Fast Food Nation

The first half of the book, Fast Food Nation, was somewhat of a dry, slow read. I'll give the author credit for doing his research, but slogging through the entire history of the fast food/restaurant industry was daunting. It was interesting and I still enjoyed it and learned a lot, but it was kind of like watching the history channel when you know that you're missing Seinfeld and The Simpsons.
I imagine this is the reason that they fictionalized the movie version of the nonfiction book.

The second half of the book, was what I really came for: it was all about the production of the food itself. But here's the interesting thing - Schlosser didn't take the angle that I thought he would go for. Rather than dwell on the "plight of the animals" amid ever rampant industrial farming, he continued to build on the foundation that he had been laying throughout the book - that this was an economic, political, ethical, inhumane, poisonous, toxic, dangerous quagmire that involved much more than just the animals.

I would recommend this book to everyone. I think that this book should be taught in the classrooms. The author concludes the book with recent updates and changes in the industry since the first publication - most are not positive changes. He also has over a hundred pages devoted to notes, research, bibliography, and an index. Unlike Trudeau, who might as well be peddling fortunes alongside Dione Warwick, Schlosser really does his homework and then follows it up with more homework.

I suppose now I'll watch the movie.