Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat by Hal Herzog

This book is by no means a perfect book. Herzog is not a "great" writer... many chapters are clunky, some points are over drawn while others seem glossed over... many times I wished someone with a little more writing muscle had stepped in to help out.

But you have to read this book.

This is one of the most fascinating books I have read in a long time. The type of book that causes you to get up and do some of your own research on things. This book is not about animals really - many people will mistakenly pick this book up under those pretenses. This is a book about humans, and how they perceive and handle the complex relationships we have with animals. How do we deal with the fact that we don't want chickens used in cockfights, but then stop at KFC on the way home. How to we scream about the rights of lab mice but then put out kill traps in our own homes. The psychology is truly mind boggling. I especially enjoyed the sections on Hitler being one of the first leaders to enact animal rights... right before the creation of the concentration camps - if there was a more poignant example of human contradiction I don't know what it is.

The facts are interesting, the ideas will have your brain whirling - Hal doesn't really go into a lot of preaching he's more pointing out things for us to ponder over - a tactic I prefer to heavy handed information jamming. I LOVE this book and hope many others read it.