All Intensive Purposes

I'd like to recommend Laurie Winn Carlson's Cattle: An Informal Social History, but I can't. The first chapter or so is, indeed, an informal social history of prehistoric and early cultures and their relationship with cattle. But after that, it's tough sledding. Carlson uses the theme of beef to launch the remaining chapters on various trajectories, most of which have some connection with cattle and most of which seem to have been written from a comfortable study or a library without her ever having gone outside, let alone near cattle. Which is a pity, because it seems like Carlson could gather some insights if she applied her academic training to some real fieldwork, pun intended. The book's subtitle intrigued me, but now I think it means to suggested "casual," in the sense of "unedited." I wish someone had rode herd on Carlson at the start of her trail.