Mindful Carnivore

January 23, 2012
In his first book, Cerulli, who has written for such publications as Outdoor America and Massachusetts Wildlife, recounts his journey from meat eater to vegetarian, then vegan and, finally, back to eating meat. Growing up in Vermont and later working as a logger and, Cerulli has a deep connection to the land and nature, which makes him think seriously about his changing eating habits and, at times, gives his writing a deeply meditative qualityAs a graduate of The New School for Social Research who is currently studying the “diverse perspectives on human relationships with the natural world,” Cerulli also offers historical expositions on topics like vegetarianism, logging, wildlife conservation, ecology, religion, philosophy and hunting peppered through out. The combination of these two writing style works nicely to give the reader a thorough background of the author and his struggle to find a “holistic way of eating and living,” but it is the latter third of the book, when Cerulli takes his first tentative steps to becoming a hunter, that his writing truly shines—it transform the story into a touching and thought-provoking exploration on not only what we eat but how we eat it.

February 15, 2012

Part memoir and part meditation, this title is one of a growing number of books that examine what we eat and where it comes from. In this book, Cerulli, a communications Ph.D. candidate at the University of Massachusetts, tracks his journey from youthful veganism to mindful hunting, weaving his story with a history of America's up-and-down attitude toward hunting and vegetarianism. Referencing sources as diverse as Cotton Mather, Mohandas Gandhi, and Michael Pollen--whose Omnivore's Dilemma explores a similar subject--Cerulli recounts how he learned to kill deer to improve his protein-poor health. Yet he retained his vegan values: respect for nature and for how food habits affect our environment. Cerulli's concerns about killing are sometimes overwrought, but he compensates with ample doses of humor. His descriptions of waiting in the woods for the appearance of prey speak eloquently to the difference between a deer on the hoof and a plastic-wrapped package of meat. VERDICT A personal and historical view of carnivorous eating in America, this should appeal to a general audience whose interests include food, hunting, and the environment, and especially to those studying bioethics.--Michal Strutin, Santa Clara Univ. Lib., CA

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2011
Pondering his stance on hunting and eating meat, a committed vegan delivers an entertaining and erudite meditation on his place in the natural world. Though Cerulli's boyhood included fishing and exploring the outdoors, during high school he became a vegetarian; at 20 he was a staunch vegan. During his 30s, with his health deteriorating from lack of protein, he was forced to alter his diet. He began fishing again, but his attempts did little to stock his larder. So Cerulli contemplated what had once seemed unimaginable: "What about hunting? The thought came quietly, furtively, like an unwelcome stranger." Along with his study of historical, philosophical, religious, conservation and environmental texts, the author's excursions provide the focus for the narrative. He examines the politics of food and the contentious debates that have ambushed America's conversation about the food supply. He also skillfully delves into the importance of habitat health for wildlife, the Lacey Act of 1900 and Theodore Roosevelt's role in the conservation movement. Cerulli ventured back into the woods, rekindling personal relationships along the way. While he traces the evolution of hunting as a sport for elites to a pursuit for the common man, he examines his own mindset slowly changing from "militant vegan" to deer hunter. Cerulli assumes the role of the reasonable yet probing narrator, raising questions and pointing out the contradictions and truths contained within the multiple viewpoints he discusses. The refreshingly evenhanded tone allows readers to judge the author's argument on the merits of his literary and personal evidence. Today's noisy media environment often consists of rigid, uninformed viewpoints passed off as the sole truth. Cerulli provides a welcome antidote to the bluster.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)