Carnivore Diet

I have now re-read Julia Slavin's remarkable novel and find it as wonderful the second time around as the first. Highly creative, yet not improbable. A great read.

There is no other book to compare Slavin to, no genre to toss Carnivore Diet in. It's a drama, for sure, with elements of fantasy thrown in, along with a healthy dose of political and social commentary. It has the bizarre-ness of a Vonnegut novel, complete with the commentary on modern society, yet her fantasy world seems real, seems believable. It's almost as if one might wake up in 15 years to a world exactly as bizarre as the one Slavin sets her novel in. Carnivore Diet focuses on the Dunleavy family, torn apart by politics, crime, and drugs. Dad Matt is a former congressman incarcerated on scandalous charges. Mom Wendy is at home coping with some serious drugs that she has to cajole out of her doctors. Teenaged Dylan has lost most of his friends, not told his mom, and is about to lose his lucrative job voicing a character on the most popular cartoon on television. Oh, and by the way, a hermaphroditic carnivorous beast is stalking Washington DC and the Dunleavy house and trying to eat Dylan. America is bizarre, filled with strange politicians, mood altering and life-ruining prescription drugs, and a reality-to-the-max show in which contestants live and die in a Colonial world (no access to any anachronistic medicine or tools). Slavin has created a surreal yet vividly real snapshot of America, and her book is recommended to anyone who wants a break from the "usual fare."

An itchy, goosepimply, weird, thought provoking kind of read. I think I dug it pretty much, and would recommend it for the sheer audacity and excitment. I would also recommend another author, only because I've been reading alot lately, the first book of a new series entitled "A Monumental Journey" by Richard L Cederberg. Very good, exciting, endearing characters. Excellent content . . . I would recommend both quite highly!