Originally appearing at: Booklist

Girl Hunter: Revolutionizing the Way We Eat, One Hunt at a Time.
Pellegrini, Georgia (author).

Jan. 2012. 256p. Da Capo/Lifelong, hardcover, $24 (9780738214665). 799.2082092.
REVIEW. First published December 1, 2011 (Booklist).

Foodie blogger Pellegrini has crafted a memoir rich both in her hunting experiences and ruminations on what it means to kill what you eat. Hunting remains a bit of a literary minefield--all too often relegated to camouflage-covered self-congratulatory missives and talk-show jokes about tone-deaf politicians. As a chef, Pellegrini sees the separation between carnivore and plate as something hypocritical. So she goes into the wild with people intimately connected to the land and learns to shoot and field dress as well as prepare food. Her experiences--some comical; others rife with tradition and lush with descriptions of late-night conversations accompanied by tobacco and whiskey--bring readers around campfires with sensitive men full of laughter. Individuals who value guns and food and find pleasure in patiently waiting with a dog for a bird to appear quicksilver in their sights. Although she does resist the tendency to romanticize, Pellegrini can't shake the fact she is part of something old, and that, aside from a Masterpiece Theatre-esque foray into the English countryside, she is dipping deep into a level of Americana few have captured on the page. Like her, readers will not be able to look away. And she includes recipes.