Torrie read and liked Jb's review of Rage Against the Meshugenah: Why it Takes Balls to Go Nuts:

"This book brings together a few topics that have been touched on before- growing up Jewish in the suburbs, mental illness, and the struggle and renewal of hitting bottom in your life. The thing is, they're almost never looked at as they relate to eac...more This book brings together a few topics that have been touched on before- growing up Jewish in the suburbs, mental illness, and the struggle and renewal of hitting bottom in your life. The thing is, they're almost never looked at as they relate to each other. And Danny adds a large dollop of honesty and perverse humor on top of everything. Great book. (less) "

Torrie read and liked Melissa's review of Eating Animals:

"I think that this book has changed my life, albeit in a really f*cking inconvenient way. I've read Omnivore's Dilemma and Fast Food Nation and all the types of books that people who are trying to be socially conscious are supposed to read, and I know...more I think that this book has changed my life, albeit in a really f*cking inconvenient way. I've read Omnivore's Dilemma and Fast Food Nation and all the types of books that people who are trying to be socially conscious are supposed to read, and I know about the horrors of factory farming and how brutally animals are treated in the course of getting to my plate. But somehow it's been easier to live with it and ignore it in the past; Pollan even gives you a convenient out at the end of his book, where he "pities" the "dreams of innocence" of the vegetarian. I've never quite had it put to me the way that Safran Foer does, and it is this way that I cannot escape. This book asks just what the hell are you going to do about it? Knowing what you've just told about how chickens are raised & slaughtered, how the hell can you ever go to the store & buy chicken breasts again? After reading about what's done to pigs in the course of their lives, how can you go buy bacon? And even if you don't want to admit that turkeys and chickens and cows can feel pain, how can you support of an industry that Human Rights Watch says is guilty of "systemic human rights violations"? I'm not trying to get on a high horse or anything here: I love meat. I love bacon & sausage & desebrada & chicken fingers and pork roasts. I love these things and I don't want to go without them. And I never asked for the farming industry to use genetic manipulation to breed animals that are weaker & sicker. I never asked for them to jam-pack animals with antibiotics & end their lives in horrifically violent ways. But I don't think I can eat meat anymore because whether I asked for it or not, buying their products is supporting their ways.
This review's getting too long. I suppose to sum up, this book has changed my life & I really wish I hadn't read it. I really wish I could just go on pretending that none of this ever happens. I wish I didn't tear up when I think about the chicken in my freezer (keep in mind that I am pregnant & emotional, please).(less) "

Torrie read and liked Sarah's review of Rage Against the Meshugenah: Why it Takes Balls to Go Nuts:

"Rage Against the Meshugenah is alternately laugh-out-loud funny and wipe-your-tears-and-hide-your-face sad. Above all it is honest and touching, giving the reader a way to connect with depression whether they recognize something in themselves or in a...more Rage Against the Meshugenah is alternately laugh-out-loud funny and wipe-your-tears-and-hide-your-face sad. Above all it is honest and touching, giving the reader a way to connect with depression whether they recognize something in themselves or in a loved one.

Danny is smart, funny, and not afraid to tell you about his penchant for porn and masturbation in the same book he is exposing himself (so to speak) as a giant dork.

If you have been touched by depression in your life in some way (and shit, who hasn't?), this book will help you feel a little less alone and maybe even find some humor.(less) "