A review by siobhanward
On Animals by Susan Orlean

informative slow-paced

3.0

Ever since I read Orlean's <i> The Library Book </i> I've been reading her stuff, trying to find something that compares. Unfortunately, this one didn't hold up great. Rather than being a book written intentionally, it's (I assume) a collection of her writings from other places, and it really feels like that. At least 20% of the book is devoted to Orlean's own feelings on animals, her relationships with them and her adventures in hobby farming. It felt like I was reading someone's blog, rather than a book. The essays in between just kind of felt flat. Some felt really dated (the essay about tiger keeping in the US seems kind of unnecessary after Tiger King), and honestly I just didn't vibe with how many of them were about captive animals. 

I would have loved to have learned more about humans working in animal preservation and research, or more historical topics, but this just really didn't cover any of that. While I still appreciate the work that Orlean put into this, it just wasn't really for me. 
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