This review contains affiliate links, which earn me a small commission when you click and purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my small business and allowing me to continue providing you a reliable resource for clean book ratings.
I have never been to Morocco. In fact, although I have not ever had a desire to travel to any portion of North Africa, now that I have learned of the donkey situation (and the Fondouk), I hope to visit there someday. I am also newly enlightened about animals appearing in film and television productions and learned a little more about homing pigeons. I am happy to have been exposed to the efforts of Mr. Kevin Richardson on behalf of African lions, and it was absolutely refreshing to finally read some fair and balanced commentary on the issue of equine slaughterhouses, a topic I have been involved with in my professional life.
On Animals is a collection of essays published by the author in The New Yorker, Smithsonian Magazine, and The Atlantic over the past 18 years. Each of the 14 essays provides a smooth and readable overview of some kind of animal topic, with exactly the right amount of depth and detail. The reader can easily use these articles as springboards to find out more on something that is particularly striking. Susan Orlean’s prose is so peaceful and familiar; it is like being with a good friend who sees the world of animals from a neutral viewpoint. (She has also written another animal book: about the original Rin Tin Tin.)
Mankind’s relationship to the creatures of this earth has been debated and discussed probably for millennia. James Herriot, Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Gerald Durrell, Frederick Forsyth, Richard Bach, and many others have published reams already. This little book is a welcome addition to that particular shelf of the universal library. It is not preachy in any sense, and unless a person has traversed the planet in search of such animal-centric topics, there is plenty here to inform and to entertain.
Rated: Mild. Four vain usages of Deity, and a handful of instances of mild swearing.
