Ima Pigg

by Elizabeth Allen

How do you like your steak? Rare? Medium well? Related?

In the year 2031, meat is what's for dinner and just about every other meal. After the Agricultural Meltdown of 2018 destroyed 90% of earth's farmed produce and rendered most of what remained toxic, vegetables were outlawed. Attempting to grow carrots is now illegal. Eating salad is a misdemeanor. Serving it will get you jail time.

While most of the human population adapted to a meat diet, it was hard on vegetarians. And for the animals, it was murder. Methodical mass murder. Factory farming escalated to inconceivable levels of cruelty, making the earlier holocaustic mistreatment of animals look like a walk in the park. Extreme inhumanity is rewarded. Animal Rights groups no longer exist. No one steps forward to represent the animals or increase awareness of the torture and carnage. Not if they want to live.

Not until now.

And livestock isn't the only game in town. If the family dog strays too far from home, it's up for grabs.

After realizing centuries of heart attacks and even deadly bacteria can’t thwart man from his lust for flesh, the animal kingdom will force man's hand with one last unimaginable strategy—the one thing certain to stop all people from eating animals.

What would it take for you to give up meat?

90 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 14, 2013

About the author

Liz is a Florida girl - born and raised in the Sunshine State. Her career path has spanned from physical to fiscal to literary starting in nutrition, then riding the roller coaster we call the stock market as a financial advisor and ultimately penning her first book at age 49. Before meeting her husband and marrying in 1992 Liz lived in New York City and Los Angeles. In 1995 she had a child but fear and impatience with unpredictable earthquakes in California motivated her to move back to Florida in 1999 - just in time for that y2k scare...

Liz' debut novel "Who Got Liz Gardner" was published in April 2009 as the result of an international contest and is now enjoying tremendous popularity in book clubs around the world. Recently, some critics have called her novel "the intelligent and better-written 'Fifty Shades of Grey'". She was also reviewed and highly recommended by USA Today in April 2012. The sequel to WGLG - Discovering Arugula - was released January 2011. She recently released her third novel "Ima Pigg" a young adult/scifi tale which has been described as "Charlotte's Web" meets "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".

Liz has been a contributing writer for several women's magazines as well as a popular speaker for women's groups.

Liz lives with her husband, daughter and Catahoula Leopard dog. Her unrealized dream is to ride horseback across the fields of Provence for one week. In the meantime, she rides dressage once a week and goes to Epcot. She will not ride Mission Space. She does, however,practice her high school French when she orders crepes.

Reviews

[Elizabeth Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review
Reviewed by Kim Anisi for Readers' Favorite

"Ima Pigg" by Elizabeth Allen is a story about animals and humans – and their place on the food menu. Imagine a world in which being a vegetarian and a defender of animal rights might turn you into a traitor in the government’s eye. Imagine a world in which meat is eaten for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner and a world in which the growing of vegetables is quite a serious crime. This is the world of Ima Pigg. It is also a world in which certain people have the ability to speak with animals and it is a world in which transfurmations (“fur” is not a spelling mistake) occur. Some animals have the ability to switch places with humans: they can take over a human body and the human's soul will in turn take over the animal's body. This book tells the story of some of those animals and people – and their plan to make the world a better and less cruel place for animals.

You don't have to be a vegetarian to enjoy this story but it certainly helps if you have a love and respect for all living beings. It is the kind of book that makes you say “just one more chapter before I turn off the light” but then you end up reading a lot more because you simply want to know where the story is leading and what will happen to the characters. The book is a great read and also makes you think about the love between people and animals.

[Ches Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ima Pigg by Elizabeth Allen addresses issues of vegetarianism and animal cruelty with wit and satire without being combative or belittling to the reader. As a lifelong carnivore, it’s all too easy to forget where my meat comes from. There’s a disconnect between the living thing and the slab of saran wrapped flesh at the grocery store, stacked in neat little columns waiting for the barbecue pit. My teenage daughter has recently decided to become a vegetarian and I find myself deeply impressed and inspired by that. Indeed, what little I know of the meat packing industry sickens me. There’s something weirdly dystopian about living things being bred, processed, and sent down a conveyor belt that leads directly into our gaping mouths, unable to quench our unending lust for meat. So why doesn’t the thought of it cause me turn away for good? Wave a piece of bacon in front of me and it’s as if a feral dog takes over my body, salivation and all. Perhaps it’s time for all of us to take a long hard look at ourselves in relation to the natural world around us. Perhaps we need more books like Ima Pigg. Books that ask us to reflect and possibly face some very uncomfortable truths.

[Trish Mccabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's On Your Plate?
Ms Allen has done it again! What a brilliant and extraordinary departure from her previous books. An amusing and insightful up-close and very personal romp with the animals. Ever wondered what it's like to be "on" the plate not just at the table? It's all here... politics, greed, big farming vs health and humanity and so much more in a fanciful tale that is much too close to reality. A MUST read for all... you will be delighted!

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizabeth Allen does it again. She is a master of her craft, spinning a tale that sucks you in from the first paragraph. Ima Pigg is a chilling, yet thought-provoking Dystopian tale about society’s carnivorous habits and the what if possibilities were vegetables to be outlawed. Ima Pigg follows the story of a persistent pig and randy goat that go to extremes to get society to change their ways. It’s a story that sticks with you long after you finish the book.

[GoatBear]

I haven't read this before but...
If humans couldn't eat vegetables anymore we'd all get scurvy and die.

Just saying. Other than that, book looks good.