This is likely the last true memoir in my search for vegan memoirs. 😭 So we need more!

I was excited to read vegan Michael Anthony‘s Just Another Meat-Eating Dirtbag: A Memoir when I found out about it in Global Vegan Magazine alongside my book listing last year. The title is fire, and really hints at a memoir.

I really enjoyed the book because it’s a graphic novel—much different than the books I’ve reviewed. Chai Simone is the illustrator, and this is probably the first memoir I’ve also read that’s in graphic novel style.

Is Just Another Meat-Eating Dirtbag a memoir?

Yes! And it’s good. Because it’s more visual, it’ll take you maybe an hour to get through. The story chronicles Anthony’s romantic relationship with his vegetarian girlfriend, who becomes increasingly interested in animal rights.

Is Just Another Meat-Eating Dirtbag a vegan memoir?

I’ll say, kinda. While Michael Anthony identifies as vegan now (a quick Google search confirms this), he wasn’t at the time he describes in the book…he does become vegetarian, but I won’t spoil what happens to his girlfriend or where their relationship goes.

I also enjoyed that this book wasn’t straight up just about veganism. It’s about what people do for love, and it’s equal parts funny, suspenseful, and entertaining. Anthony’s life as a military veteran also plays into the story of the relationship, and while the graphic style allows for more visual entertainment, there are some great fact sheets and recommended resources about animal rights and veganism provided at the end. For example, I didn’t know about AnimalClock.org until I read this book; it’s a site that tracks how many animals humans killed in the US each year.

Check out his trailer below!

What makes the other memoirs I’ve reviewed interesting is that they’re not just about going vegan. Eat and Run is about running; My Gentle Barn is about running an animal sanctuary; Will Travel for Vegan Food is about travelling in a van; and Porcelain is about an evolving career and life in music.

If you’re reading this and are vegan and thinking you’ve got a story that’s about something else other than your life as a vegan, think about turning that into a book!

What’s next with this blog and vegan books

Out of the 15 books I’ve reviewed here in search of vegan memoirs, this is only the fifth true memoir. I have to say—I was sorely disappointed at not just the titles that were recommended to me as memoirs (many of them were not memoir! One was even fiction!) but the little amount of vegan memoirs there seem to be! Which proves that we need more vegans writing memoirs, yo!

I’ve still got a handful of vegan books on my list so I’m going to continue reading and reviewing vegan-related books for you here until I run out (and it’s not possible to run out of vegan books to read, right?). Let me know via social media if there’s a vegan memoir or other vegan book (published within the last two years) you’d like me to review here.

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