does a great deal to illustrate that people around the world don't have what some might consider to be irrational or unusual ... Read full review
Review: Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture
User Review - Tracey - GoodreadsSDMB recco: CalMeacham Read full review
Review: Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture
User Review - GoodreadsSorry but Marvin Harris is an idiot... Marvin Harris says in Good to Eat that early hunter-gatherers derived 35% of their calories from meat which is four times the average per capita consumption of ...
Review: Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture
User Review - Julie - GoodreadsHarris' study focuses on debunking the notion that human foodways are irrational. He proposes mostly economic but occasionally sociological explanations for things that have often been attributed to ... Read full review
Review: Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture
User Review - Laura - GoodreadsA bit disgusting at times but it taught me things I did not know about people in other parts of the world and where some beliefs come from. Read full review
Review: Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture
User Review - Isaac - GoodreadsThe book is a very good discussion on food culture, but the author's research on cannibalism seemed a bit bias, relying heavily on first hand accounts of Spanish Jesuit priests who in many cases had a ... Read full review
Review: Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture
User Review - Ron - GoodreadsPre-Michael Pollan, Marxist food anthropology. Read full review
Review: Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture
User Review - Zachary - GoodreadsSome things aren't meant to go in your mouth, but they do anyway. Read full review
Review: Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture
User Review - Russell Ramaswamy - GoodreadsThis is one of the best books I've ever read. I recommend it along with his other book Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches. Other books of his , Our Kind, Cannibals & Kings Read full review
