Doctor Rat: Amazon.ca: William Kotzwinkle: Books

Product Description

From Library Journal

This duo from 1976 and 1989, respectively, are both farces in their own way, except one is dead serious and the other dead funny. Dr. Rat (LJ 7/76) is a cry against animal experimentation told from the point of view of a veteran lab rat. The Midnight Examiner (LJ 4/1/89) follows the motley editorial staff of a tabloid including a bevy of sleazy reporters and a blowgun-wielding publisher.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Against expermintation done on animals, April 7 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Dr. Rat (Paperback)

I think experimentation done on animals should be against the law! Animals have no say in the matter and the only way they can escape it is to dye! No animal should have to have that as the only option!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Charlotte's Web this ain't, Mar 12 2004

By	A. Vegan (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dr. Rat (Paperback)

William Kotzwinkle's novel Dr. Rat combines a cautionary dash of Orwell's Animal Farm with the rancid horror of Sinclair's The Jungle to tell a savagely critical tale of humanity's mistreatment of the other animals sharing our world. Dr. Rat goes for the throat with appalling accuracy, clawing at the emotional core we try to protect with logic and reason. This novel forces us to look at the cruelly underside of animal experimentation, slaughtering houses and hunting. Told with a savage humor that does nothing to cushion the blow of confronting our own barbarism, Dr. Rat stands out as a masterpiece of recognition and rage.

The title character is a laboratory rat long mad from running the maze. "Death is freedom," he shouts again and again.
But while Dr. Rat gaily recites the gratuitous atrocities performed on his fellows by the Learned Professor and his graduate assistants -- "Nobody knows exactly what he's doing, or why. It is sufficient that each month we mention cancer and a new kind of plastic." -- the revolution brewing inside the lab mirrors a great gathering of every sort of animal in the outside world. The story flashes to the mind of a different creature for a chapter, either one suffering at the hand of man or one beginning the trek to the mustering, then flips back to Dr. Rat's lone stand against the rebelling research subjects.

Dr. Rat ignites emotions that most of us are less than comfortable experiencing; all the more reason to read this book and to open your eyes.

Even though this book is fiction, there is a lot of truth to it. This is a book I think everyone should read just so they know what happens in animal testing laboratories. Whether you're not aware or would rather turn away from the issue, animal testing is a cruel science experiment gone wrong.

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2.0 out of 5 stars the horror of Dr Rat, Sep 19 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Dr. Rat (Paperback)

I first found this book when I was 13, living in a small French town. The only English bookshop was my escape route...then I bought Dr Rat. Even the first few pages made me feel ill...I distinctly remember a passage about kittens' vaginas and microwaves. In our home, books were treasured, and my dad was bemused when, in tears, I ripped up the book and burned it. It gave me nightmares for a long time. If you love animals, avoid this book.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Grand and Sorrowful
Anthropomorphic animals revolt! The first and the last chapters of this book were definitely the best. Those first chapters were hard to read, though. Read more

Published on Sep 13 2003 by Silas Traitor

3.0 out of 5 stars A Rat's-Eye View of Modern Science
Before the public grew concerned about the welfare of lab animals (and PETA began smashing labs), many of the scenes in "Dr. Rat" were actually tamer than the reality. Read more

Published on Jun 29 2002 by Kris Dotto

3.0 out of 5 stars Not his best...
Dr. Rat doesn't flow anywhere near as well as the other Kotzwinkle I've read (The Bear Went Over THe Mountain, Fan Man). Read more

Published on Jun 22 2001 by tin2x

4.0 out of 5 stars An Eye-Opening Shocker Filled With Cold Realism
Dr. Rat is an expose' on mankind's cruelty to other forms of life around him, most specifically the animal kingdom. Read more

Published on Mar 31 2001 by Michael Delaware