Raw Dog

The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs

By: Jamie Loftus

Narrated by: Jamie Loftus

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Long-listed, Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year 2023

Long-listed, New York Magazine Best Books of the Year 2023

One of BookPage's Best Audiobooks of 2023

"Loftus is a charming narrator...goofy, engaging, and always game to do a silly voice."—The New York Times

"There’s something terribly irresistible about her narration, which is often incredibly funny."—BookPage

Part travelogue, part culinary history, all capitalist critique—comedian Jamie Loftus's debut, Raw Dog, will take you on a cross-country road trip in the summer of 2021, and reveal what the creation, culture, and class influence of hot dogs says about America now.

“Wise and funny”—ANDY RICHTER • “Gonzo yet vulnerable”—GABE DUNN • “Hot dog Moby-Dick”—BRANSON REESE • “Revealing, funny, sad, horny, and insatiably curious”—SARAH MARSHALL • “A wild ride”—ROBERT EVANS • “Deeply incisive and hilariously honest”—JACK O’BRIEN

Hot dogs. Poor people created them. Rich people found a way to charge fifteen dollars for them. They’re high culture, they’re low culture, they’re sports food, they’re kids' food, they’re hangover food, and they’re deeply American, despite having no basis whatsoever in America's Indigenous traditions. You can love them, you can hate them, but you can’t avoid the great American hot dog.

Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs is part investigation into the cultural and culinary significance of hot dogs and part travelogue documenting a cross-country road trip researching them as they’re served today. From avocado and spice in the West to ass-shattering chili in the East to an entire salad on a slice of meat in Chicago, Loftus, her pets, and her ex eat their way across the country during the strange summer of 2021. It’s a brief window into the year between waves of a plague that the American government has the resources to temper, but not the interest.

So grab a dog, lay out your picnic blanket, and dig into the delicious and inevitable product of centuries of violence, poverty, and ambition, now rolling around at your local 7-Eleven.

“One of the freshest and most insightful new comedic voices of this decade.”—LINDSAY ELLIS

A Macmillan Audio production from Forge Books.

©2023 Jamie Loftus (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Raw Dog will leave you nourished."—BuzzFeed

“Jamie Loftus is a wise and funny storyteller, and her enthusiasm is inspiring. There’s so much about hot dogs that you need to know, and Jamie is here to teach you!”—ANDY RICHTER, actor and writer

“A moving, gorgeously written and lovingly researched dive into the world of hot dogs, American nationalism, in-group scandal, and delicate human relationships. This gonzo yet vulnerable trek is meaty, fun, critical, and evocative all at once. Jamie Loftus is the hot dog generation's Joan Didion.”—GABE DUNN, New York Times bestselling coauthor of I Hate Everyone But You

Love love love love

So interesting, had me listening for hours on end (and I don’t read!) Chuckled a bit too! Well done Jamie :)

Great read!

Jamie is an incredible writer and voice actor. This book reminds me a lot of "Consider the lobster" by DFW but better in a few ways! Love the activism and reporting slipped into a very fun read.

I didn’t think I’d care so much about hot dogs

I didn’t think I’d care so much about the world of hot dogs. If you’re a fan of Loftus’ podcasts you’ll enjoy this.

Much needed, well-written, and timely

This came to me at exactly the right (read: pretty bad) time in my life. For that Jamie Loftus has my deepest gratitude. She brings wit, intellect, and a chronicling of the present U.S. that is poignant, necessary, and hopeful at the same time. For that she has my utmost respect.

Jamie is a genius

Funny when you want it to be and serious when it needs to be. Definitely great to listen to!

I never thought a book about hot dogs would be so horny.

As the title of this review says, this is the horniest book about hot dogs on the market. I'm so glad Jamie read this book herself, because I genuinely don't think anyone else would've gotten the tone right. At any point in this book, I wasn't sure if it was going to make me laugh, cry, vomit, or crave a hot dog.

I laughed, I cried a little but only a little.

hot dogs are a metaphor for America. prepare your gag reflex and don't forget to toast your buns, this book will make you want a hot dog and never want another hot dog simultaneously. You will also want to burn this country down but you will want to preserve the weird ass people that make it what it is.

to be frank, a real weiner

great book, really engaging story, finishedit super quick. Loftus does a great job narrating. editing is a bit sloppy, a couple of repeated lines.

Brilliant

I can’t recommend this book enough, it was the perfect summer read. Even for a life long vegetarian, I never lost interest in her various hotdoggin adventures.

Happy to sit shotbun on this journey

My wife & I were digitally introduced to Jamie Loftus via the Behind the Bastards podcast & quickly grew to look forward to any time she was the guest. When we heard she had a book coming out, it was a no brainer to buy. Since purchasing, my wife has listened to the book three times while I just finished. Loftus is an incredible writer & performer, and the audiobook is better with her reading as she gives emotions to her words to help convey how she was feeling at the time of her long travels. Like her subject the hotdog, Raw Dog is made up of a variety of threads: A search for meaning as we all adjust to this new world with COVID; a history of the hotdog and food processing; & spotlights on various establishments serving hotdogs. Come in looking for humor, leave with an appreciation for laborers who keep finding new ways to serve up this meal.