Susan Orlean, perhaps best known for her book The Orchid Thief, later adapted into the movie Adaptation, has compiled her essays about animals for this book. These essays were published from 1995 to the recent past, mostly in The New Yorker, where she is a staff writer, with some in Smithsonian and The Atlantic. Always well researched and informative, Orlean has a light, observational style, tinged with gentle humor.

She discusses the commonplace animals such as dogs and cats, those a little farther afield, such as rabbits and chickens, and includes the exotic, such as pandas, lions, and killer whales. She makes witty notes about animal behavior; but her most shrewd comments are about humans and their interactions with animals, including her own. She presents a woman who lived in New Jersey and kept innumerable tigers, to the distress and exasperation of her neighbors. Her essay on pigeon racing and the lives of homing pigeon owners is fascinating. The inclusion of an essay on taxidermy and its practitioners was stretching the theme a bit, but interesting, nonetheless. The treatment of animals in the movies, from the trainers to those paid to serve as watchdogs (ahem) for their humane care has a fascinating history, and is not well known, I suspect.

I especially loved Orlean’s comments on mules and donkeys, which rekindled in me a desire to acquire some when I retire. I can think of nothing more fun than to ride my own mule around, leading a parade of other animals. If you have, or have had, even one animal in your life, you will completely enjoy these essays. If you have never wanted to share your life with an animal, what is wrong with you? Highly recommended.