Publishers Weekly - Publishers Weekly Audio
White turns in a workmanlike performance in this audio version of Freston's guide to the benefits of a plant-based diet. Full of useful tips, practical information, and personal stories about veganism, Freston makes a compelling case for giving up meat and dairy products, but she can present a change in diet as something of a panacea for everything from illness to environmental degradation and spiritual malaise. Karen White's narration is crisp, well-paced and pleasantly cheerful. Her conversational and encouraging delivery works to personalize the book's stories and arguments—all the while eschewing any hint of sanctimony. A useful, very encouraging guide for listeners considering a vegan or vegetarian diet. A Weinstein hardcover. (Feb.)
Publishers Weekly
In this cheery manifesto, healthy-living guru Freston (Quantum Wellness) promises readers who gives up meat, dairy, and eggs that they will effortlessly lose weight, avoid cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's, save money, help the poor, reduce their carbon footprint and animal suffering, and evolve spiritually. Freston, coining the word "veganist," puts a soft edge on the vegan lifestyle: "It's not about hard lines or purity or perfection but about intention and holding ideas loosely and taking steps in the direction of the kind of person you want to be." She supports her claims with interviews from medical authorities like Dean Ornish and Neal Barnard, numerous stories from people who converted and changed their lives, and a few tales from animal rights activists who went undercover in the factory farm. The book provides "tips for making the switch," FAQs answered by Dr. Barnard, and sample menus, but no recipes, so readers used to meat and potatoes may be stymied by how to prepare "flax seed and whole-grain pizza with classic margherita topping." Even so, for the novice, this book offers a gentle, guilt-free path to a meatless (or even, as Feston says, "vegan-ish") life.
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From the Publisher
"For the novice, this book offers a gentle, guilt-free path to a meatless (or even, as Freston says, "vegan-ish") life." ---Publishers Weekly
Library Journal
Freston (www.kathyfreston.com), author of several titles on cleansing, weight loss, conscious eating, and overall physical and spiritual wellness, here presents a treatise on adopting a vegan diet and lifestyle. Less a guidebook or cookbook than a testament to the benefits of being a vegan—e.g., weight loss, improving the planet, achieving emotional balance, and saving animals' lives—the book includes anecdotes from people who have benefited from the switch as well as extensive excerpts from an interview Freston conducted with fellow author/wellness expert Dean Ornish, M.D. (founder & president, Preventive Medicine Research Inst.). Audie Award nominee Karen White delivers an excellent reading of the material, and the production quality of this audio is high. But while the text is informative, it sounds like an infomercial or extended Oprah or Ellen segment—both shows on which the author has appeared—and the lengthy interview portions detract from the narrative flow. Most likely to appeal to fans of Freston and those new to the vegan lifestyle, who will find much of interest here. [The Weinstein hc, published in February, was a New York Times best seller.—Ed.]—Nicole A. Cooke, Montclair State Univ. Lib., NJ
MARCH 2011 - AudioFile
Freston’s sincere but problematic argument for a vegan diet is made to sound manipulative as delivered by Karen White. Freston’s information can be interesting, but her means for connecting her research to a platform for an exclusively vegan diet falls flat in places. White complicates matters with an emotionally laden delivery. A practical and subdued approach would have allowed the facts and ideas to stand for themselves. As a result, a book that has the potential to bring new demographics to the vegan lifestyle comes off as too much like propaganda for listeners to swallow. L.E. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
