Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but Eric Scholsser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning. Schlosser's myth-shattering survey stretches from California's subdivisions, where the business was born, to the industrial corridor...

If it's true that we are what we eat, then how do we even know who we are? Don Anderson is trying to balance his search for the truth with an apparent desire not to do anything that might hurt his career. Raul and Sylvia, having crossed the border illegally, take up dangerous, stomach-turning jobs at the meat-processing plant. Amber is a teenage burger-slinger who wants to both change the world and get out of town. These two desires--to fight the...