BOOKS: Our Lives Have Gone to the Dogs

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2011:

Our Lives Have Gone to the Dogs
by Audrey Spilker Hagar & Eldad Hagar
Hope For Paws (8950 W. Olympic Blvd. #525,
Los Angeles,  CA 90211),  2010.
Free download from <www.eldadhagar.com/>.

An anonymous caller pleads with Our Lives Have Gone to the
Dogs author Audrey Spilker Hagar and photographer Eldad Hagar to help
a dog crouched beneath an abandoned house in a gang-infested Los
Angeles neighborhood.  Drug dealers threaten to kill the dog.  But
this dog escapes.  So does a kitten who appears on the scene.  They
are eventually rescued and adopted.  The Hagars are the founders of
Hope For Paws,  one of several hundred animal rescue charities in Los
Angeles whose work augments that of the Los Angeles city and county
animal control agencies. Read more

BOOKS: In a Dog’s Heart

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2011:

In a Dog’s Heart
by Jennifer Arnold
Random House (1745 Broadway,  New York,  NY 10019),  2011.
256 pages,  hardcover.  $25.00.

Not another dog book, I said.  The market is flooded with dog books.  Send me cat,  horse,  or elephant books,  but not another book about dogs.  But In a Dog’s Heart, Jennifer Arnold’s latest, perked me up. Read more

BOOKS: Time Is Short And The Water Rises

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2011:


BOOKS: Humane education classic:

Time Is Short And The Water Rises
by John Walsh with Robert Gannon
E.P. Dutton & Co.,  1967.  224 pages,  hardcover.

One can still find battered copies of Time Is Short And The Water Rises through online book search services,  often selling for less than the orignal cover price of $6.95,  plus postage.  The ANIMAL PEOPLE review copy was discarded years ago by Central School District #1,  in the Town of Rockland,  New York. Read more

BOOKS: Fifty Animals that Changed the Course of History

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2011:

Fifty Animals that Changed the Course of History
by Eric Chaline
Firefly Books (P.O. Box 1338,  Ellicot Station,  Buffalo,
NY  14205),  2011.  224 pages,  hardcover.  $29.95.

The title of Fifty Animals that Changed the Course of History will jar ANIMAL PEOPLE readers even before they open the book.  Both the title and text retain the convention,  fading out in recent decades,  of referring to animals as inanimate objects.  Fifty Animals Who Changed the Course of History would be biologically accurate. Read more

The 30-day Vegan Challenge

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2011:

The 30-day Vegan Challenge
by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
Random House (1745 Broadway,
New York,  NY 10019),  2011.
336 pages,  paperback.  $22.00.

The title of this new book,  The 30-day Vegan Challenge, could be the name of a grueling road race for non-flesh eaters. Instead it’s a practical guide for vegans or vegan wannabes.  I did my review on a full stomach because the recipe for a chickpea burger tempted me to chomp down rather than read.  The book starts out defining “vegan,”  a word coined in 1944 by British animal activist Donald Watson (1910-2005).  Watson,  who founded the Vegan Society, defined veganism as a conscious decision to avoid expoliting animals for food,  clothing,  or any other purpose. Read more

BOOKS: Eating Animals

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2011:

Eating Animals
by Jonathan Safran Foer
Little,  Brown & Co. (1271 Ave. of the Americas, New York,  NY 10020),    2009.
341 pages,  hardcover.  $25.99.

What most clearly sets Eating Animals apart from the bulk of animal rights literature is the perspective from which it is written–not the firm, impassioned mindset of a longtime activist,  but that of a lifelong omnivore engaged in his first thorough exploration of the vegetarian debate.  Jonathan Safran Foer’s catalyst for writing Eating Animals was not any conviction as to the merit (or lack thereof) of a vegetarian lifestyle,  but rather the birth of the author’s first son,  and the necessity of making responsible dietary choices on his behalf and raising him with a consistent moral framework. Read more

BOOKS: Cat Companions: A memoir of loving and learning

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2011:

Cat Companions:  A memoir of loving and learning
by Susan M. Seidman
CreateSpace (distributed exclusively by <www.amazon.com>,  2011.
248 pages,  paperback.  $16.00.

Cat Companions describes the qualities we love about our cats:  mysterious,  aloof,  cranky,  yet loving and fun.  Author and cat lover Susan M. Seidman dishes out tidbits about her extended feline family,  including Supan with whom she shared an apartment in Paris,  and Alex, one of her many cats who were discarded by someone else. Read more

BOOKS—A Big Little Life: A memoir of a joyful dog named Trixie

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2011:

A Big Little Life:  A memoir of a joyful dog named Trixie  by Dean Koontz
Bantam Books (1745 Broadway,  New York,   NY 10019),  2011.  269 pages,  paperback.  $15.00.

Dean Koontz sidesteps from producing best selling novels to bring us A Big Little Life:  A memoir of a joyful dog named Trixie, about a Canine Companions for Independence dropout.  Just about everyone I know,  myself included,  claims to have the best dog in the world.  Koontz says he does too.  Trixie may have flopped as a service dog,  but she excelled as the Koontz family’s loyal,  loving and devoted companion,  adding joy to the lives of Koontz and his wife Gerda,   and their network of friends,  family and neighbors. Read more

BOOKS: Going Home—Finding Peace When an Animal Dies

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2011:

Going Home:  Finding Peace When an Animal Dies  by Jon Katz
Random House (1745 Broadway,  New York,  NY 10019),  2011.  166 pages,  hardcover.  $22.00.

Going Home is a guide for grieving animal owners that thrusts itself into a very crowded field.  An Internet search at Amazon.com turns up at least 250 titles under “pet loss.”  And Jon Katz’s fictionalized book is far from original.  According to Katz,  the incidents in Going Home did happen,  but he “changed names and personal characteristics” of people involved.  So the stories Katz tells may not have actually happened as Katz relates them. Read more

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