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Fast Food Nation Summary

Decent Essays

In another well-crafted exposé, Eric Schlosser delves into drugs, cheap labor, and sex in the American black market in the book Reefer Madness. Written and researched in a style similar to his bestseller Fast Food Nation, Schlosser provides a unique insight into these controversial industries.
Despite being written in the early 2000s, the issues discussed in the book are still relevant in America today. All of the industries involved have been subject to intense government scrutiny for years, but still managed to thrive anyways. Through his extensive research, Schlosser provides an in-depth look at the issues and the history behind them. Starting with marijuana, an issue still making its way through the government today, he retells the origins …show more content…

While some may not want to read the book simply because they do not agree with how Schlosser represents his subject matter, other may be utterly repulsed by the subject. In the section on the sex industry, he often provides interesting details of the world of pornography. When discussing the rise of pornographic videos, Schlosser delves into their subject matter, as shown here: “There are gay videos and straight videos, bondage videos and spanking videos, tickling videos, interracial videos, and videos like Count Footula, for people whose fetish is feet” (Schlosser 169). While the other sections are much tamer, this section of the book may turn readers away since sex is still such a taboo topic in our society …show more content…

He includes statistics to prove the reality of his topics in America, such as in the chapter on migrant workers: “The commission estimated that 40 percent of the migrants in the United States - at least 400,000 people - were illegal immigrants” (99). Along with this, he interviewed a number of people to get information from people experienced with the subject at hand. All of his sources are listed in the book’s appendix and anyone can easily check them to see their credibility. He also appeals to pathos in his portrayal of the migrant farm workers. Schlosser describes their living conditions in the section, and even goes to visit some of the places where the workers live. In the book, he interviewed a work named Francisco who seemed to nothing but work. “His days were spent at the farm, his nights at the encampment. He picked strawberries six days a week, sometimes seven, for ten or twelve hours a day” (106). Most readers could not even imagine having to work like this and will feel sorry for Francisco having to live a life this

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