His first non-fiction work entitled Eating Animals hits hard. Jonathan Safran Foer has a knack for fabulous and emotionally draining fictional dramas, but his newest endeavor is a step beyond the expected. This one is about, in opposition to its title, why not to eat animals, and is a social note on factory farming. Foer writes from the dual perspectives of scientific researcher and new father. The book is filled with fascinating information new to even the most seasoned vegetarian. (Did you know that sea horses mate for life, and that the majority of sea horse varieties are close to extinction because they are constantly being killed as the by-catch of the commercial fishing industry?)

Interestingly enough that Mr. Foer would write a non-fiction work, he still maintains that distinctive and beautiful tone found in his fiction. Juxtaposed with almost many other pro-animal works, this one appears quite different. It’s wordy in the most wonderful way possible, heavy on emotional anecdotes and as with all of Foer’s work, riddled with layers of irony. This book is not a blatant list of facts like most other books in its genre but instead, an eye opening new way of looking at the issues. Animal rights literature has a tendency to be pretentious and pushy at best–and this book is anything but. It is heartfelt and deeply personal, wrought with stories from his childhood, quotes from his grandmother and references to his seemingly awful dog George.

Foer explores the world of animal welfare and animal farming with great resolve. With every chapter of this book, readers can’t help but warm up to the idea of vegetarianism. Nonetheless, Foer accomplishes this without overstating or pushing a belief–seemingly with no more intent than to open our eyes to the realities of the factory farming industry that we may have been blind to before. Keeping distance from the realm of ‘preachy’, Foer does well to not force vegetarianism down the throats of readers–simply informing as best he can and allowing readers to draw their own conclusions.

Apart from being informative and thought provoking, this book serves as an interesting and exciting evolution to see in an author and we’re all sitting on the edge of our seats in anticipation for what he’s up to next.