Part tongue-in-cheek self help guide, part love memoir, Dispatches From Hell: a vegan’s guide to love, sex, relationships and other suicidal tendencies goes where others have feared to tread: the world of vegan dating.

This is not an annoying how-to guide, though it is packed with helpful tips and ideas, from where to find vegan butt plugs to meeting non-vegan in-laws. It’s about love from a vegan perspective, though the ruminations on what love is and how difficult it can be to find it would strike a chord with most twenty–and thirty–somethings, regardless of their dietary status.

Dispatches From Hell makes a refreshing change from many books which focus solely on veganism. Sure, it’s an important topic but vegans are people too – music, sex and friendship are probably just as prominent in our priorities as our dietary choices are. Daniel Peyser understands that, and as a result his book comes from a place which is about loving as a vegan rather than veganism itself.

Sound serious? It’s not. Hilarious would be the more appropriate word. Daniel Peyser’s narrative style is conversational (one might say ‘zine-y’) and immensely enjoyable, even with his gratuitous use of footnotes. Not sold? There’s a whole chapter dedicated to sex, which settles the age-old ‘are blowjobs vegan’ debate – and more.

So whether you think you might get a voyeuristic thrill out of reading about the author’s failed relationships or want information on pleather bondage gear, grab a copy of this book. You’ll laugh all the way to the bedroom.

Dispatches From Hell: a vegan’s guide to love, sex, relationships and other suicidal tendencies
by Danial Peyser
ISBN: 0-9770804-0-4 | RRP US$11.95 | Tofu Hound Press , 2006

WORDS: Lisa Dempster