Lying Like a Dog in 'Violence of the Lambs'

As pranks go, Sullivan's is pretty good -- a clever parody of environmental scare stories. And I loved the illustrations, particularly the full-page color photo of a gentle little lamb, its fleece as white as snow, except for the fresh blood dripping from around its vicious little mouth.

It makes you wonder: If the animals did attack us, who could blame them? After all, we do kill them, hack up their corpses and eat them, which is the kind of thing that would make anybody a little cranky. The problem is, the little suckers are so tasty and we humans are so hungry.

A Meaty Read

Just how hungry we American humans are is revealed in Portfolio's cover story, "How Fat Won," the kind of article you hope is a hoax but turns out to be all too true.

Portfolio is Cond¿ Nast's new business magazine and this piece is about "how a fast-food chain is pushing gluttony to new extremes."

After the 2001 book "Fast Food Nation" exposed the artery-clogging horrors of American fast food, McDonald's and other chains started adding salads and fruit and yogurt to their menus. That left an opening for Andrew Puzder, the CEO of CKE, the company that owns two fast-food chains, Hardee's and Carl's Jr. Puzder decided to go in the other direction, toward the glories of all-out, unapologetic gluttony.

First, Carl's Jr. introduced the "Six Dollar Burger," with a full half-pound hunk of dead cow. Then Hardee's came out with the "Monster Thickburger," a monstrosity composed of two huge beef patties topped with bacon and gooey cheese.

Both were successful with the customers known in the trade as "young, hungry guys" and they spawned a sort of arms race in the burger biz. Burger King introduced the "Triple Whopper With Cheese" and McDonald's responded with the "Double Quarter Pounder With Cheese." Not to be outgunned, Carl's Jr. introduced the inevitable " Double Six Dollar Burger" and then Hardee's came out with the pièce de résistance, the "Philly Cheese Steak Thickburger," which is, as its name implies, a gigantic burger topped with steak and cheese.

What next, the Full-Cow Burger? The Whole Herd Burger? With cheese?

"Cardiac surgeons, expect a busy century," writes food critic Tucker Shaw. "The era of the über-burger is upon us."