Joanne Faries
My Zoo World
$9.99
It can be pretty risky to out yourself as an animal hater in a world of animal lovers. Faries manages to do so with good humor and an upfront understanding that the world had gone to the dogs long before she got here.
She offers a tongue-in-cheek view of our cultural obsession with our pets as well as insight into the uncomfortable and awkward predicament faced by people who do not share this fascination with things furry, feathered and four-legged.
In the throes of the tale (or tail) Faries dishes out several impressive lines. During a scuba diving training session she reports, "Un-oxygenated brain cells dripped out of my ears, floating away to turn into brain coral."
I, an obsessive animal lover and pet pamperer, found myself reading every scene and scenario with the same rapt attention with which I watch Hoarders on TV. I am not a hoarder and I know I could never be a hoarder but I simply cannot stop staring at the phenomenon. How did it happen?
Animal fear and loathing seems scary in the same way. Could you get it from a bump on the head? A bit of bad gravy? Faries notes people relentlessly try to reprogram her thinking and change the way she feels about specific breeds of dogs, cats and critters of all kinds. The disease, danger and disgust she sees when viewing a fuzzy bunny, a chunky koala or an adorable kitten is as alien to most of us as fleas on glass. We just don't get it.
And yet she convinces the reader it is real and true in her world. An obsessive mother programmed her to think germs and rabies where we see fuzzy cuteness. She sees claws where we see paws and sharp teeth instead of whiskers.
In this animal crazy world she is made to feel quirky, out of step and even guilty. I loved her view of "Take your Pet to Work Week." It was a refreshing and eye-opening perspective.
My Zoo World is a quick and revealing look inside the life of someone who does not just adore things furry. Or finny. Or feathery. Faries prefers humans. Only humans.
If you are looking for an entertaining read, a jog into the mind of an animal non-appreciator, read My Zoo World. I know Faries hears this from everyone but if she knew my cat Peanut Butter Truffle, she would love her. There is nothing like the sound of soft purring to see us through a bout with the flu or a bad case of the sniffles.
Bev Vines-Haines's
Beverly Vines-Haines has worked as a writer all her life, including time as a newspaper feature writer, and a magazine columnist. After publishing genre fiction in the early 80's, she returned to newspaper work. She studied Journalism at Michigan State University and later attended the University of Oklahoma where she studied Creative Writing with Jack Bickham and Bob Duncan. She teaches creative writing to adults and also holds writing classes each year for home-schooled students. These days she loves writing flash fiction and blogging.