Killing It
Learning the Art of Butchery
Published on 26. July 2018
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-1-5098-1100-7 (ISBN)
Description
After losing her job as a food journalist, Camas Davis felt totally lost, out of love with her life and the world. She had spent her career writing about food, but she had never forced herself to grapple with how it got to her plate. Now she wanted to change that, she wanted to experience something real. So she travelled to France to learn the art of butchery. There, in the rolling countryside of Gascony, surrounded by farmers and producers who understood every part of the process, she realized it was time to make a change.
Killing It is a book about a woman doing something simultaneously extreme and unexpected, yet incredibly simple - a return to a relationship with food we only lost a few decades ago. It is story about turning your life upside down and starting again, it is about falling in and out of love, and it is about understanding what it means to be human and what it means to be animal too.
Killing It is a book about a woman doing something simultaneously extreme and unexpected, yet incredibly simple - a return to a relationship with food we only lost a few decades ago. It is story about turning your life upside down and starting again, it is about falling in and out of love, and it is about understanding what it means to be human and what it means to be animal too.
Reviews / Votes
A brave book . . . I was reminded of Elizabeth David . . . very original * The Times * Killing It combines three popular, profound topics: where our food comes from, how to achieve purpose in life and how to find lasting love * Sunday Times * Camas Davis kills it indeed, gracefully and unpretentiously blending personal and universal, meat and flesh. If you're a carnivore, or even just wonder how others can be, you'll want to devour this well-crafted, engrossing account -- Colman Andrews, author of <i>Catalan Cuisine</i> Davis writes with the precision and pacing of a former editor, but one who has gained experience that extends well beyond Manhattan skyscrapers. * Vogue.com * Killing It is as unflinching as one might imagine a book with that title to be, but it's also humanizing and thoughtful - with the butchery comes a journey of self-realization applicable far beyond the realm of animals or food. * Vanity Fair * Finding beauty and moral high ground in the abattoir . . . The making of a young female entrepreneur rendered in unvarnished detail * Kirkus * Searching and entertaining -- Tamar Adler, author of <i>An Everlasting Meal</i> Whatever one's position on the meat politics spectrum, this book is an excellent testament to just how hard it is to push through to the magic kingdom of one's "dream", and that anyone contemplating such a move is going to need adjectives like "passionate" as a minimum requirement. * Strong Words * Provide[s] an important insight into how meat ends up on the plate. * France Magazine * With grace and power, first-time author Davis tells of how she traded a keyboard for a cleaver . . . Her powerful writing and gift for vivid description allow readers to feel as if they, too, are embarking on a life-changing journey * Publishers Weekly *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pan Macmillan
Target group
Interest Age: From 18 years
Dimensions
Height: 265 mm
Width: 202 mm
Thickness: 36 mm
Weight
478 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5098-1100-7 (9781509811007)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
07/2018
Picador
€14.49
Available for download
Person
Camas Davis is a former editor and writer for magazines including Saveur and National Geographic Adventure. In 2009, she traveled to southwest France to study whole animal butchery and charcuterie and subsequently founded the Portland Meat Collective, a transparent, hands-on meat school that has become a resource for education and reform. In 2014, Camas launched the Good Meat Project, a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring responsible meat production and consumption through experiential education across the USA.