Animal magnetism and other tales
Author and journalist Susan Orlean has always possessed an affinity for animals. More than that, as she asserts in the introduction to her new collection of previously published pieces “On Animals,” throughout her life the nonhuman creatures have “always seemed to elbow their way onto center stage.” It makes sense, then, that within her new book, they easily and rightfully claim the starring role in these essays largely pulled from The New Yorker where Orlean has been a staff writer since the early 1990s.
Following up on the successof her 2018 bestseller “The LibraryBook,” “On Animals” begins on a pitch-perfect note with Orlean’s 2011 essay “Animalish,” a delightful piece about her gravitational pull toward animals serving as the book’s introduction. But as most so-called “animal people” know, that attraction is hard to describe. Through Orlean’s headshaking at her tendency to find herself in the path of an animal much of the time — intentionally or not — sheattempts to explain what it is about animals that puts her undertheir spell:
“I’m curious about animals. They amuse me. They keep me company. They’re nice to look at. Some of them provide me with breakfast food. I think I have the same response to animals that I would if Martians landed on Earth: I would like to get to know them and befriend them, all the while knowing we were not quite of the same ilk. They seem to have something in common with us, and yetthey’re alien, unknowable, familiarbut mysterious.”
Anyone who has loved an animal will immediately know the feeling. We can love animals, share our homes with them, feel that we perfectly understand them. But, like a love unrequited, it seems that, in a world where so many things are now within arm’s reach, the unattainableness of animals and their inner worlds appeals. We know we’ll never get inside their minds, but that will neverstop us from trying.
Chasing that rainbow seems to have inspired many of the essays contained in this collection. In “Show Dog,” Orlean attempts to capture the soul of a pampered champion boxer. She marvels at the connection between a South African man and his not-atall-tame lions in “Lion Whisperer,” and ponders the global obsession with panda bears, the black and white stars of “The Perfect Beast.” But Orlean highlights an array of topics in this collection, everything from urban chicken husbandry to taxidermy. The mystery of what wild story might come next will keep any reader flipping these pages.
The best piece in “On Animals” may be the one at its conclusion. “Farmville” is a kind of collection within a collection, a series of small stories and observations from her life living on a small farm in Hudson Valley, New York, a home that Orlean and her husband have recently, if reluctantly, sold. Her hilarious and heartfelt memories of the farm and all the animals who lived there with her — chickens, cows, turkeys, dogs and cats — reads like a dream and a gift, but also like a cliffhanger. It’s hard to imagine a reader who won’t crave a whole memoir featuring Orlean’s life on the farm after sucha bittersweet ending.
“On Animals” is a fun and fascinating collection that any animal lover will be delighted to receive this holiday season. Gift it within your household at your own risk; you may end up with a mule in the family.
Olive Fellows is a freelance book critic and YouTube book reviewer living in Pittsburgh.