- ISBN13: 9780345511799
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Rita Mae Brown’s earliest memory is of the soothing purr of Mickey, her family’s long-haired tiger cat, who curled up and claimed a spot in her crib. From there, a steady parade of cats, dogs, horses, and all manner of two- and four-legged critters have walked, galloped, and flown into and through her world. In Animal Magnetism, the bestselling author shares the lessons she’s learned from these marvelous creatures as well as her deep appreciation for th… More >>
A so-so book. The parts about her life and animals are good (especially the stories about animals), but she falls into the trap that so many popular writers seem to – they start filling their books with rants and diatribes filled with their political views which is NOT why I read their books. And in her case I disagree with her politics so I really hate it. It gets tiresome really quickly when any author does it and I have dropped many an author off my list because they start doing that. I may have to add her.
Which would be a shame. I love her Sneaky Pie Brown stories (I have a Corgi myself) but the rants are so annoying.
Still, when I skipped over the rants (some longer, some shorter), the parts concerning animals were interesting and, in many cases, moving. Read the book if you are a big Rita Mae Brown fan; pick another one if you aren’t.
Rating: 3 / 5
Lessons of love and their intelligence in sensing impending death or trouble are abound in books like A cup of Comfort for Dog Lovers. The author’s first lessons from animals she lived with from her childhood are pretty much the same. So we can believe her lessons from her long experience with animals in foxhunting.
The news for me are the ones about dog shows antiquating some breeds by their nature, hunting behavior of owl, fox, listening to the animal, disabled animals being shunned, a child’s tears might not get you a toy unless he toy is a suffering animal, hierarchies in herd and pack animals, patience, coat characterstic dependence on heat tolerance.
Rating: 5 / 5
This book should be required reading for those with any curiosity about the true nature of animals, wild and domestic.
Rating: 5 / 5
I like Ms. Brown’s no-nonsense writing.
Her stories of funny happenings during the
late 40′s and early 50′s in Virginia
sound almost idyllic but she keeps it
real.
Rating: 4 / 5
The voice that emerges from the pages of Animal Magnetism is a strong woman’s narrative. With a Yankee directness, somewhat urgent and straight to the point, the author calls to the reader to pay attention to important lessons about life that can be learned from the animal kingdom. This book was written during the throes of global economic turmoil in 2008-2009 and is full of common-sense wisdom gleaned from a life of observing and learning the language of cats, dogs, horses, foxes and birds.
Rita Mae Brown speaks with love about her farm and the animal companions with whom she shares her home, the rivers, and fields. The story begins and ends in the mountains of Virginia, deep in horse country where–to this horsewoman–life isn’t complete without foxhounds, horses, foxes and cats. She writes about home and the significance of the places she lived growing up. Early chapters reveal more about family and four-legged characters than about herself and her descriptive language gives us a taste of what it was like growing up in the 1950′s after WW2. We get to know her father and mother, and slowly we discover more about this fiercely independent woman who was carefully schooled in cotillion Southern manners. Terse sentences portray a woman who is usually short with words, yet the descriptive language she uses when sharing observations about her pets reveal her true passion.
The author makes no bones about her critical views of destructive human behavior when she speaks of California and Florida being lost to development. “The loss of animal habitat, the killing of the animals themselves can never be reversed.” Her ideas are presented with an underlying wit and grit and the message is clear: “Country knowledge is shrinking.”
There are plenty of prudent suggestions about living on this planet and treating each other, humans and animals, with love. In this story, nature and animals provide comfort, solace and a sense that we are not alone, but part of a greater plan.
Animal Magnetism is a touching account of a Rita Mae Brown’s life lived with passion for the untamed and tamed natural world.
by Martha Meacham
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
Rating: 5 / 5