Enslaved by Ducks
How One Man Went from Head of the Household to Bottom of the Pecking Order
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- USD 17.99
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- USD 17.99
Publisher Description
From the author of Kitty Cornered comes "a laugh-out-loud chronicle" of household pets who slowly but surely overrun the house (Marty Becker, DVM, Good Morning America).
When Bob Tarte and his wife Linda brought a rabbit into their rural Michigan home, they didn't anticipate how it might upset their tranquil lives. But even after the bunny chewed through their electrical wiring, their household menagerie kept growing. Soon, Bob found himself constructing cages, buying feed, clearing duck waste, and spoon-feeding an assortment of furry and feathery residents. He unwittingly became a servant to a relentlessly demanding family. "They dumbfounded him, controlled and teased him, took their share of his flesh, [and] stole his heart" (Kirkus Reviews).
In this loving memoir of the joy and madness of living with animals, Bob offers "dead-on character portraits, [and] keeps readers laughing about unreliable pet store proprietors, a duck named Hector who doesn't like water, an amorous dove named Howard, a foster-mother goose, patient veterinarians and increasingly bewildered friends" (Publishers Weekly).
"Hilarious . . . You may never look at Fido the same way." —Entertainment Weekly
"For anyone who has ever opened heart and home to an animal." —The Dallas Morning News
"All of us who feel a deep emotional connection with animals will respond to this book. As Bob Tarte realizes, there is no drug or therapy as effective as an animal who loves you." —Jeffrey Masson, New York Times–bestselling author of When Elephants Weep
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Knowing little about animals, Tarte and his wife na vely acquire Binky, an impish bunny, at an Easter bunny fair, little suspecting that it will soon dominate their lives and lead to a brigade of other winged and furred beasts. After Binky, they get a canary, then Ollie, an orange-chin pocket parrot, whom they return because he flings his water-logged food all over their floor and accosts them with calls and bites. Then they buy a more docile gray-cheek parakeet, which makes the Tartes realize they miss their raucous friend Ollie, whom they retrieve. Gluttons for punishment, the Tartes acquire a gender-confused African gray parrot named Stanley Sue, followed by ducks, geese, turkeys, parrots, starlings, more rabbits and cats. Every day brings an adventure or a tragedy (Ollie escapes; a duck gets eaten by a raccoon) to their Michigan country house. With dead-on character portraits, Tarte keeps readers laughing about unreliable pet store proprietors, a duck named Hector who doesn't like water, an amorous dove named Howard, a foster-mother goose, patient veterinarians and increasingly bewildered friends. Tarte has an ordinary-Joe voice that makes each chapter a true pleasure, while revealing a sophisticated vision of animals and their relationship to humans.
