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  • Meat Eater

  • Adventures from the Life of an American Hunter
  • Written by: Steven Rinella
  • Narrated by: Steven Rinella
  • Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (13 ratings)

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Meat Eater

Written by: Steven Rinella
Narrated by: Steven Rinella
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Publisher's Summary

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author and host of Netflix’s MeatEater comes “a unique and valuable alternate view of where our food comes from” (Anthony Bourdain).

“Revelatory . . . With every chapter, you get a history lesson, a hunting lesson, a nature lesson, and a cooking lesson. . . . Meat Eater offers an overabundance to savor.”—The New York Times Book Review

Meat Eater chronicles Steven Rinella’s lifelong relationship with nature and hunting through the lens of ten hunts, beginning when he was an aspiring mountain man at age ten and ending as a thirty-seven-year-old Brooklyn father who hunts in the remotest corners of North America. He tells of having a struggling career as a fur trapper just as fur prices were falling; of a dalliance with catch-and-release steelhead fishing; of canoeing in the Missouri Breaks in search of mule deer just as the Missouri River was freezing up one November; and of hunting the elusive Dall sheep in the glaciated mountains of Alaska.

A thrilling storyteller, Rinella grapples with themes such as the role of the hunter in shaping America, the vanishing frontier, the ethics of killing, and the disappearance of the hunter himself as consumers lose their connection with the way their food finds its way to their tables. The result is a loving portrait of a way of life that is part of who we are—as humans and as Americans.

©2012 Steven Rinella (P)2023 Random House Audio

What the critics say

“It’s evident from Chapter 1 that we are in the hands of a seriously experienced hunter-gatherer and writer. . . . Acutely conveyed are the ways society is elbowing aside an age-old practice, often bloody and brutal, and replacing it with practices numbingly antiseptic and increasingly unreal. . . . Rinella’s writing is unerringly smart, direct, and sharply detailed. . . . Each of his small-bore narratives, whether it unfolds on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula [or in] Montana, Alaska, Arizona, or Mexico, bristles with the magic of a specific, authentic place.”The Boston Globe

“As Steven Rinella is quick to point out, the hunting story is the oldest sort of story there is. Humans developed language, it is commonly held, to tell them. When told properly, as they are in Meat Eater, such stories are not simple gloats by the successful hunter around the table, proudly chewing on the biggest portion of meat and relishing the respect he has earned from his tribe by bringing back the protein. Rather, they are stories of man’s relationships with his fellow hunters, his family, the land and the animals. The stories in Meat Eater are full of empathy and intelligence.”The Wall Street Journal

“Steven Rinella is one of the best nature writers of the last decade. . . . This book was a page-turner.”—Tim Ferris

What listeners say about Meat Eater

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Excellent stories

Mr. Rinella does a great justice by articulating the often misunderstood motivations and mentalities of hunters. The stories in this book are intertwined with meaning and philosophy without being overly burdensome. I have enjoyed this book twice now.

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Excellent!!

Love the whole thing ! Good stories and done by the author. Well put together! Probably my favourite of his books

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Superb

Steve is by far my favourite writer and narrator. This book is no exception. A fun learning experience from one of the industries best.

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Read by the author makes a world of difference

I enjoyed the writing in the original version, but I had a hard time getting through it due to the narrator. With Steve at the helm, this version is greatly improved!

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great book

This book takes u on adventure in each chapter, leaving you wanting more! great book

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