As you might remember from a while back, I think Jonathan Safran Foer is a great writer. His style is lyrical, emotionally-packed, subtle, and infused with a much-needed humor, making his writing something that people can sink into. So, it’s no surprise that I am of fan of Foer’s novels, but what will I think of his newest work – a nonfiction book called Eating Animals?

Oddly enough, I first heard of Foer’s new book in a public statement made by Natalie Portman a few weeks. Random, I know. At the time, I remember being really surprised. In my mind, I had cataloged Foer as a novelist, so to find out that he had written a nonfiction piece threw me off. While he’s named main characters after himself, this is the first time Foer has truly written as himself. The words are his and no longer protected by the veil of fiction.

In an attempt to understand, I tried to find some parallels between his works. In a nutshell, Eating Animals attempts to reveal the violence behind the use of animals as food, thereby discouraging the eating of animals. Surely a fictional piece about the Holocaust and its aftermath (Everything is Illuminated) has no relation to a work promoting vegetarianism, right?

Wrong.

Despite being nonfiction, Eating Animals addresses the same things as Foer’s previous novels – horror, violence, and accountability. Only this time, the subject is blunt, unclouded by fictional plot lines and characters, leaving readers with no doubts as to the author’s intentions. In his writing, Foer raises the point that we are accountable for the violence inflicted on animals. He explains,

Those alive today are the generations that came to know better. We are the ones of whom it will be fairly asked, What did you do when you learned the truth about eating animals?

His mode of communication may be different but his message is the same as some of those raised in his earlier works. We are accountable! The decisions we make have consequences, and whether discussing the Holocaust or the meat-eating people of the world, we cannot deny that human beings share responsibility for many of the horrors around us.

The real question is, will people switch to vegetarianism as a result of this book? Who knows? But, given the fact that I think Foer is an amazing Jewish writer, I recommend checking out Eating Animals. Once you’ve finished, see how it affects you!

If you want to find out more about Eating Animals, check out Keith Meatto’s review at The Forward!

-Sarah