Mar

19

Animal Attraction.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

March 19, 2007 |

What I don’t know about crows could fill a book–literally. The same is true of rats, flies, dogs, snakes, bees, sharks, peacocks, oysters, and all the other animals that are part of the Reaktion Books Animal series. Attractively designed and sized, the books in the series provide an overview of the biology, mythology, history, and other human perspectives on various animals.

It started in 2003 with Crow by Boria Sax, who’s no stranger to writing about animals. Sax’s previous books include The Mythical Zoo: An Encyclopedia Of Animals In World Myth, Legend, And Literature (ABC-CLIO, 2001), Animals in the Third Reich (Continuum, 2000), and The Frog King: On Legends, Fables, Fairy Tales, And Anecdotes Of Animals (Pace University Press, 1990). The series now has 21 titles, including some real oddities. Who would have thought to write a book about the cockroach? Fortunately Marion Copeland, a professor at Holyoke Community College did, and allows us to ponder the cockroach’s history, approximately two-hundred and fifty times longer than the history of homo sapiens, as well as our history with the cockroach.

Of course some old friends, including Dog, by Susan McHugh, Cat, by Katharine M. Rogers, and Tiger by Susie Green, are included in the series. So are some of our favorite pests: Ant, by Charlotte Sleigh, Rat by Jonathan Burt, and Fly by Steven Connor. Perhaps the biggest surprise is Oyster, by Rebecca Stott. How much could anyone say about an oyster? It shouldn’t be surpising that Rebecca Stott, author of Theatres of Glass (Short Books, 2003), a biography of naturalist Anna Thynne who invented the aquarium, could fill 240 pages with fascinating information about the aphrodisiac and pearl-producing mollusk.

animals.jpg

The only bad thing about the series is that the promised volume Wolf, listed in Crow as “forthcoming” still hasn’t made it into print. With volumes dedicated to the Bear, the Fox, and even the Shark, the wolf deserves recognition.

Animal is truly an addictive series. I can’t wait to see which animal gets this royal treatment next.


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1 Comment so far

  1. Book ‘Em: Sphere Of Influence. :: Just Write on March 23, 2008 1:15 am

    […] whose other non-fiction works include Darwin And The Barnacle and Oyster, part of the Reaktion Books Animal Series, and the new novel Ghostwalk gets a bit bogged down in trying to put […]

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