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Raw Dog: The Naked Truth about Hot Dogs
Raw Dog: The Naked Truth about Hot Dogs | Jamie Loftus
10 posts | 6 read | 13 to read
Part travelogue, part culinary history, all capitalist critique--comedian Jamie Loftus's debut, Raw Dog, will take you on a cross-country road trip in the summer of 2021, and reveal what the creation, culture, and class influence of hot dogs says about America now. Hot dogs. Poor people created them. Rich people found a way to charge fifteen dollars for them. They're high culture, they're low culture, they're sports food, they're kids' food, they're hangover food, and they're deeply American, despite having no basis whatsoever in America's Indigenous traditions. You can love them, you can hate them, but you can't avoid the great American hot dog. Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs is part investigation into the cultural and culinary significance of hot dogs and part travelog documenting a cross-country road trip researching them as they're served today. From avocado and spice in the West to ass-shattering chili in the East to an entire salad on a slice of meat in Chicago, Loftus, her pets, and her ex eat their way across the country during the strange summer of 2021. It's a brief window into the year between waves of a plague that the American government has the resources to temper, but not the interest. So grab a dog, lay out your picnic blanket, and dig into the delicious and inevitable product of centuries of violence, poverty, and ambition, now rolling around at your local 7-Eleven. The hardcover edition of Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs includes gorgeous endpapers as well as illustrations by the author throughout.
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review
britt_brooke
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Pickpick

🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭 One of the funniest books I‘ve read in a long time! Loftus and her boyfriend go on a mission to find the best hotdog in America. While sometimes eating 3-4 dogs in a day (ouch), she touches on the history and pop culture of this polarizing tubular meat. So many perfectly timed one-liners. Keeping this one in my back pocket for a revisit when I need some levity. Loved it! Thanks for putting this on my radar @Christine !

HeatherBookNerd Really? 5 star book about hotdogs?!!?? 1y
RamsFan1963 @HeatherBookNerd I gave this 5 stars too. Its very funny but insightful in its commentary about American society. 1y
HeatherBookNerd @britt_brooke @RamsFan1963 ok, y‘all sold me. Stacked it. 1y
See All 11 Comments
Hooked_on_books After all that processed meat, she should go get a colonoscopy! 1y
britt_brooke @HeatherBookNerd Exactly what @RamsFan1963 said! Plus I needed a good laugh. 😂 It also depends on how you rate things. I don‘t hold all books to the same standards and am trying to be less stingy with stars. This one just hit right. 1y
Billypar I recently found out about this author's podcast on Lolita. I'm only through 5 episodes but it covers how the book's legacy is misunderstood due to its film and screen adaptations and examines this through the lens of surviving rape. It's really good! 1y
Billypar Sorry, that should have read: film and *stage* adaptations 1y
britt_brooke @Billypar Oh interesting! I‘ll have to look for that. 1y
Christine Yay!!!! Glad it was a 5-dog read for you! 😂❤️ 1y
69 likes5 stack adds11 comments
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britt_brooke
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The Sausage Race 🌭⚾️

“Five people in 7‘3” mascot suits vaguely shaped like sausages in various cultural outfits, and named just as offhandedly. Each and every home game, this band of hastily constructed freaks comes down to the field during the 7th inning stretch to race against each other.”

Actual photo I took in 2010, not thinking of truly how preposterous this tradition is.

LeahBergen 😆😆 1y
Christine As a native Wisconsite, this tradition evokes both pride and shame. 🤣 1y
Megabooks 😂😂😂 1y
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Soubhiville Omg that‘s funny. 1y
Susanita We have a Presidents race that‘s also pretty ridiculous. 1y
britt_brooke @Susanita 😂 Oh yeah, I‘ve seen that one on tv! 1y
67 likes7 comments
review
ReadingOver50
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Pickpick

Follow Jamie Loftus as she travels across the United States, stopping at hot dog stands along the way. The history of hot dogs was interesting, but the book did get a little repetitive with every stop at a hot dog stand. Still a fun read.

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Christine
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Pickpick

This is the best book about hot dogs + pandemic-era road trip memoir that‘s deeply political and has tons of swears that you will ever read. 🤣 🌭 I enjoyed it.

britt_brooke 😂 Definitely gonna read this! 1y
Christine @britt_brooke It‘s a bit all over the place, but I enjoyed the ride! 😆 1y
38 likes1 stack add2 comments
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ReadingOver50
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My library haul. It‘s been awhile because I‘ve been trying to prioritize books I already own. First up is Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs.

Megabooks Cool haul!! 1y
BookishMadHatter I feel the same way. Between the books I own and two ereaders stuffed with more than I will admit, I try to stay away from other sources .... until something shiny comes along and grabs my attention anyway lol 1y
RamsFan1963 I really enjoyed Raw Dog 1y
71 likes3 comments
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Bookwomble
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@RamsFan1963
Err, definitions 3 & 4! I think Oscar Mayer still has a problem! 🧐🌭🍆😄

dabbe And with “furter“ added to the end, it sounds like Frank's furtering his, well, frank! 🤣🤣🤣 1y
34 likes1 comment
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RamsFan1963
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According to an article in Entrepreneur magazine, Oscar Mayer is changing the name of the iconic Weinermobile to the Frankmobile. They say it's to promote their new all beef frank hot dogs, but I wonder. Is anyone offended by the name Weinermobile?? Am I "unwoke" if I think you should leave the Weinermobile alone? #savetheweinermobile

AmyG We actually ran into the weinermobile (I say keep the name) almost 20 years ago in a hotel parking lot in California. We have a great family photo with it (somewhere). 1y
Susanita I don‘t think Rep. Anthony Weiner helped the case. 1y
Bookwormjillk @AmyG that‘s funny @AmyG Our run in was at a hotel too. Could care less about the name 🤷‍♀️ 1y
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CBee I‘m not offended by it. I mean, I have a dachshund and they are still called weiner dogs. Are we going to retire that too? 😂🤦‍♀️ 1y
CBee @Susanita omg SPOT ON 😂🫢 1y
Bigwig Is nothing sacred anymore? Justice for the Wienermobile. (edited) 1y
dabbe Looked this up. Here's what I found:
wIEner = 1. a frankfurter or sausage. Informal: a penis
wEIner = Informal: an awkward, weak, or ineffectual person.

So, is it the spelling? They've spelled it as wEInermobile. If they'd just go to wIEnermobile, no one shoul be triggered, unless “penis“ is too overwhelming. 🤣(though I love the name and think they should keep it, IMHO). My school district wouldn't even let the wienermobile on any property. 😯🤣
1y
RamsFan1963 @dabbe You are correct, it was my mistake. It should be spelled wienermobile not weinermobile. I don't have a problem with it either way, but just for clarification, it is spelled wie not wei as I posted it. 1y
dabbe @RamsFan1963 You're not alone! The Oscar Meyer people have spelled it that way, too! So have I! So has a lot of people! I wonder if that's one reason why they're changing it--to avoid any and all confusion. I don't care either way myself--I love it as the wienermobile! 1y
Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick They should just keep it. It'll be at least 25 years before anyone outside of Oscar Mayer employees actually calls it the Frankmobile. #JusticeForTheWeinermobile 1y
61 likes10 comments
review
RamsFan1963
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Pickpick

55/150 I love hot dogs. More than pizza, burgers, fried chicken, Mexican, Chinese or Italian. To me, it is the perfect food that I would eat every day if my stomach would allow it. This hysterical book is part travelogue, part hot dog history and part social commentary. Listening to this made me hungry, and jealous I can't do my own cross country hot dog tour. 5 🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭
TW: Graphic language.

MemoirsForMe Yes!!! 🙌🏻🌭 1y
AmyG Nothing like a good hot dog. 1y
Soubhiville You should absolutely do a cross country hot dog tour! I bet you know enough Littens to help you out along the way! 🙋 here‘s your Austin TX stop. (I don‘t eat meat, but my husband would join you for dinner 😆) 1y
See All 7 Comments
RamsFan1963 @Soubhiville I only have one rule when it comes to hot dogs. No ketchup!! Ketchup is an abomination, especially on a hot dog. Let's not even talk about that weirdo creation they call a Chicago Dog!! 1y
Ruthiella There‘s a good documentary on PBS about hotdogs 🌭. https://pbsinternational.org/programs/hot-dog-program-a/ 1y
RamsFan1963 @Ruthiella Thanks for the heads up, I'll check it out for sure. 1y
britt_brooke Loved it!! 1y
70 likes2 stack adds7 comments
review
GerardtheBookworm
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Pickpick

Comedian and writer Jamie Loftis goes cross country to learn about the history of the popular sausage from its origins, the product being part of a competitive eating contest, business, and a contributor to pop culture Americana that is part essay, commentary, and social science.

Bklover Not sure I want to know!😅 1y
13 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
Rhondareads
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A book about hot dogs a travelogue a combination of reporting humor and lyrical writing by the comedian Jamie Loftus.