The cat publishing craze may be going to the dogs: Elizabeth Marshall Thomas's The Hidden Life of Dogs is a bestseller, while a grinning canine recently graced the cover of Newsweek. And now here comes a rewarding, if scattered, potpourri of essays, columns, and miscellany—mostly dog-related—from the writer who may know more than any other about dogs and their desires, resonances, and destinies. As in her earlier books (Bandit, 1991, etc.), Hearne again blends philosophical expertise (she's a fellow at Yale's Institution for Social and Policy Studies) with the vast knowledge she's earned during more than 25 years as an animal trainer. The material ranges widely—beginning with slight but well-turned columns that first appeared in the Los Angeles Times, covering matters from a ``therapy dog'' who works with the sick to the banes and delights of tortoise-owning; moving on to slightly longer, chewier pieces that celebrate Airedales and, in ``Beware of the Dog!'' James Thurber's relish for dogs and dog-writing; skirting silliness with snappish advice columns (``Dear Josephine Trainer'') originally published in a Pit Bull Terrier newsletter; and flowering into profundity in a final section, ``Possibilities,'' comprised of four essays that explore the nature of animal happiness. One of these pieces, ``Wittgenstein's Lion,'' offers a meditation on human-animal communication; the others—through looking at the work of an orangutan trainer, the ethics of pet ownership, and animals' divorce from human values as exemplified in the Book of Job—elaborate Hearne's opposition to the animal-rights movement (``an owner is the only rights granter a dog can know....the owner that belongs to him'') and laud ``the wonders of animal-human work'' (``knowledge of animals...is knowledge of the divine''). ``All happiness is animal happiness,'' says Hearne—including, then, the reader happiness produced by this smart, passionate, and challenging work.
Pub Date: Jan. 12, 1994
ISBN: 0-06-019016-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
