Mega Milk: Essays on Family, Fluidity, Whiteness, and Cows

by Megan Milks

A sparkling, funny, and often wrenching portrait-in-essays on the dairy industry, queer intimacy, family, fluidity, whiteness, and cows.

For decades, Megan Milks has wondered what it means to share a last name with the classic white American beverage. Now, Milks takes on their namesake subject in all its dimensions, venturing into the worlds of small dairies, bovine genetics, and manure while also turning their eye on their family and themself. The resulting essays connect the dots between human lactation, Big Dairy, being queer and lonely, climate change, transmasculinity, the bull semen industry, the milky roots of white supremacy, and the best practices for giving and receiving a hug. With Mega Milk, Megan Milks confirms their place as one of our most exciting queer thinkers and writers.

Genres: Queer, Nonfiction, Essays, Transgender, Memoir, LGBT

336 pages, Paperback

Published January 13, 2026

Reviews

[Sarah Cavar]

RTC!!! Thank you to Megan + Feminist Press for the ARC :)

[Julia Rhea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pardon my French, but holy shit. After reading the first few pages of this book, I jumped out of my bed to snatch a pen and highlighter off of my desk because I knew Megan Milks was about to take me on a milky journey (don't worry, I gagged myself while typing that, but for purposes of this review, it must be done). "Mega Milk" is a collection of essays (written in honor of the author's namesake), discussing all things milk, cow, and beyond. Now, this isn't a vegan propaganda book (I do not say this with hate, as a former vegan of several years). Milks essays cover various spanning topics such as Big Dairy, their personal experiences being queer, connections to one's legal last name, white supremacy, and so much more. I wasn't aware how much of an emotional journey Milks was going to take me on.

Megan Milks writes with a rawness and vulnerability that I find as admirable as it is terrifying as a writer myself. This book was beyond inspiring. I was expecting to sit down and learn some lore on dairy farms and milk symbolism, and WHILE YES I DID GET THAT, I also was getting debriefed on incredibly impactful and introspective retrospectives on Milks own life. It was at times bizarre, boundary-pushing, and beautiful. I absolutely adored it. "Mega Milk" immediately cemented itself as one of my favorites of the year.

Thank you so much to Feminist Press for sending me a free copy in exchange for a fair and honest review!

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝐈 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐭𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐔𝐩.

I'm lactose intolerant, yet I did nottttt want to put this down—it still felt so applicable.

𝙈𝙚𝙜𝙖 𝙈𝙞𝙡𝙠 is about milk, yes, but it's also about 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 & 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦, 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 & 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘳 & 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.

This is the kinda nonfic that makes of you an annoying fun fact machine (my fav kind 😏). I kid you not, 𝙈𝙚𝙜𝙖 𝙈𝙞𝙡𝙠 had me pointing out all the cows on my fam's road trip to TN, telling my husband what kind they were & the likihood they were for dairy. & again, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬!

I say this w so much love, bc both Megan & their writing are friggin awesome—I spent so much time baffled by how much I was enjoying 𝙈𝙚𝙜𝙖 𝙈𝙞𝙡𝙠. To say it lived up to its cover would be an understatement, I couldn't get enough.

Essay collections, in my experience, can lose propulsivity in seconds. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

I can confidently say I recommend this to literally anyone. Megan's writing is 🤌🏻, it's v obvi they also write fiction bc wowww this is great.

𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕜 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠 @feministpress 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 #gifted 𝕒𝕕𝕧𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕡𝕪, 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕒 𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚 ❤️‍🔥 !

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

A work of udder genius, Milks makes a splash into the personal essay form and bursts open our understanding of our most fundamental form of nourishment with this hilarious and profound book. Deleuze and Guattari might have proposed becoming-animal, but Milks puts it into practice with unparalleled commitment and unique, full-bodied immersion. Examining nurturance, and politics through a milky lens, this book has something to offer anyone who has ever swum in the murky waters of what it means to have a body, to be in relation to others both human and animal, to forge a fluid identity, to have been a baby. Get Mega Milk!

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A sparkling, funny, and often wrenching portrait-in-essays on the dairy industry, queer intimacy, family, fluidity, whiteness, and cows.

For decades, Megan Milks has wondered what it means to share a last name with the classic white American beverage. Now, Milks takes on their namesake subject in all its dimensions, venturing into the worlds of small dairies, bovine genetics, and manure while also turning their eye on their family and themself. The resulting essays connect the dots between human lactation, Big Dairy, being queer and lonely, climate change, transmasculinity, the bull semen industry, the milky roots of white supremacy, and the best practices for giving and receiving a hug. With Mega Milk, Megan Milks confirms their place as one of our most exciting queer thinkers and writers.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Milk, some form of it, is our first ever nourishment, and forms our first bonds with caregivers. In that case, what does having it as one's actual name portend, require, cause to occur?

Megan Milks takes her name to its apotheosis by exploring milk the first food of life, milk the metaphor of fluidity and change, milk the industrial product extracted from living beings through her deeply personal lens of Destiny In A Name. Enjoyable; well-made; not terribly profound to my readerly sensitivities. Would gift to any trans person I know.

The Feminist Press charges $17.95 for all admissions to the read.

[Liv · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book kept me company as I navigated my tenth estrangement Thanksgiving. It gave me something to look forward to during a time of year I hate. It absorbed me so completely that the chronic pain I've been battling for months subsided for five blissful days. And I really can't give it higher praise than that. Maybe someday I'll have the words to leave a proper review, but for now-- that's what I've got. For five days, it made the pain go away.

Thanks to MM for writing this one, and thanks to Feminist Press for getting it to me early. It made all the difference for this lonely-ass queer pulling yet another solo holiday.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forthcoming in January 2026 from Feminist Press! I have enjoyed splashing around in the milk bottle of the personal essay with this project -- and pursuing on-the-ground and other forms of research through farm trips and a work exchange, attendance at a manure expo, fun with bovine semen, etc. I did not expect milk to take me in so many directions but it did - not all of them dairy-related.

Isn't she beautiful? Cover art by Xander Marro.

[Wesley Ballesteros · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible collection of essays. I would expect nothing less from someone as talented, dedicated, and passionate as Megan Milks seems to be- Slug was perfection, Mega Milk was a peak behind the curtain! Recommending this to anyone and everyone who dares to udder (!) the word “milk” in my presence,,,

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seemed like there were a lot of topics that Megan Milks wanted to write about that didn't really go together. I see now that "family" is part of the subtitle, but other than the fact that their family's name is Milks all the reflections on family didn't seem to fit with the theme of the book. The book in general felt meandering.

[no]

excellent, but doesn’t quite measure up to their other books (slug and margaret and the mystery of the missing body), both of which i could not recommended more highly.

[Sarah Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Megan Milks stan account — they’re truly one of the most creative, generative authors writing right now 🐄🐌

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hate milk but I loved this book!