Altruistic Armadillos, Zenlike Zebras: Understanding the World's Most Intriguing Animals

Jeffrey Masson presents a world of animals like none we've ever known. Although we may have heard the names of most of the animals in this compendium, even read articles about them in a science magazine, Masson opens our minds to each animal's startling beauty, quirkiness, or clever sophistication. It's hard to believe they inhabit the same one dimensional planet to which we're accustomed. The book is frequently brightened with anecdotes, mostly involving the author's childhood relationships with different animals, or reactions of his own children to the animals they encounter. The book makes the reader all the more acutely aware of the tragedy of the impending extinction of these extraordinary animals through our unthinking environmental practices.

About: Profiles of 100 different animals Pros: Very interesting, I learned plenty about animals I knew something about and even more about animals I had never heard of. Includes a photo of each animal profiled. Short chapters for easy reading. Bibliography at end. Cons: Masson can get opinionated occasionally but puts this in a nice warning up front. Grade: A-

Do badgers plan funerals? Have zebras ever been tamed? Altruistic Armadillos, Zenlike Zebras puts a creative twist on the traditional encyclopedia concept by discussing such matters in a conversational tone rather than in the language of scientific certainty. Masson gets up to the nests and down to the burrows, supplying anecdotes to illustrate the psychological experiences of other animals. Just as intriguing, if not more so, are the author's sensitive interpretations of these anecdotes. Masson declares a feeling of "complete respect" for bald eagles, whom we have utterly failed to understand. To talk wisely of other animals is a paradoxical task, Masson explains, for knowing them as individuals has historically involved their habituation to our presence. The factual information selected for this book is exquisite. Bats, we learn, can hear an insect walking on a leaf. Prairie dogs have distinct calls to warn of various dangers, including one call when a human is approaching, and another call when a human approaches with a gun. Bison have been wiped out by the same "curious hatred" that decimated pre-colonial peoples. But then there was the pet buffalo who killed the Idaho rancher who owned and rode the animal. Recounting the story, Masson reflects critically on our quest to make other animals like us and to transform them into our companions. Altruistic Armadillos, Zenlike Zebras is the perfect pick for a budding animal-rights activist or those who enjoy linguistics and creative questions. The seasoned activist too will find this book valuable, because it sustains so gracefully the theme that's surely the core of animal rights theory: the interest of other animals in simply being permitted to live unmolested. Altruistic Armadillos, Zenlike Zebras is an important book for showing how much richer we'd be if we would consciously strive to acknowledge other animals on their terms.

ALTRUISTIC ARMADILLOS, ZENLIKE ZEBRAS: A Menagerie of 100 Favorite Animals is a dream book for someone who already knows way more than the average person about many animals, is interested in language and naming, and likes to consider what we humans do with and to animals in the name of, well, whatever we want (because we're the boss of them). But there's also a lot of fascinating material for the meat-eating, cat and/or dog lover. Masson explores not only the emotional lives of animals, but his emotional experience of them. This isn't merely a book of facts and statistics about animals; it's a window into the life of the author, who reveals himself by describing animals. ALTRUISTIC ARMADILLOS, ZENLIKE ZEBRAS raises issues that most people, even vegetarians, don't necessarily concern themselves with. Masson might make you think twice about using items such as honey, royal jelly, silk, pearls, mother-of-pearl and other by-products of some form of use and abuse of nonhuman animals. For the meat-eating, cat and/or dog lover, Masson provides insight into the lives of animals that you ordinarily aren't privy to. From chickens to lobsters to pigs to turkeys to red foxes to wolves (and I thank the author for alluding to the reality that wolf-hybrids shouldn't be pets), there's a lot to learn about the animals we take for granted, and often assume were put here primarily for our use. The mantra "leave them alone" is echoed throughout the book, and it's a valuable message that's more relevant than ever. As for criticism regarding the author's style or content, in his Preface he states: "I have not shied away from speculation, personal remarks, personal enthusiasm, and pet peeves. . . . In line with my own personal publishing history, which has been primarily about the feelings of animals, I felt it only fitting that I should acquaint the reader with MY feelings about animals for a change." Any grad student in literature will tell you that you can't criticize someone for not writing the book you wanted them to write. You must base your criticism on the author's intent. Masson provides that intent, then follows through.

Descriptions, stories, and opinions about a hundred different kinds of animans, all interesting. Well not quite all. The first animal is the armadillo (It's the national bird of Texas - I know, it's not a bird.) You see them lying beside the road. A car goes over them, it scares them, they jump straight up, hit the bottom of the car which kills them. Armadillos are the only animals that catch leprosy. And they routinely have genetically identical quadruplets, after having had sex as long as three years ago. Now where else could you get all this information about armadillos. Would you like to know about bats or beetles? What about the Yeti? Yes, even he asks about putting in such a creature/myth in an animal book, but then he gives what evidence there is. Some like octopuses are fascinating (200 seperate species, lay two to four hundred thousand eggs, and quite smart - equivalent say to about a dog). Some merely there - Okapi, the only know relative of the giraffe who has such a long tongue that it can clean its own ears. Well by now you get the picture, 100 fascinating little stories.