Love the shout out to the amazing, well, counter-cultural love song, San Francisco Nights. If ever there was a song - and its aching, yearning lyrics - joined (with cement shoes, really) to a historical moment, the fleeting, mythical Summer of Love’ this might be at the very top of the table.
I was a huge Animals fan in 1967, we played a few of their songs in my high school rock band (We Gotta Get Out of This Place!) - but sadly, not this one. Not enough Jersey feel I guess. That didn’t stop me from dreaming of San Francisco, though, and this song fed right into that. It took me almost 30 years, but I finally made it.
I wasn't born there
Perhaps I'll die there
There's no place left to go
San Francisco
But anyway, about the books :) I started reading Alicia Kennedy’s No Meat Required yesterday, then took it to bed - I could/did not want to put it down.
This book is wonderfully engaging, gives you so much to think about, bringing together the personal - Alicia’s story but even more important, connecting everything to your own story with food (eating, cooking, shopping, dining, ....) - with the cultural, and of course in that the political and historical. Also, the dominant narrative on vegans and vegetarians is thoroughly taken apart, in a way that I suspect you will not find anywhere else.
I’m not quite done with it, but already: I think Chapter 2, Meat’s Meaning, will knock you over.
I forgot to add something about the audio version/link in your post, to a cover of The Animals song: San Franciscan Nights, by the Hungarian band, Gabor Szabo and The California Dreamers. Stunningly, it was recorded the same Summer of Love year, 1967, as The Animals original, which only goes to show how the counterculture’s vision, with San Francisco at the center of it all, had grabbed the imagination of young people everywhere.
Love the shout out to the amazing, well, counter-cultural love song, San Francisco Nights. If ever there was a song - and its aching, yearning lyrics - joined (with cement shoes, really) to a historical moment, the fleeting, mythical Summer of Love’ this might be at the very top of the table.
I was a huge Animals fan in 1967, we played a few of their songs in my high school rock band (We Gotta Get Out of This Place!) - but sadly, not this one. Not enough Jersey feel I guess. That didn’t stop me from dreaming of San Francisco, though, and this song fed right into that. It took me almost 30 years, but I finally made it.
I wasn't born there
Perhaps I'll die there
There's no place left to go
San Francisco
But anyway, about the books :) I started reading Alicia Kennedy’s No Meat Required yesterday, then took it to bed - I could/did not want to put it down.
This book is wonderfully engaging, gives you so much to think about, bringing together the personal - Alicia’s story but even more important, connecting everything to your own story with food (eating, cooking, shopping, dining, ....) - with the cultural, and of course in that the political and historical. Also, the dominant narrative on vegans and vegetarians is thoroughly taken apart, in a way that I suspect you will not find anywhere else.
I’m not quite done with it, but already: I think Chapter 2, Meat’s Meaning, will knock you over.
I forgot to add something about the audio version/link in your post, to a cover of The Animals song: San Franciscan Nights, by the Hungarian band, Gabor Szabo and The California Dreamers. Stunningly, it was recorded the same Summer of Love year, 1967, as The Animals original, which only goes to show how the counterculture’s vision, with San Francisco at the center of it all, had grabbed the imagination of young people everywhere.
Thanks Jack - just getting started on Alicia's book - looking forward to Chapter 2!
Lol I knew I shouldn’t have clicked on something called spaghetti mayhem 🫣😂
IKR?
Thanks for sharing so much about the book, Bruce!