It was published in 1978 by Doubleday and republished in 1998 and 2008 by University of Georgia Press.

[1] The book covers the historical relationship between humanity and pigs through a variety of lenses, such as mythology, poetry and art.

[2] In 1978, Phoebe-Lou Adams, in her review for The Atlantic, wrote: "only a confirmed pig-hater could resist this odd, pretty (yes, pretty) book.

"[3] Peter Shahrokh, writing for Agricultural History, claims: "Hedgepeth's basic message is that we limit ourselves terribly when we believe in the formula "pig equals pork"; the hog can be much more as Hedgepeth happily shows through his lively and sometimes purposely ornate accounts and thoughts about life in a hoglot, hog lovemaking, the hog in myth, and so on.

"[4] In Society and Animals, Arran Stibbe writes: ”Hedgepeth first challenges dominant discourses through parody and irony (rather than intimations of falsehood) and then supplies new ways of thinking about pigs through the application of new discursive constructions.