Jamie Loftus

The Many Histories of Hot Dogs

Raw Dog

Patrick Book

Loftus is hilarious, and hot dogs themselves are inherently funny; from the tubular shape to the silly name to the fact that people actually take it so seriously, there's a lot of potential there for comedy.

But I imagine very few people would be as deft at blending the humour and ridiculousness of the dog world with meaningful progressive/socialist commentary on the political, environmental, and moral issues that surround the industry and the nation for which the hot dog is emblematic. It's equal parts travelogue, political critique, and variously-explicit descriptions of nitrate-induced butthole chaos, and it's one of my favourite books of the year.

Raw Dog The Many Histories of Hot Dogs

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