Thursday, October 17, 2013

Thoughts on
Beg: A Radical New Way of Regarding Animals




A big fan of the Skinny Bitch books by Rory Freedman, I was excited to read her latest book.  I wasn't disappointed.   Beg: A Radical New Way of Regarding Animals brings the author's social, health and diet agendas to new levels.

Beg is a short book.  So short that I actually gasped when it ended.  (That's the problem with the Kindle app; you don't pay attention to how many pages are left.)  If you're anything like me, you will fly through it and wish it was longer. 


In her latest book, Freedman allows us to go with her on her journey from omnivore to vegetarian to vegan and shares the reasons which led her toward a completely plant-based diet.

She covers topics such as adopting shelter animals, factory farming, animal testing, and wearing wool, fur, and leather including the environmental and health impacts of the leather business. Want to know what's so awful about wearing wool and using down to keep warm?   That's in there too and her argument for finding alternatives is strong and fact-based. 

Freedman makes the reader think about what's involved when animals are kept in zoos, aquariums and circuses and used in movies.  I honestly had not considered many of these things before reading this book.  It opened my eyes to the many forms in which animal mistreatment rears its ugly head.

I think one of the things I enjoyed most about this book came at its end when Freedman writes about her sudden desire to stop using profanity.  Those of you who read Skinny Bitch know of her love for shocking through obscenity.


"Because we're having so much fun, let's bash the shit out of Splenda, one of the newer sweeteners." ~ from Skinny Bitch

Yeah, Rory had a potty mouth.  She gave up using bad language after the book was finished and according to a recent interview with VegNews magazine, actually called her literary agent when Beg was in its final stages to ask them to remove all the colorful language. For those of you who enjoyed her style of writing and worry it will lose its edge without it, never fear.  This book is beautiful and entertaining on its own. 

Freedman has evolved.

She writes:

So I'm speaking to you honestly and earnestly and trying to address the highest common denominator - the divine seed in your heart.  The part of you that maybe lies dormant, but is stirred by truth and beauty and the chance for elevated spirit.  The part of you that might not have known existed but is quickening now with an ancient remembrance.  The true you.  


She's come a long way from "bashing the shit out of Splenda".

I can relate to Rory Freedman's evolution as it's been similar to my own.  A move toward a kinder, more compassionate way of living.  Less violence, less harshness, less allowing our culture and others to dictate who I am.  Becoming the person I am meant to be and the person I wrote about becoming in my Life at the Lake blog post here.

Becoming someone unafraid to let her freak flag fly proudly.

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