Fast Food Nation

(Sorry about the break; I went on vacation for the week with my partner. We had a great time, but I didn't have any access to the internet for the week! Agh!)

I just finished reading the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser and I found it very engaging. Schlosser weaves intricate stories that illustrate the roles that various people have had on the fast food industry. The way he links Ray Kroc, the McDonald's man, to Walt Disney almost runs off on tangents, but turn out to be wide arcs leading back to the main point. The rest of the book is not as entertaining as it trudges through the harsh realities of strained fast food employees, slaughterhouse workers, struggling ranchers, all to pursue the American Dream of the Big Buck.

This Fall, the book will be made into a movie about a fictional company called the Big One (satirizing McDonalds, of course.) I'm not sure that it needs to be turned into a story, since the book does a good job as a documentary... but I suspect it has something to do with the success of the movie Thank You for Smoking.

Here, you can compare the book to the movie. Well, just the introduction of the book and the trailer to the movie. For more, you'll have to go to the library/bookstore or wait a few months in a theater near you.



Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the American Meal - Page 1


[add 7/23/06]
Here's some more clips related to Fast Food Nation that might be of some interest:
BBC hosted a debate between Schlosser and McDonalds!

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3