Hog Ties: What Pigs Tell Us About America
A critical yet quirky exploration of pigs and their place in modern American culture-now in paperback for the first time!

From Charlotte’s Web to Porky Pig and Babe, Americans betray a curiously deep regard for pigs. Hog Ties looks at this phenomenon, its relation to American culture, and the way in which themes of life and death are played out in the care, feeding, slaughter, and eating of pigs. Intermingling silly asides with serious subjects, existential concerns with environmental issues, the book considers the ways that pigs might help Americans address powerful human concerns.

" An eccentric song of praise to all things porcine, a compendium of information on transmissible gastroenteritis, and a showcase for Horwitz’s beguiling essayistic style." Times Literary Supplement (London)

"This book provides pleasant surprises on many levels. . . .Hog Ties is a thoughtful, worthwhile examination of a major part of the American food industry and of a way of life." Seattle Times

Richard P. Horwitz is professor and graduate director of American studies at the University of Iowa as well as senior fellow of the Coastal Institute in Narragansett, Rhode Island. Since 1978 he has moonlighted as a hired hand on a two-thousand-acre hog/cattle/grain farm.

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Hog Ties: What Pigs Tell Us About America
A critical yet quirky exploration of pigs and their place in modern American culture-now in paperback for the first time!

From Charlotte’s Web to Porky Pig and Babe, Americans betray a curiously deep regard for pigs. Hog Ties looks at this phenomenon, its relation to American culture, and the way in which themes of life and death are played out in the care, feeding, slaughter, and eating of pigs. Intermingling silly asides with serious subjects, existential concerns with environmental issues, the book considers the ways that pigs might help Americans address powerful human concerns.

" An eccentric song of praise to all things porcine, a compendium of information on transmissible gastroenteritis, and a showcase for Horwitz’s beguiling essayistic style." Times Literary Supplement (London)

"This book provides pleasant surprises on many levels. . . .Hog Ties is a thoughtful, worthwhile examination of a major part of the American food industry and of a way of life." Seattle Times

Richard P. Horwitz is professor and graduate director of American studies at the University of Iowa as well as senior fellow of the Coastal Institute in Narragansett, Rhode Island. Since 1978 he has moonlighted as a hired hand on a two-thousand-acre hog/cattle/grain farm.

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Hog Ties: What Pigs Tell Us About America

Hog Ties: What Pigs Tell Us About America

by Richard P. Horwitz
Hog Ties: What Pigs Tell Us About America

Hog Ties: What Pigs Tell Us About America

by Richard P. Horwitz

Paperback(First edition)

$28.00 
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Overview

A critical yet quirky exploration of pigs and their place in modern American culture-now in paperback for the first time!

From Charlotte’s Web to Porky Pig and Babe, Americans betray a curiously deep regard for pigs. Hog Ties looks at this phenomenon, its relation to American culture, and the way in which themes of life and death are played out in the care, feeding, slaughter, and eating of pigs. Intermingling silly asides with serious subjects, existential concerns with environmental issues, the book considers the ways that pigs might help Americans address powerful human concerns.

" An eccentric song of praise to all things porcine, a compendium of information on transmissible gastroenteritis, and a showcase for Horwitz’s beguiling essayistic style." Times Literary Supplement (London)

"This book provides pleasant surprises on many levels. . . .Hog Ties is a thoughtful, worthwhile examination of a major part of the American food industry and of a way of life." Seattle Times

Richard P. Horwitz is professor and graduate director of American studies at the University of Iowa as well as senior fellow of the Coastal Institute in Narragansett, Rhode Island. Since 1978 he has moonlighted as a hired hand on a two-thousand-acre hog/cattle/grain farm.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780816641833
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Publication date: 08/21/2002
Edition description: First edition
Pages: 336
Product dimensions: 5.88(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Richard P. Horwitz is professor and graduate director of American studies at the University of Iowa as well as senior fellow of the Coastal Institute in Narragansett, Rhode Island. Since 1978 he has moonlighted as a hired hand on a two-thousand-acre hog/cattle/grain farm.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Extracts
Part I: Caring for Hogs and the Meaning of Life
A Bit of an Explanation
Porcine Wahinis
Shit Happens
Part II: Stepping into It
Swine Symbolism
Hog Wars and Pig Politics
Food Safety
Swine Rights, Liberation and Welfare
Crapping Up and Cleaning Up the Environment
Meet the Big Guys
The Technological Edge
Part III: Stepping Out of It So It Goes
So, We've Been Screwed
So, Who's Right?
More Shit Happens
Part IV: Stepping Back: Hog Memories, Fair and Foul
Farming and Cyber-swinology
A Chat with Robin
Farm Rhythms, Harmony and Prophecy
Part V: Disease, Body and Soul
Some Swine Disease Science
Contemplate "Eradicate"
The Body Porcine
Part VI: Say It With Swine
Multicultural Porcinalia
Talking Life, Talking Hogs
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