- Hardcover: 448 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books (Oct 31 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345478819
- ISBN-13: 978-0345478818
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 726 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #725,943 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Booklist
In a series of short essays, psychoanalyst and animal-loving author Masson (When Elephants Weep, 1995; Dogs Never Lie About Love, 1997) examines his 100 favorite animals--actually more than 100, as many accounts (pigeons, beetles) cover an entire group of animals. In impressionistic prose, Masson conveys snippets of information along with his own feelings and views about each animal. In taxonomically wide-ranging discourse, Masson looks at animals ranging from octopus to okapi, from spider to tuatara, from chicken to sturgeon. Typically, each essay touches on the aspects of the animal in question that Masson finds most fascinating, leading to musings on emotions and ethics engendered by each species. An essay on jellyfish discusses the dangers of their venom and the wonders of their eyes, revealing that the more we know, the less anthropocentric we become. Although Masson's emotional writing style is not for everyone, his breathless passion for the other lives that share our planet is infectious, and the short-essay format makes for interesting, bite-size reading. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
Praise for Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
When Elephants Weep
“This is not only an important book, it is marvelous! If animals could read they would be filled with joy and gratitude to the author–it is scholarly, vivid, and compelling.”
–Dr. Jane Goodall
The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats
“Fascinating . . . a book full of uncommon insight.”
–O: The Oprah Magazine
Dogs Never Lie About Love
“Compelling . . . a veritable valentine to man’s best friend.”
–Los Angeles Times Book Review
The Pig Who Sang to the Moon
“An intellectual feast . . . a banquet of ideas and ideals.”
–The Washington Post
Raising the Peaceable Kingdom
“Thought-provoking [and] totally delightful . . . will captivate any animal lover.”
–St. Louis Post-Dispatch
When Elephants Weep
“This is not only an important book, it is marvelous! If animals could read they would be filled with joy and gratitude to the author–it is scholarly, vivid, and compelling.”
–Dr. Jane Goodall
The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats
“Fascinating . . . a book full of uncommon insight.”
–O: The Oprah Magazine
Dogs Never Lie About Love
“Compelling . . . a veritable valentine to man’s best friend.”
–Los Angeles Times Book Review
The Pig Who Sang to the Moon
“An intellectual feast . . . a banquet of ideas and ideals.”
–The Washington Post
Raising the Peaceable Kingdom
“Thought-provoking [and] totally delightful . . . will captivate any animal lover.”
–St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.9 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not What I Expected, Nov 25 2006
By M.L. - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Altruistic Armadillos, Zenlike Zebras: A Menagerie of 100 Favorite Animals (Hardcover)
The Booklist review gives a far more accurate picture of this book than the description on the book jacket. I agree with the Booklist reviewer who says the "emotional writing style is not for everyone." It was not for me. I picked up this book to learn more about the animals and their natural behaviors. The summary on the book jacket promised facts and anecdotes. Instead of learning about 100 animals, I learned about Masson's opinion on the 100 animals. There were facts and anecdotes, but they overshadowed by Masson's strong opinions. Being such a popular author, I am sure many will be interested in his opinions. Many strong animal lovers will also be grateful to read such a book. If you like the sound of the Booklist review, you will probably enjoy this book.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
100 Fascinating Stories, Nov 28 2006
By John Matlock "Gunny" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Altruistic Armadillos, Zenlike Zebras: A Menagerie of 100 Favorite Animals (Hardcover)
Descriptions, stories, and opinions about a hundred different kinds of animans, all interesting. Well not quite all.The first animal is the armadillo (It's the national bird of Texas - I know, it's not a bird.) You see them lying beside the road. A car goes over them, it scares them, they jump straight up, hit the bottom of the car which kills them. Armadillos are the only animals that catch leprosy. And they routinely have genetically identical quadruplets, after having had sex as long as three years ago. Now where else could you get all this information about armadillos.
Would you like to know about bats or beetles? What about the Yeti? Yes, even he asks about putting in such a creature/myth in an animal book, but then he gives what evidence there is. Some like octopuses are fascinating (200 seperate species, lay two to four hundred thousand eggs, and quite smart - equivalent say to about a dog). Some merely there - Okapi, the only know relative of the giraffe who has such a long tongue that it can clean its own ears.
Well by now you get the picture, 100 fascinating little stories.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Jam-packed with facts, a downer, Oct 11 2009
By Janet Roper - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Altruistic Armadillos, Zenlike Zebras: A Menagerie of 100 Favorite Animals (Hardcover)
Before writing this review, I took a look at what some of the other reviewers have said. It seems that this book has gotten mixed reviews. My review is not overly positive or overly negative. Starting off with what I like, I am impressed by the wealth of knowledge that is kept inside this book. There are a lot of facts about animals that I did not know, and also some that I did. I also like that he covers so many animals, and that each chapter is easy to handle--not too short, not too long.There is really only one thing that I don't like about it: It's depressing and has a dark tone to it. Instead of simply giving a lot of interesting information on the animals, Masson dwells on the darker aspects of the species, for instance animals that are going extinct. The entire chapter on the Bison was riddled with their horrible history in North America, how there was one remaining herd in Yellowstone of only a few hundred animals in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. He dwells on these bad things, completely ignoring how the Bison has flourished since then because of conservation efforts.
I think this is a great book for facts on animals if you can get past the dark tones of Masson's writing. It really does have a lot of interesting facts on 100 animals.
Harmony,
Janet Roper
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