Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History

Schutt (biology, LIU Post, NY; Dark Banquet) presents a serious examination of the practice of eating members of your own species both throughout history and throughout the animal kingdom. Striving for understanding and nuance, this work shies away from the sensationalistic and instead looks at the circumstances that drive this behavior. The Donner Party is heavily featured and used as a lens to view the many facets of cannibalism as it is understood as a biological and cultural process. Modern and historic news coverage of the 1846–47 expedition is used to demonstrate how sensationalism obscures the facts of the case. There is also an interesting discussion of the diseases passed on by cannibalism, such as mad cow. Tom Perkins is such a natural reader that one would think it was the author himself sharing the story of the woman who invited him to eat her placenta.