beholdtheanimals's review against another edition
4.0
"... anthropologists from J.G. Frazer onward have pointed out that animals are vehicles for embodying emotionally charged ideas. Foolishly, we humans tend to conflate ugliness with evil, and since we find the hyena viscerally repulsive, we class it with 'every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth', all condemned by Leviticus as 'abominations'. But watch out. As Freud suggests, whatever we repress will come back to bite us--and the hyena's jaws are built to crush bone."
I've been a Mikita Brottman fan since An Unexplained Death (bios of her state that she writes about literature, animals, and violent crime--how much cooler does a person get??), and a vague, if ignorant, admirer of the hyena for as long as I can recall--I've never been obsessed with them, but they did seem unfairly vilified and possessed of their own weird, rather Goth stain of beauty. Needless to say, this book was exactly what I hoped it'd be. Four stars since I usually prefer my nonfiction with more of an element of narrative or memoir (like An Unexplained Death or I'll Be Gone in the Dark), but I'm so glad I read this and learned more about these misunderstood, weirdly gorgeous creatures. Highly recommend for anyone who loves animals and questions mainstream ideas about the less-beloved creatures of this planet.
I've been a Mikita Brottman fan since An Unexplained Death (bios of her state that she writes about literature, animals, and violent crime--how much cooler does a person get??), and a vague, if ignorant, admirer of the hyena for as long as I can recall--I've never been obsessed with them, but they did seem unfairly vilified and possessed of their own weird, rather Goth stain of beauty. Needless to say, this book was exactly what I hoped it'd be. Four stars since I usually prefer my nonfiction with more of an element of narrative or memoir (like An Unexplained Death or I'll Be Gone in the Dark), but I'm so glad I read this and learned more about these misunderstood, weirdly gorgeous creatures. Highly recommend for anyone who loves animals and questions mainstream ideas about the less-beloved creatures of this planet.
olsenc's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic, in-depth look at the hyena. You can tell Brottman truly loves this animal, and that comes across in her story. Truly fascinating look at how science, culture, art, and society intersect around the topic of the hyena. Highly recommended.
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