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msquared's review against another edition
1.0
DNF
truly, fuck this book, fuck Jon Katz, fuck speciesist bullshit.
animals aren't here to serve us. there's no such thing as ethical breeding while we grapple with human and animal overpopulation on an alarming scale. everything about this book and the man who wrote it makes me so angry. i miss my dead bunnies. the end.
truly, fuck this book, fuck Jon Katz, fuck speciesist bullshit.
animals aren't here to serve us. there's no such thing as ethical breeding while we grapple with human and animal overpopulation on an alarming scale. everything about this book and the man who wrote it makes me so angry. i miss my dead bunnies. the end.
iancarpenter's review against another edition
3.0
This is a good book, but, and this sounds crazy given what it's about, it's excessively morbid. Katz does not stop recounting the deaths and euthanasias of his animals. Maybe it's the difference between city life and life on a farm but my partner needed me to stop reading it to her. Almost every animal you met in the book courtesy of Katz was going to die. After a while the effect was unpleasant. Pity, because Katz is a soulful guy with a great understanding of what anyone grieving the loss of an animal is going through. But, you'll likely find the collected death toll of the book really unsettling if you're grieving yourself (and why else would you read this book?)
brigettedp's review against another edition
4.0
I chose this book because we had lost our 16 year old golden retriever mix Jasmine 8 months ago and I found myself really grieving over her loss. The smallest things would bring me to tears. It was so refreshing to read that I was reacting like so many other people react. That the feelings I was having were "normal" and I wasn't over doing it in some way. When we lose a pet I think we expect to "get over it" a lot faster or easier than losing a family member... but in my life our pets are our family members. Her loss has hit me particularly hard... I still miss her so much but this book helped me to put it into perspective, not feel bad about making the tough decision to euthanize and move on. While reading this book I saw a local shelter post about a 7 year old dog that was found, they tried to find her family but were unsuccessful... I am currently fostering her with the option to adopt. My husband thought I was crazy for wanting to take in a 7 year old dog with the grief I've felt over our loss of Jasmine but it just feels right to give this dog a good, loving home for the rest of her days how ever many they should be.
rmichno's review against another edition
4.0
A bit repetitive at the end, but it contained some comforting reflections on pet loss.
bev1958's review against another edition
5.0
Most excellent book. I read it right after the passing of dear lab, Percy. He had contracted cancer. I follow Jon's blog and respect his opinions, and appreciate the work he has done. This book helped me.
heregrim's review against another edition
4.0
I got this book at the death of my family (childhood) cat. Even though I do not live there anymore her death still bothered me. It was an interesting read.
carosweet's review against another edition
1.0
I think this is my first review of anything, and the only reason I feel compelled to do it this time is because I don’t want anyone mourning their pet to hurt more than they already do. Reading this while vulnerable is a most isolating experience.
It would be difficult to imagine a book more unhelpful. It is selfish and small-minded. It rationalizes every egocentric, questionable decision, within two pages advocates adopting from a shelter but then discusses taking a friend to a breeder, states that adopting a steer was “irresponsible” and that sending it to slaughter is how one takes adult, mature responsibility in the face of that previous decision...I could go on and on. Just yikes. AVOID. I can’t imagine any context in which this would be helpful, unless you’re trying to desensitize yourself to your own feelings or put the life of an animal in this book’s cold “perspective”. The message *is*, in fact, “it’s just a _______”, and you can just purchase another one (from a breeder, of course), and humans are better anyway and that’s where you should be putting your attention. Others have pulled out quotes that speak more about these.
Not merely disappointing. Harmful.
It would be difficult to imagine a book more unhelpful. It is selfish and small-minded. It rationalizes every egocentric, questionable decision, within two pages advocates adopting from a shelter but then discusses taking a friend to a breeder, states that adopting a steer was “irresponsible” and that sending it to slaughter is how one takes adult, mature responsibility in the face of that previous decision...I could go on and on. Just yikes. AVOID. I can’t imagine any context in which this would be helpful, unless you’re trying to desensitize yourself to your own feelings or put the life of an animal in this book’s cold “perspective”. The message *is*, in fact, “it’s just a _______”, and you can just purchase another one (from a breeder, of course), and humans are better anyway and that’s where you should be putting your attention. Others have pulled out quotes that speak more about these.
Not merely disappointing. Harmful.