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FitnessProsBooks.com - Beef: The Untold Story of How Milk, Meat, and Muscle Shaped the World
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List Price: $25.95
Our Price: $12.50
Your Save: $ 13.45 ( 52% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: William Morrow
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.2009
EAN: 9780061353840
ISBN: 0061353841
Label: William Morrow
Manufacturer: William Morrow
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2008-10-01
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: 2008-09-30
Studio: William Morrow
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Unorganized, Poor Presentation of Limited Value
Comment: This is a book with an astounding subtitle that does not convey what the book is all about. Then again, it is impossible to glean what the book is about from reading it. Authors Rimas and Fraser never put together a coherent theme supported by facts and narrative about any one subject -- rather they flit from subject to subject, situation to situation as if as soon as they find something out, they throw it in. Neither seems to know much about dairy farming or beef ranching, and there is a curious mix of journalistic headlines and reports with interviews of British Empire cattle ranchers (the Masai in Kenya) and information from some British agencies concerned with beef and dairy production. Then they spice up their disjointed vignettes with silly little "Culinary Interludes" containing recipes and comments on various foods.
I would have given this work a "1" rating except for the fact that there are a few nuggets of interesting and valuable information buried in the incoherent text. The story of the longhorns and cowboys was interesting, except that there is a British and Eastern Elitist condescending and inacurate treatment of the American cowboy. But the Masai rancher is ennobled. Why?
This book was given to me for Christmas by well-meaning friends who knew I am a beef cattle rancher and thought it might be interesting for me to read. Unfortunately, it missed mentioning ALL my major issues as a cow-calf rancher without feedlots. For example, that no human being has ever died in the US from Mad Cow disease. Or that there is a bill in Congress currently to levy a tax on every rancher of $85.00 per head for beef cattle and $150.00 per head for dairy cows. This is sponsored by environmentalists and vegetarians who want to fine us for cows' production of methane gas from their fermentation of grasses (actually all ruminants do this) -- no doubt a horrible environmental hazard. Or that we're supposed to implant tracking devices in our animals for the government (another non-funded mandate) to track in case of Mad Cow, anthrax, or other problems. Or that the use of corn for ethane has driven up the spread the feedlots need to make a profit, thus driving down the price of prime feeder calves to less than eighty cents per pound when the break-even for cow-calf operations is about $1.46 per pound (say goodbye to beef, Alice.) Or that we can't afford to feed our cows and calves supplemental grain (corn). Or that the increased price of diesel and fertilizer prohibits us from fertilizing our fields or using tractors to maintain out farms and ranches. Or that etc, etc... Like I said, the authors seem to be totally out of touch with the beef industry while it is seriously threatened.
I suppose the next governmental action will be to prohibit the slaughtering of cattle like they have the slaughtering of horses. That little decree saddled ranchers with the cost of maintaining their horses until they die naturally instead of being able to sell them for dog food, etc. Of course, one can still ship horses to Mexico where they will be slaughtered in conditions unregulated by the omniscient Federal Government. Meanwhile we give billions of taxpayers' money to bankers and Wall Street moguls to maintain their life styles. Sorry, I guess I went on a rant....
Finally, I was surprised to see the large number of reviews on this book, particularly the high rating ones. I would not have thought the book would have generated much interest among people not involved in the cattle and dairy industries. There is a story to be told about cattle in history and at the present, but this book definitely isn't it.
I recommend the reader pass on purchasing this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Hold My Interest
Comment: This book took my me months to read, and I usually finish a book in one or two days. For some reason, this one just couldn't keep me interested. I would read a section, think it was pretty neat, but have absolutely no desire to continue reading. I'd put it down for a few weeks before I picked it up again.
I think the main problem for me was that it didn't seem to tell a single, unified story. The authors jumped around, seemingly at random, from topic to topic, and I often struggled to find the connection between one paragraph and the next. The subject matter in and of itself was pretty cool to learn about. Anything and everything you ever (or never) wanted to know about beef seems to be here. From cattle's role in various world religions, to the importance of beef and milk in history and cultural development, and even some recipes in the "culinary interlude" portions, this book is jammed full of interesting little tidbits of information. But I like my facts to be presented in a somewhat orderly fashion, and this book certainly doesn't do that.
If you're less picky about how a story is told or how information is presented, this book might appeal to you. It really does contain a wealth of little known facts, and on their own they can be quite fascinating.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A book that keeps getting set down
Comment: Perhaps it's because I grew up on a cattle ranch; perhaps it's because I'd displayed far too much interest in the Indo-European cow mythology when I was younger; perhaps it's because I prefer more evident structure in non-fiction ... Whatever the reason, this is a book that when I set it down, I forget to pick it up again.
The research is decent, the selection of material to present is good, the writing is clear (but unexciting), the organization is not the best but ultimately makes sense ... so I have to recommend the book to you if you are interested in cows, bull-fights, (ancient) culinary beef recipes, cow's blood, cheese, aurochs and other worthwhile bovine trivia. (And ignore the initial political-culinary-correctness - it's a short element).
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Untold Story of How Milk, Meat, and Muscle Shaped the World is still... untold
Comment: Authors Andrew Rimas and Evan D.G. Fraser accepted a huge challenge - to write a history of how cattle influenced the evolution of people and cultures.
After reading their book, I conclude that the challenge remains for others to fulfill.
In Beef: The Untold Story of How Milk, Meat, and Muscle Shaped the World, the authors seemed particularly fond of bull-fighting, the Masai, beef recipes, and cow worship. It is an uneven "tail" (I know... tale), covering tens of thousands of years but focusing more on the past 1000. The question not stated explicitly is thus: Did people shape cattle, or did cattle shape people?
Here are some specific thoughts and reactions to the text:
1. A very small correction - In the preface, there is a note about the skull of a world-famous early hominid named Lucy. In fact, we don't have Lucy's skull. We have a few skull fragments, and a good sized piece of the lower mandible. What made Lucy really special was the discovery of the pelvis and the long bones, indicating that she walked upright. In other words, her skeleton was found, not her skull.
2. "Human beings love beef," the authors state. Many people do, I agree, but this is a pretty bold comment, given that there are probably a billion or so folk who don't eat beef!
3. "Due in large part to our happy glut of cattle, we've swapped the specter of malnutrition for the wheezing ills of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes." These are not beef-induced ills. They are excess calorie-induced ills, no matter the form of calories. In the US, vegetable fats and sweeteners play a primary role in these diseases.
4. "Cattle, second only to the ingenuity of humanity itself, built this astounding complexity of fields and cities, letters and money, banks and kings. And, indeed, of gods." The huge South American civilizations of the Maya and the Aztecs were cattle-free, and the North American civilizations prior to European invasion were before cattle. The authors have a tendency to be overly broad in their statements.
5. "Neolithic farmers must have dreamed of beef. Otherwise they wouldn't have gone to the trouble of trying to corral animals as dangerous as wild cattle." Certainly these Neolithic farmers did not have a death wish. They would have captured and raised young animals, not dangerous adults.
6. "It was the bull that ignited the first sparks of religion, long ago in the unrecorded night of history." I would have guessed the sun, the wind, the rain, and the earth!
7. "... we're biologically predisposed to gorge on hot dogs and chateaubriand alike - to scrounge for lipids, to glean every calorie out of a raw cow's hoof. Evolution has made eaters of us. It is our original sin." Although the efficient acquisition and metabolism of calories is an important goal through natural selection, it is all done in the name of successful reproduction, not gluttony. We are breeders, not eaters. Our current focus on eating is a product of Madison Avenue marketing. Your mind, and your food, is not your own, independent of the beef or dairy cow.
So the authors have picked too big a topic, made unsupported generalizations, and came to some tenuous conclusions. This makes Beef: The Untold Story of How Milk, Meat, and Muscle Shaped the World, interesting, but not authoritative.
The story still awaits to be told.
Customer Rating:
Summary: From Wooly Untamed Beast to Factory Machine: The Story of Cattle
Comment: I have never really given any particular thought to where beef cattle originated or how they became domesticated. I suppose, because I enjoy eating beef tremendously, that I never really wanted to know all that much about the animal.
This book is the history of cattle, and to a small extent man, from the earliest days of what are now known as cattle to the present day. Using the Massi tribesman as the background story, the history floats around the world following much the same path that cattle did. IT relates how it is believed that they were domesticated from wild animals and the various methods used to "improve" cattle.
An interesting read, it is a bit on the thin side. There is a distinct lack of detail and, trying to cover 10,000+ years of history in a mere 200 pages is fairly tough. If you want a quick overview of the history of the beef industry and the animal itself, then this is a good read. If you want more depth, look elsewhere.
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Editorial Reviews:
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The cow. The most industrious animal in the world. A beast central to human existence since time began, it has played a vital role in our history not only as a source of food, but also as a means of labor, an economic resource, an inspiration for art, and even as a religious icon. Prehistoric people painted it on cave walls; explorers, merchants, and landowners traded it as currency; many cultures worshipped it as a god. So how did it come to occupy the sorry state it does today—more factory product than animal? In Beef, Andrew Rimas and Evan D. G. Fraser answer that question, telling the story of cattle in its entirety. From the powerful auroch, a now extinct beast once revered as a mystical totem, to the dairy cows of seventeenth-century Holland to the frozen meat patties and growth hormones of today, the authors deliver an engaging panoramic view of the cow's long and colorful history. Peppered with lively anecdotes, recipes, and culinary tidbits, Beef tells a story that spans the globe, from ancient Mediterranean bullfighting rings to the rugged grazing grounds of eighteenth-century England, from the quiet farms of Japan's Kobe beef cows to crowded American stockyards to remote villages in East Africa, home of the Masai, a society to which cattle mean everything. Leaving no stone unturned in its exploration of the cow's legacy, the narrative serves not only as a compelling story but as a call to arms, offering practical solutions for confronting the current condition of the wasteful beef and dairy industries. Beef is a captivating history of an animal whose relationship with humanity has shaped the world as we know it, and readers will never look at steak the same way again.
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