
On Animals
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Narrated by:
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Susan Orlean
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By:
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Susan Orlean
About this listen
National Best Seller
“Magnificent.” (The New York Times)
“Beguiling, observant, and howlingly funny.” (San Francisco Chronicle)
“Spectacular.” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis)
“Full of astonishments.” (The Boston Globe)
Susan Orlean - the beloved New Yorker staff writer hailed as “a national treasure” by The Washington Post and the author of the New York Times best seller The Library Book - gathers a lifetime of musings, meditations, and in-depth profiles about animals.
“How we interact with animals has preoccupied philosophers, poets, and naturalists for ages,” writes Susan Orlean. Since the age of six, when Orlean wrote and illustrated a book called Herbert the Near-Sighted Pigeon, she’s been drawn to stories about how we live with animals, and how they abide by us. Now, in On Animals, she examines animal-human relationships through the compelling tales she has written over the course of her celebrated career.
These stories consider a range of creatures - the household pets we dote on, the animals we raise to end up as meat on our plates, the creatures who could eat us for dinner, the various tamed and untamed animals we share our planet with who are central to human life. In her own backyard, Orlean discovers the delights of keeping chickens. In a different backyard, in New Jersey, she meets a woman who has 23 pet tigers - something none of her neighbors knew about until one of the tigers escapes. In Iceland, the world’s most famous whale resists the efforts to set him free; in Morocco, the world’s hardest-working donkeys find respite at a special clinic. We meet a show dog and a lost dog and a pigeon who knows exactly how to get home.
Equal parts delightful and profound, enriched by Orlean’s stylish prose and precise research, these stories celebrate the meaningful cross-species connections that grace our collective existence.
©2021 Susan Orlean. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Love Susan Orlean Writing
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Susan took a rather cowardly exit from keiko’s story and left the reader “shrouded” in confusion. Susan’s loyalty to the misguided sentimentalist verses the needed care of the animal itself is baffling and troubling. Her soft handling of the ending effectively illustrates the desire to help animals so we feel better about ourselves, and makes for cocktail party “do gooder” pable. Real hard decisions be damned.
Unchecked Well intentioned animal lovers can do as much harm as anyone to the object of their affection. We should love and help others where they are, not where we want them to be.
A disappointing no accountability ending to a sweet gentile giant who deserved more mature truly loving handling, versus silly harmful publicity seeking “isn’t life just a fairytale” sentimental motivation.
The author has a real Heart felt dedication to all animals everywhere
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Sometimes truths are harsh
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I rarely write reviews, but
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Good writing. Reading meh.
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No point
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Great listen
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I savored and enjoyed every word, often laughing out loud.
I couldn't recommend this book more highly.
What a delightful book!
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On Animals by Susan Orlean
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Didn’t expect a memoir
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