"The daily atrocities of industrial animal farming are recalled here so vividly, and the arguments against those who orchestrate this system are presented so convincingly, that anyone who, having read Foer's book, continues to consume the industry's products, either has no heart or does not understand logic or both." (J. M. Coetzee, author of "The Lives of Animals") Jonathan Safran Foer spent his teenage and college years oscillating between meat-eating and vegetarianism. On the threshold of his new life as a father, however, faced with the prospect of having to decide what diet his son would follow, his casual contemplation took on a new, urgent dimension. In search of answers, Foer was forced to visit industrial farms in the middle of the night, analyze all the emotional material from which the meals of his childhood were made, and scrutinize some of his most primitive instincts about what is right and wrong. Combining philosophy, literature, science, and autobiography with unique intelligence, "Eating Animals" explores the numerous stories we use to justify our eating habits—from folklore to family traditions and national myths, and how these stories can lull us into oblivion. With the characteristic intensity and depth in ethical issues, with the generosity and vivid writing that made Foer's previous books so beloved, Eating Animals is both an anthem and a call, a story about the stories we have been told—and the stories we must now tell in turn.