07/12/2021
In this heartwarming debut, Zaleski, founder of New Jersey’s Funny Farm Rescue & Sanctuary, shares how she came to live with “hundreds of ducks and geese, dogs and cats, pigs and goats, alpacas and horses.” After her mother left her sadistic father in the 1970s, with Zaleski and her siblings in tow, the transition (which included “hiding out in a motel”) was rough, but the peace they found made up for the loss of their upper-middle-class lifestyle. Laurie’s plucky mother, Annie, was a fierce animal lover and devoted her life to rescuing animals, even when money was tight. So it only seemed fitting, after her mother died in 2000, for Zaleski to fulfill Annie’s dream of running her own animal rescue. Today, her farm accommodates more than 600 animals—ranging from skunks taken in from exotic animal breeders to retired racehorses—many of which she pays loving tributes to. As she dishes stories of her guests—including Angel, a cantankerous, disabled goose who “didn’t live up to her name,” and a sweet 1,200-pound mare—Zaleski masterfully illustrates how one person can rise above difficult circumstances to do substantial good. Lovers of the furry and feathery will revel in this feel-good story. (Sept.)
**People Magazine Book of the Week**
**The Washington Post's Best Feel-Good Books of 2022**
**Goodreads Members' Most Anticipated Books of 2022**
"Funny Farm’s story makes an enjoyable read for animal lovers and anyone interested in a true story of a generous and unconventional life." —Associated Press
"An ebullient memoir and a reminder that the bigger your heart, the greater the rewards." —People Magazine
"[A] heartwarming debut...Zaleski masterfully illustrates how one person can rise above difficult circumstances to do substantial good. Lovers of the furry and feathery will revel in this feel-good story."—Publishers Weekly
"The author expertly balances humor and vulnerability while sharing the details of her harrowing childhood, making the book feel like a conversation between friends...the book, both heartwarming and heartbreaking, is an enjoyable read." —Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"Zaleski’s animal stories are immensely relatable and often told with the mix of empathy, outrage, humor, and steady resolve that is familiar to seasoned animal rescuers. Readers may also feel a special connection with Annie and her story of courage and unconditional love." —Library Journal (Starred)
"A chronicle of the hardscrabble childhood that sparked [Zaleski's] devotion to all creatures great and small. This is a tale that’s heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure. (Think “Educated” meets “Dr. Dolittle.”)" —Washington Post
"There are no drags or pauses in [Zaleski's] riveting tale; each new chapter presents an emotionally exciting and enthralling part of her life. " —The Michigan Daily
"This story of grit and resilience is 100 percent inspiring."—Real Simple
"Funny Farm is the satisfying tumultuous story of one mama who understood that a messy life crowded with love and animals is plenty good enough. Her daughter would grow up to tackle that legacy and build her own thriving animal sanctuary. Laurie Zaleski writes in vivid unsentimental language, equal parts passion and grit. She would balk at being called tender hearted. She’d better get used to it."—Ellen Stimson, Author of Mud Season and Good Grief
“I found myself up till much later at night than was good for me, just to read one more chapter. I laughed, I cried, I related in a very deep way, and most of all, I fell in love with Laurie, her mom, and her whole family, both human and non. Funny Farm was moving, inspiring, honest, and refreshingly real. I loved every page!”—Ellie Laks-Weiner, author of My Gentle Barn
"If you need your spirits lifted, spend some time at the Funny Farm. You’ll come away smiling." —twincities.com
" This book is charming, funny, inspiring and hugely entertaining." —StarTribune
"Some honor their loved ones by planting a tree. Laurie Zaleski went a lot further: She founded an entire animal sanctuary, just as she’d once promised her mother." —New York Post
"Earnest and honest, endearing and inspiring." — About Books by George Ernsberger
"Like [Zaleski's] mom, the book is never far from a laugh or a heartwarming story about a rescue animal." — Philadelphia Inquirer
"I highly recommend visiting the Farm, reading Funny Farm, and spreading all the kindness!" —The Women's Eye
★ 02/11/2022
In her debut memoir, Zaleski recounts founding her animal sanctuary, the Funny Farm Rescue. It had been her mother Annie's dream to live on a farm with her many rescued animals, but Annie died shortly before Zaleski closed on the 20-acre plot in Mays Landing, NJ, in 2000. With the determination that drove her to create a successful photography and graphics company, Zaleski expanded on her mother's dream, building a loving refuge for hundreds of neglected or abandoned domestic, farm, and exotic animals and a beloved site for visitors and volunteers. Zaleski's authorial debut (she has previously illustrated Matt Reeves's anti-bullying children's books Farley the Funny Farm Dog, Chucky the Miracle Dog, and Adela the Diva Chicken) interweaves origin stories of Funny Farm's animal residents with recollections from her own childhood after her mother left an abusive husband. Themes of kindness and acceptance pervade in Zaleski's book and in Funny Farm's mission. VERDICT Readers will be inspired to visit virtually (or maybe even in person!) the animals they read about, like Emily the emu and Cowboy the goat. Zaleski's animal stories are immensely relatable and often told with the mix of empathy, outrage, humor, and steady resolve that is familiar to seasoned animal rescuers. Readers may also feel a special connection with Annie and her story of courage and unconditional love.—Meagan Storey
★ 2021-11-02
An adult survivor of domestic violence recounts her experience starting an animal rescue farm in honor of her courageous mother.
When Zaleski was a child, her neighbors thought her family was perfect. Her mother, “a happy homemaker, demure but fashionable in her minidresses and capris with beautifully coiffed hair and flawless makeup,” was well matched with her charming, economically successful husband. But behind all the society page–worthy parties, the family harbored a dark secret: Zaleski’s father was dangerously violent. Finally, after two unsuccessful attempts at fleeing, Zaleski’s mother packed the children in the car and relocated to a house in the New Jersey woods that was so run-down it was almost uninhabitable. There followed years of abject poverty, continued harassment from her father, and a long line of adopted animals (“an endless litany of sad stories”). Zaleski’s mother rescued so many animals that she nicknamed their home the Funny Farm, a name the author would use when she formally opened an animal rescue farm in her mother’s honor weeks after her untimely death. “She had rallied, like Lazarus, after her brain surgery, so much so that we started believing in miracles,” writes Zaleski. “But…her decline, when it came, was swift. She faded before our eyes like a Polaroid in reverse.” The narrative alternates between a chronological account of the family’s experiences living just 10 minutes—yet a world away—from their wealthy, abusive father and vignettes about the animals living at the current Funny Farm. The author expertly balances humor and vulnerability while sharing the details of her harrowing childhood, making the book feel like a conversation between friends. Although the interspersed anecdotes about the Funny Farm’s most famous rescued animals provide welcome moments of levity, they sometimes lack a connection to the main story. On the whole, however, the book, both heartwarming and heartbreaking, is an enjoyable read.
An affirming memoir about surviving domestic violence with the help of furred and feathered friends.
Sometimes verging on laughter, narrator Erin Moon’s cheery delivery also dips for tragedy but never cracks. When Laurie Zaleski’s father attempted to take a camp ax to her mother, Annie scooped their three children into a borrowed car, hid them, and built a new life. “The more you cry, the less you’ll pee,” Annie said when life got hard. With this mother in her corner, Laurie grew up and battled her way into a successful business, then took in animals by the score. Horses, lambs, cats, and even emus are among the 600 strays welcomed to the fifteen-acre last resort in South Jersey called Funny Farm. Moon’s voice rises as triumph begets triumph, dips in the face of obstacles, and never tips into smugness. B.H.C. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
