Meat Eater: Adventures From The Life Of An American Hunter (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
Rinella is a solid writer, and he interjects education along with his stories from the hunt with great literary fluency.The problem I had with the book was I wasn't sure what the purpose was. I get that it's a collection of essays telling stories of various hunts, but given Rinella's intellect and writing ability it felt like the whole thing together lacked trajectory.Towards the end it finally starts to bring some of the deeper introspection and philosophizing that I'd come to expect from watching his various TV shows and listening to him on podcasts, thus the four stars rather than three (or, frankly, two). His writing talent is undeniable, but through most of the book it felt like he was holding back for some reason.I'm still glad I read it, and I will continue to be a fan of the author. Humans have hunted for food for thousands of years - else none of us would be here. Hunting stories have existed as long as hunters, probably. These stories trace Steven Rinella's evolution from an eager boy whose father taught him to hunt as a young child, to a thoughtful adult who hunts to provide food for his wife and son and to keep in touch with the reality and the wonder of the world that provides his food. "Steven Rinella, in his memoir, Meat Eater, rigorously describes his trajectory from unexamined to intensely reconstructed killer of wildlife, a progression that should assist the typical city slicker in replacing categorical dismissal with something more akin to nuanced understanding…It’s evident from Chapter 1 that we are in the hands of a seriously experienced hunter-gatherer and writer, which translates on most pages to very authentic-feeling reenactments of the hunt, including both its inherent vibrancy and distress. And critically, we witness Rinella’s evolving sense of what all this killing might mean. Acutely conveyed are the ways society is elbowing aside an age-old practice, often bloody and brutal, and replacing it with practices numbingly antiseptic and increasingly unreal. By the end, regardless of how you feel about guns or hunting, its appeal has ironically been made alive. It’s the perfect negative image of our pervasive technological moment — bracing, dangerous, and direct rather than mediated, packaged, and disassociated…. Rinella’s writing is unerringly smart, direct, and sharply detailed…Each of his small-bore narratives, whether it unfolds on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Montana, Alaska, Arizona, or Mexico, bristles with the magic of a specific, authentic place.” —Boston Globe
What do You think about Meat Eater: Adventures From The Life Of An American Hunter (2012)?
Read it right after the Omnivore's Dilemma. Complemented each other very well.
—tdavenport2522
I received this book free through Goodreads first Reads. A review will follow.
—Cooky40
Another fine book by Rinella, great stories, good tips, and a delightful read!
—katedube
I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
—tiseno
Meh. A little on the macho/egotistical side.
—michelle101
