slaughterhouse

Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front
$29.95
Slaughterhouse on the Eastern front came with so much promise but from the typos, spelling and grammatical errors to the REPEATING of whole large paragraphs in the book (Never seen that before)to the absence of division listings (For example, no mention of the Muncheburg or Kurmark Divisions-why?) it was a let down.

Don't buy this sight unseen.

The book is a great idea but doesn't deliver on substance.

Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry
$19.98
After reading the prologue, I was not sure how to approach Eisnitz's book. It jumps right into her story of collecting affidavits and interviews in an attempt to expose USDA's failure to uphold federal standards. Her collection was brutal and disturbing. After each interview, I felt disgusted by my naive trust in the meat industry for the first 21 years of my life. She develops an argument against the meat industry's current business standards and operations by conveying its negative social and environmental externalities not through statistics and scientific research but through human experience.

Towards the end of her story, she really cracks into the heart of the problem. She explains that too many people have turned a blind eye. The information is right in front of them, but they refuse to accept that their way of life is socially and environmentally distructive. She concludes by saying that, despite her many set backs, she accepts that all she can do is tell her story and the stories she has collected. Some may open their eyes but many will choose to ignore her.

This book compelled this reader and refuse to accept the status quo. Bravo! Bravo! Encore!

Slaughterhouse-five
$5.30
It seems to be the appropriate title for this review. Kurt Vonnegut writes about his personal experiences in World War II as the Allies bombed the German city of Dresden which appeared safe. The narrator/author is Yon Yonson but it's really Kurt Vonnegut. Anyway, the book tells about the men who survived the bombing and their lives before and after. Billy Pilgrim barely escaped alive and was not of sound, mind, and body afterwards. He was haunted by his actions, his humiliation, and the inhumane conditions. He was also plagued by guilt. Billy's story could have made the book in itself. He married an overweight woman, Valencia who just wanted some man to love her and marry her. His life was plagued by tragedy as well. There were a few others but none stick so much out as Billy Pilgrim. Just because you survive, doesn't mean life will ever be the same again and it's not for Prisoners of War or anybody who lived through a war.

Slaughterhouse
$17.98
I purchased this CD as a gift for my son, who thinks this CD is just great and loves to listen to it as much as he can.