Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs

4.2 | 299 ratings

Price: 17.71

Last update: 12-23-2024

Top reviews from the United States

Travis K

Come for the hot dogs, stay for the extras

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2023

Aside from the world’s most comprehensive Google Maps list of hot dog joints across the US, this book has given me more entertaining anecdotes, informative mini-podcasts, and opinions on hot dogs (I no longer use ketchup) than I ever thought it would. Jamie Loftus is an incredible writer who takes you on a WILD ride throughout all of America, and I think wrapping up a part-memoir, part-social-commentary, part-drama in a book about a hot dog is brilliant. My one note is that she should’ve mentioned Rudy’s in Times Square ☺️.

Stormsdream

Engrossing and Melancholy

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2023

Wonderfully engrossing, fascinating, and incredibly melancholy. While very entertaining and funny, it was sad . . . very, sweetly sad, but very much worth reading

Daniel A

Hot dog, what a fantastic book!

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2023

Raw Dog: The Naked Truth about Hot Dogs by Jamie Lotus is a book about…well, hot dogs, but it’s so much more than that a story of a woman traveling the country looking for the best wiener with the best snap and the most compelling story with which to wash it down. There is so much to her meaty trip across America during 2021 in what she’s dubbed “Hot Dog Summer”. There are stories within the story, placed between the pages like a sultry tube of mystery meat (which won’t be such a mystery if you read this book!). You don’t only find out the history of the hot dog and the restaurants, stands, and carts that sell them. There’s more to Raw Dog. Jamie’s life is laid out on the pages. She bares all: A relationship on the rocks as well as on the road, the eye-opening and somewhat racist history of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Championship and the bastards behind it, a look into Loftus’s past and family life, and the origin of The Gender Pickles (you’re going to have to read it to find out more about them—it’s a pretty big dill).

I’ve been a fan of the author’s various podcasts for years, and I pre-ordered the hardcover version of the book the moment I found out about it. This book did not disappoint, bringing Loftus’s comedic self-deprecating style in full force against a backdrop of hot dog slingers, a tapestry of Americans burnt out on Covid protocol, and a stunningly real look of how America has changed in the light of…well, *gestures at everything*.

What else can I say? I relished reading this book so much it gave me indigestion. It’s as real as it gets, as in your face as it needs to be, and doesn’t hold back. This will change how you look at the hot dog (though I doubt it’ll stop me from eating them) and America in general. I may wind up listening to the audiobook in the future for that Jamie Loftus podcast-voice experience—I bet it comes off as a whole different adventure. So grab yourself a copy of this book, and hold the ketchup.

Amazon Customer

go ahead.

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2024

Rambling, shambolic, and desperately in need of a ruthless editor, Raw Dog is a journey in search of a destination that never quite seems to find its way. Screeds too unfocused to really hit are interspersed with in-jokes and confessional anecdotes so completely lacking in context that they read as more jarring than resonant. Nonetheless, there are some really great moments that do manage to spin garbage-pail chilli into pure, authentically, body-cavity-warm gold, as well as more than a few passages that are laugh out loud funny. It wasn’t quite all it could be, but I also don’t regret reading it one bit. I do regret to inform you, however, that I am now perpetually craving hot dogs, in spite of the chapter detailing how, exactly, the sausage is made. So. Watch out for that.

Amazon Customer

Raw dogged my heart

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2023

Jamie Loftus is such an incredible writer. Her narrative voice comes through in print with many of the qualities that make her an amazing Podcaster. She is funny and playful and curious. But I’m writing she brings a vulnerability that made me see and admire her work in a new light.

Sean C.

Literally one of the best books I read 2023

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2024

I picked this book up because of the Behind the Bastards podcast. There was an episode where she went all in on hot dog eating and the world around it. And I realized that anyone that was that passionate about ANY subject was 100% worth a read on their book about it. One of the best reads of 2023 for me. AND.... me buying this for my friend has ended up with no lack of comedy as she keeps forgetting it at work and asking the managers to hide Raw Dog for her in the office. LOVE IT.

Julie

Quick read

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2023

Funny and good info if you have the opportunity to go to the places she went

Scott K.

Hot diggity dog.

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2023

This book is fun. I love the author’s podcasts and her work stays entertaining in this book. Maybe I learned too much about hot dogs? Is that possible? But beyond comedy, she provides interesting historical context to the mean industry.

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