The Truth About Animals
Stoned Sloths, Lovelorn Hippos, and Other Tales from the Wild Side of Wildlife
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4.6 • 19 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Mary Roach meets Bill Bryson in this "surefire summer winner" (Janet Maslin, New York Times), an uproarious tour of the basest instincts and biggest mysteries of the animal world
Humans have gone to the Moon and discovered the Higgs boson, but when it comes to understanding animals, we've still got a long way to go. Whether we're seeing a viral video of romping baby pandas or a picture of penguins "holding hands," it's hard for us not to project our own values -- innocence, fidelity, temperance, hard work -- onto animals. So you've probably never considered if moose get drunk, penguins cheat on their mates, or worker ants lay about. They do -- and that's just for starters. In The Truth About Animals, Lucy Cooke takes us on a worldwide journey to meet everyone from a Colombian hippo castrator to a Chinese panda porn peddler, all to lay bare the secret -- and often hilarious -- habits of the animal kingdom. Charming and at times downright weird, this modern bestiary is perfect for anyone who has ever suspected that virtue might be unnatural.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Get ready for everything you think about the animal world to change forever. With cheeky humor, zoologist Lucy Cooke breaks down the most commonly held beliefs about iconic animals from sloths (they aren’t sluggish, just methodical) to penguins (which are far more villainous than cute animated movies would have you believe!) Cooke, the founder of the wonderfully named Sloth Appreciation Society, isn’t here to get our goat—she just wants us to see animals as they truly live in the wild, rather than through the filter of children’s books and pop culture. Her book is packed with surprising truths, making it a totally engrossing read. Who would have guessed the bizarre technique vultures use to stay cool in hot weather? Did you know that pandas are, ahem, totally uninhibited about their mating habits? Wildly funny and endlessly fascinating, The Truth About Animals is loads of fun, even if your closest connection to the animal kingdom is following pets on social media.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Zoologist and documentarian Cooke (A Little Book of Sloth) reveals hidden truths and little-known facts about a "menagerie of the misunderstood" in this peculiar and intriguing volume. She sheds significant light on beavers, for instance, whose unique physical attributes help them to thrive. Their "ever-growing, self-sharpening teeth, eyelids that act as swimming goggles, ears and nostrils that shut automatically underwater" allow them to gnaw wood below the surface without drowning. Cooke, founder of the Sloth Appreciation Society, pays particular attention to sloths, "one of natural selection's quirkiest creations, and fabulously successful to boot." Often and historically maligned for their lack of speed, sloths have nonetheless survived "in one shape or another for around sixty-four million years" and have outlived both the saber-toothed tiger and the woolly mammoth. Other sections deal with hyenas, frogs, storks, and hippopotamuses. Especially enlightening chapters on pandas (who eat exclusively bamboo) and penguins (whose "stiff feet, so ill at ease on land, act as a rudder underwater") round out the narrative. Readers keen on animals and natural history in general should find Cooke's discussion fascinating and educational.
Customer Reviews
The Truth About Animals
Very entertaining and educational. Just enough funny dry British humor to keep me from getting too depressed about the state of animal and habitat preservation. The section on Pablo Escobar’s hippos was my favorite.