On Animals

Not what I was expecting but wonderful regardless. Thought-provoking essays, mostly disconnected from each other, about humans and our connections with animals. Some are broad, some (Keiko) highly specific. Some relate to her own life, some not in the least. Most are essay length, the last 20% are short vignettes.

Orlean’s style is intriguing: she has a complex relationship with animals, is fascinated by them, gets attached, but she also manages to deromanticize then in her writing. Much of what she writes is uncomfortable, because much of what humans do to animals is uncomfortable. So is pretty much any aspect of any being’s life. I found myself thinking hard.

The Free Willy one was my favourite. It's disturbing to me that hype around a movie can move so many people to act, without regard to whether it's really best for the animal. 

On Animals is a collection of essays that center on animals. Author Susan Orlean looks at the chickens, ducks, and guinea hens in her own backyard, as well as a woman who keeps twenty-three pet tigers. She goes to Morocco to take a look at hardworking donkeys, and follows a busy show dog. She visits Iceland to watch as a whale is set free, traces the steps taken to find a lost dog, and examines a pigeon who never gets lost.

And all of these animals stories are told with Orlean's beautiful style of writing after extensive research.