sometimes having a raw lifestyle is like swimming upstream against the current.  you are viewed as being “different” because you’re usually the odd man out at restaurants and social settings.  let’s face it — we’re living raw in a cooked world.
for me, one of the ways i try and stay motivated to keep up this lifestyle is through reading raw food books.  of course, my first book was Susan Schenck’s Live Food Factor, which was EXCELLENT!  since that book, i’ve also read:

• 12 Steps to Raw by Victoria Boutenko
• Green Smoothie Revolution by Victoria Boutenko
• Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo

there are a lot of raw un-cook books, but rather than a recipe book…i was aching for another book that explored the fundamentals and foundations of raw food more deeply.

i downloaded Frederic Patenaude’s Raw Secrets to my Kindle…but I just stopped reading it after only getting 1/3 through the book.  here’s why it didn’t appeal to me:

• at the end of each chapter, there was a “To find more information, you can go to my website and enroll in this program!”  <= listen, Freddy, if i wanted to pay for a book with commercials, i would have asked for it
• less opinions, more facts please:  don’t get me wrong, i love rattling off my opinion just like Freddy, but if you’re going to be a published author on a subject, at least substantiate it with some research.  Fred constantly quotes the same 2 people…and 2 sources does not a convincing argument make.
• more Natural Hygiene, not so much “regular” raw:  Freddy preaches from the gospel of Natural Hygiene which (while it probably lends itself to even more optimal health than just straight up raw), i don’t have the gumption or the energy to adopt that lifestyle quite yet.  i’m already struggling enough with a raw food lifestyle as it is…

i guess you can’t win ‘em all!  maybe i’m picky, but it just didn’t do it for me.  just because i’m raw, doesn’t mean i need to like everything raw, right??
i’m hoping to read books from some of the raw “founding fathers”…will keep you posted!