Hog Ties

A critical yet quirky exploration of pigs and their place in modern American culture-now in paperback for the first time!

From Charlotte’s Web to Porky Pig and Babe, Americans betray a curiously deep regard for pigs. Hog Ties looks at this phenomenon, its relation to American culture, and the way in which themes of life and death are played out in the care, feeding, slaughter, and eating of pigs. Intermingling silly asides with serious subjects, existential concerns with environmental issues, the book considers the ways that pigs might help Americans address powerful human concerns.



" An eccentric song of praise to all things porcine, a compendium of information on transmissible gastroenteritis, and a showcase for Horwitz’s beguiling essayistic style." Times Literary Supplement (London)

"This book provides pleasant surprises on many levels. . . .Hog Ties is a thoughtful, worthwhile examination of a major part of the American food industry and of a way of life." Seattle Times

Richard P. Horwitz is professor and graduate director of American studies at the University of Iowa as well as senior fellow of the Coastal Institute in Narragansett, Rhode Island. Since 1978 he has moonlighted as a hired hand on a two-thousand-acre hog/cattle/grain farm.