Read Tamed and Untamed Close Encounters of the Animal Kind Sy Montgomery Elizabeth Marshall Thomas Vicki Constantine Croke 9781603587556 Books

Product details Paperback 224 pages Publisher Chelsea Green Publishing (October 4, 2017) Language English ISBN-10 1603587551

Tamed and Untamed Close Encounters of the Animal Kind Sy Montgomery Elizabeth Marshall Thomas Vicki Constantine Croke 9781603587556 Books Reviews

• Want to take a timeless trip into the world of living things? "Tamed and Untamed" is your ticket.
  
  It's a collection of columns and essays about nature's many twists and turns - most unexpected - from a pair of expert guides. Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas are the docents in questions, and you couldn't ask for two better people to lead you. Both have done all sorts of good work over the years in their little niche of science writing. (Montgomery broke out of that niche in a way with her acclaimed and wonderful book, "The Good Good Pig." If you haven't read that yet, go get it and thank me and her later.)
  
  Montgomery and Thomas go back and forth with columns and essays here, many of which appeared in The Boston Globe. They are all rather bite-sized - a little more than two pages of book type for most of them. Have 10 minutes free? You can read a couple of chapters that will put a smile on your face before you go do something else.
  
  The biggest problems with books like this - anthologies of newspaper columns - can be dating. This is not a problem here. The stories about animals are as fresh as the day they were first written. After all, stories about animals surviving the winter or dogs that learn about the neighborhood by their sense of smell are very timeless. If there's a common theme with all of them, it's that animals probably are smarter than you think.
  
  The two writers bring a slightly different perspective to their essays. Montgomery comes off a little wide-eyed in a good way, amazing by what she sees and ready to travel the world to find the latest discovery. Thomas stays closer to home for the most part, and leans a little bit more toward advocate status than observer at times. It's a good mix, and you can see why they are close friends. They complement each other.
  
  So dive into the world of "Tamed and Untamed," and find out about animals that dream, and an octopus that's really smart, and dogs with disabilities, and dancing birds, and an adopted puffin. For starters. It's a big world out there, and it's filled with potential friends who have more in common with you than you think.
• Award winning nature writers—and best friends— Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, have crafted a beautiful message in Tamed and Untamed Close Encounters of the Animal Kind. Their inspired collection of essays “put humans back into the animal world and bring animals into the human world—where we all belong.” As they deftly weave their research, their experiences and deeply insightful reflections together into small, and approachable essays, they invite the reader to consider how animals teach us, rescue us, heal us, restore us, and empower us, in the words of the authors. From cats that reduce heart attack risk to dogs that boost our immune systems, Montgomery and Marshall Thomas provide scientific facts and anecdotal information that elaborates on why we are so enriched by our relationships with other animals
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  The essays are brief, and full of fun facts and poignant ironies; In “A Memorial Day Tribute to War Animals,” Montgomery describes how we humans, the most warmongering species on the planet, enlist animals to help us in our battles, but also as mascots, to support our morale in troubled times. Or one of my favorites, “Failure to Communicate,” she cautions about our misinterpretation of wild animal behavior and inability to understand what they are communicating, that often leads to tragedy for us and for them. In “Death of a Dog,” Marshall Thomas points out the inequity of mourning animals in this society, that we don’t get days off, flowers, or funerals. In Bears, Marshall Thomas presents the relatively low risk of being attacked by bears, and explores the ambiguous feelings of living among them in rural New England.
  
  The authors present colorful vignettes framing our diverse human experiences with and exploring our feelings about other animals, both tamed and untamed. They plumb a range of literature to present us with both critical commentary about our human exceptionalism and resonant odes to the wonder of our animal kin. They regale us with evidence of animal intelligence, creativity and depth of feeling. The reader is forced to reconsider the way our culture has suppressed the perception of animals as not only equals, but gifted with powers that we have lost. In this collection, they are the superheroes, and we need them more than ever.
  
  As an environmental educator and nature writer, I always value writing that conveys what experience with other species teaches us. I am completely charmed by this little book. I recommend it with all my heart.
• What a great combination of writers. Wonderful short stories, some show harsh realities. This informs the reader of animals and their lives that often we just don't know about. It is easy reading. I plan on giving this book to friends for Christmas. You can not get better and more knowledgable authors, they understand animals and feel their pain too. Sy Montgomery always touches me with her big heart and genuine compassion. It comes across in all her writing, so I buy everything she writes and keep waiting for more. We are so blessed to have such good nature books.
• Touching account of taking care of a feral cat population
• Being a cat (and dog) person this book is a joy to read...the attitude that cats have is always interesting...you gotta lov'em!
• Anyone who loves animals and struggles with the concept of becoming a NON meat eater might want to read this book. It will change your viewpoint on many levels. Incredible.