Veganist

Freston's sincere but problematic argument for a vegan diet is made to sound manipulative as delivered by Karen White. Freston's information can be interesting, but her means for connecting her research to a platform for an exclusively vegan diet falls flat in places. White complicates matters with an emotionally laden delivery. A practical and subdued approach would have allowed the facts and ideas to stand for themselves. As a result, a book that has the potential to bring new demographics to the vegan lifestyle comes off as too much like propaganda for listeners to swallow. L.E. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

February 28, 2011
In this cheery manifesto, healthy-living guru Freston (Quantum Wellness) promises readers who gives up meat, dairy, and eggs that they will effortlessly lose weight, avoid cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's, save money, help the poor, reduce their carbon footprint and animal suffering, and evolve spiritually. Freston, coining the word "veganist," puts a soft edge on the vegan lifestyle: "It's not about hard lines or purity or perfection but about intention and holding ideas loosely and taking steps in the direction of the kind of person you want to be." She supports her claims with interviews from medical authorities like Dean Ornish and Neal Barnard, numerous stories from people who converted and changed their lives, and a few tales from animal rights activists who went undercover in the factory farm. The book provides "tips for making the switch," FAQs answered by Dr. Barnard, and sample menus, but no recipes, so readers used to meat and potatoes may be stymied by how to prepare "flax seed and whole-grain pizza with classic margherita topping." Even so, for the novice, this book offers a gentle, guilt-free path to a meatless (or even, as Feston says, "vegan-ish") life.