cover image The New Vegetarians: Promoting Health and Protecting Life

The New Vegetarians: Promoting Health and Protecting Life

Paul R. Amato, S. A. Partridge, P. R. Amato. Plenum Publishing Corporation, $22.95 (282pp) ISBN 978-0-306-43121-0

Much of this study is based on the testimony of 300 contemporary vegetarians of varying degrees of dedication--from those who eat fish and even, occasionally, chicken, to others who eschew all foods except raw vegetables. The reflections of true believers, along with a gently explanatory authorial style, make the book read like the print equivalent of a support group, one probably best suited to readers seriously considering vegetarianism or freshly embarked on it. To sway the unconverted, Amato, professor of sociology at the University of Nebraska, and Partridge, a graduate student in clinical psychology and a vegetarian for seven years, offer compelling arguments; the inhumane, assembly-line production of beef and poultry today, along with health concerns about chemically treated red meat, have made vegetarianism especially attractive. Less persuasive is the authors' contention that vegetarians are unusually charming; statements such as ``I find my husband more sexually appealing knowing he is not a vessel full of decaying carcasses'' only serve to make practitioners sound like self-righteous cult followers. (May)