The Omnivore's Deception
Hello, my name is John Sanbonmatsu, and I'm a writer and philosopher.
Billions of animals languish in the gulag archipelago of the animal food system. Help me challenge this system by donating to my publicity campaign for my forthcoming new book, The Omnivore's Deception: What We Get Wrong about Meat, Animals, and Ourselves, to be published in June 2025 by New York University Press.
The culmination of 35 years of personal reflection, teaching, and writing about our brutal relations with other animals, The Omnivore's Deception shatters the conventional wisdom around meat, challenging the myth of "humane" meat and presenting the most powerful case yet for the total abolition of the animal economy--as highlighted recently in The New Republic.
Extraordinary Advance Praise
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Carol Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat, describes my book as "riveting and thought-provoking" and "a dazzling achievement." Frances Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet and founder of the Center for Living Democracy, meanwhile writes:
"Stunning and brilliantly written. For half a century I’ve strived to awaken the world to the irrationality and needless destruction built into meat-centered diets. Now, Sanbonmatsu has awakened me. He digs to new layers of the crisis and also enables us to see the wider positives that arise as we embrace a plant-and-planet-centered diet."
You can find more advance praise for my book at to the New York University Press website, here.
Potential Impact
Millions of Americans see themselves as "conflicted omnivores," worrying about the ethical and environmental implications of their consumption of meat, while hoping for a pain- and misery-free form of animal farming. I show, however, that killing and eating animals is always unethical, regardless of whether they are "free range" or "factory-farmed." In a devastating rejoinder to Michael Pollan, Temple Grandin, and other critics who tell us that we can have our meat and our consciences, too, I show why "humane meat" is a contradiction in terms, and how the animal system is undermining the ecology of the Earth, imperiling all life on Earth.
Occasionally a book comes along that changes how we think about an issue of national and world consequence. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962) taught us that pesticides were killing wild animals, and her book helped lead to the creation of the EPA and Endangered Species Act. Frances Moore Lappé's Diet for a Small Planet (1974) showed us how industrialized animal agriculture was undermining the Earth's ecology, and why a vegetarian diet was healthiest for ourselves and the planet. Bill McKibben's The End of Nature (1989) raised the alarm over global warming. Each of these works marked a cultural watershed, changing the way people saw the world.
It was in college that I came across a book that was to change my own life, Peter Singer's Animal Liberation (1975). After reading Singer's book, I became a vegetarian and eventually a vegan. That was more than 30 years ago. Now I have written my own groundbreaking book about animals and the meat economy, one which I hope will lay to rest forever the myth of the "humane" consumption and killing of animals.
Why I Need Your Help
I have written what I believe is a game-changing book. But if no one hears about it, no one will read it. And if no one reads it, then the public will continue to suffer under the delusion that we can have our meat and our conscience too, when we can't.
My publisher, New York University Press, is a distinguished academic press that will be marketing my book as part of its "trade" or general audience list of titles. To that end, my publisher has already hired a highly experienced publicist to promote my book. However, because NYU Press is a small publisher with a small budget, they cannot pay the publicist to run a national campaign, only a local campaign focused on radio interviews.
I am a charismatic advocate for animal issues--you can learn about my past interviews and public debates on my personal website--and therefore hope to go on a national book tour. But to do so, I will need at least $25,000 to augment the publicist's existing budget. That money would fund campaigns in three major media markets (New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles). With additional funds--a campaign that raised a total of $40,000--I would be able to expand my campaign to other cities, including Chicago, London, Athens, and Vienna. The additional money would go to my publicist and to help pay for my travel and lodging during my book tour. I would also be able to hire someone to create a Wikipedia page.
Risks & Challenges
Though I will need a minimum of $25,000 to promote my book nationally, my publicist would be able to mount a promotion campaign in a major metropolitan market for $7,500 (the price of one regional market, e.g. New York). So even if I fall a little short in this campaign, the money I raise will help me spread the word about my book.
Perks for Supporters
I'm excited to be offering a number of perks for contributors to my campaign, including advance copies of the book, a personal Zoom call with me, and even a private four-course vegan dinner with me in Boston, followed by a book reading and close-up magic show!
Other Ways You Can Help
If you care about animals, please help spread the word about my new book. Together, you and I can change the national conversation about meat and the future of food.
