05/22/2023
In this eye-opening survey, memoirist Carew (Quicksand Tales ) illuminates the varied ways humans have related to animals throughout history and contends that they’re more emotionally sophisticated than people give them credit for. Decrying the cruelty humans have inflicted on animals, Carew notes that ancient Romans killed thousands of bears, lions, and other creatures in the Colosseum and that 19th-century animal dealer Carl Hagenbeck used brutal methods to capture baboons, giraffes, and zebras in Africa, and ship them to zoos around the world. Other stories cast doubt on scientists who dismiss animals’ apparent displays of emotion as anthropomorphism. In 2011, for example, a humpback whale was filmed leaping out of the water 40 times over the course of an hour in joy after humans freed her from a fishing net. Carew also highlights the emotional bonds animals form with humans, describing how Polish wildlife photographer Lech Wilczek rescued a young raven who in adulthood rode around on Wilczek’s shoulder and the back of his motorbike. The heartwarming anecdotes persuasively attest to the complexity of animals’ interior lives, making a strong case for humans to reconsider how they treat other species. Impassioned and entertaining, this is a no-brainer for animal lovers. Photos. (July)
What a wonderful and unexpected book. The very opposite of beastly: heavenly and amazing, powerful and affecting, a beloved and very fine teller of tales reminds us how small we are in the face of a nature that we neither understand nor wish to respect or, in any real sense, live with.”—Philippe Sands, author East West Street and The Ratline Beastly is a brilliant book for anyone who questions how we might live more ethically, more harmoniously and more happily alongside the other creatures in this crowded and beautiful world.”—Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment: Nature Rebounding In the Post-Human Landscape Bookseller Beastly should be mandatory reading for all humans.”—Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground, Bitter Orange, and Swimming Lessons Dave Goulson, author of Silent Earth and A Sting in the Tale Laura Cumming, author of Five Days Gone and The Vanishing Velázquez Gaia Vince, author of Nomad Century and Transcendence: How Humans Evolved Through Fire, Language, Be Lee Schofield, Wild Fell: Fighting for Nature on a Lake District Hill Farm Brigit Strawbridge, author of Dancing with Bees: A Journey Back to Nature Beastly will change the way you see the world.”—Cornelia Parker The Irish Times The Guardian Beastly is greedy for the creaturely kingdom, scooping in facts like a humpback whale engulfing a cloud of krill.”—Perspective Mark Avery, author of Remarkable Birds
Full of necessary rage, joy, and passion: Beastly should be mandatory reading for all humans.
Wondrous true stories of kinship between humans and our fellow creatures . . . [An] impassioned account about the ways in which wild animals have shaped, and will continue to shape, our lives, particularly in the teeth of the climate emergency.
This book is sensational. I am fascinated by the animals, as I thought I would be, but I am equally fascinated by the humans. The writing is so beautiful. The most natural writer there ever was. I MEAN IT!
author of Five Days Gone and The Vanishing Vel Laura Cumming
What a delightful book! A brilliant and insightful selection of revealing stories about our complicated relationship with other animals, told with Carew's uniquely smart and stylish verve. A hugely enjoyable, thought-provoking book.
What a wonderful and unexpected book. The very opposite of beastly: heavenly and amazing, powerful and affecting, a beloved and very fine teller of tales reminds us how small we are in the face of a nature that we neither understand nor wish to respect or, in any real sense, live with.
author East West Street and The Ratline Philippe Sands
This entertaining and mind-expanding book on our relationship with other animals is so full of surprising facts and fascinating stories that my copy has practically every page folded down or highlighted or annotated with exclamation marks. Keggie’s writing makes me laugh but it also makes me think; the perfect combination. Beastly is a brilliant book for anyone who questions how we might live more ethically, more harmoniously and more happily alongside the other creatures in this crowded and beautiful world.
author of Islands of Abandonment: Nature Rebou Cal Flyn
This book is different, quirky and powerful.
author of Remarkable Birds Mark Avery
If you are interested in the animal kingdom; if you are interested in the past, present and future of planet Earth; if you are interested in anything at all, then this gorgeous, joyous, sobering book is for you.
Dazzling … [a] fantastic, heartfelt history of human-animal relations.
Moving, poignant, yet funny. A charmingly eccentric exploration of our increasingly dysfunctional relationship with nature, peppered with peculiar, remarkable tales both joyous and sad.
author of Silent Earth and A Sting in the Tale Dave Goulson
A hugely entertaining, insightful, and far-reaching look into the fascinating complexity of our relationships with animals. The writing sparkles with wit and wisdom, allowing us to see ourselves through the eyes of the non-humans we so carelessly share this planet with.
Wild Fell: Fighting for Nature on a Lake Distr Lee Schofield
Exhilaratingly busy with ideas … Beastly is greedy for the creaturely kingdom, scooping in facts like a humpback whale engulfing a cloud of krill.
Beastly will change the way you see the world.
This book is BRILLIANT! I’ve tried to find the right words to do it justice but can’t. The way Keggie breathes life into the animals whose tales she tells, with such passion and purpose, is amazing . . . Feeling deeply affected by what I’ve read, and learned . . .
author of Dancing with Bees: A Journey Back to Brigit Strawbridge
2023-04-11
British nature writer Carew, author of Dadland and Quicksand Tales , offers a compelling mixture of memoir, history of human dealings with animals, and accounts of human-animal relations today, which includes fascinating and gruesome stories, brilliant individuals, and a modicum of hope. Most religious origin stories portray humans as having authority over animals, and humans have waged a centurieslong “war against nature,” selecting animals based on “characteristics useful to us: meatiness, hardiness, woolliness, adaptability, docility, and we dispatched the individuals who didn’t suit. Quite sinister. A bit like The Handmaid’s Tale for farm animals.” Still, writes the author, “we are more similar than alien, closer than far apart. When apes touch their lips together like kissing, it is kissing. When they put their arms around each other as if they were embracing, they are embracing.” In addition, “fish feel pain.” There follow two dozen vivid chapters describing human-animal relations, and readers should expect a rough ride. The mass slaughter of birds to decorate 19th-century women’s hats is a conservation cliché, but the details will disturb even the most enlightened reader. They will also marvel at the dazzling accomplishments of homing, racing, and performing pigeons. Carew makes a convincing argument that killing animals for pleasure (fox hunting, trophy hunting) is a form of necrophilia, with hunters expressing intense, physical love of their victims. As “the smartest animals,” humans have the tools for environmental preservation, although billionaires seem to accomplish as much as national governments. The author argues passionately for making “ecocide” a crime against humanity under international law along with genocide and war crimes. Since international law is unenforceable, nations can join for superficial reasons, but this turns out to produce some inconveniences for industries bent on destruction.
Beautiful nature writing, the usual horrors, and modest optimism.
