This is a book you might not enjoy very much, but it’s one you should almost certainly read, said Emma Beddington in The Spectator. Henry Mance, a journalist at the Financial Times, sets out to unpick a glaring “paradox”: how a world in thrall to animal cuteness – in which videos of kittens are watched by millions – “can remain indifferent to the suffering of almost all other animals, whether farmed, in captivity, or in the wild”.
Most of us prefer not to think about the horrors of livestock farming, but Mance doesn’t flinch from detailing them, said Sophie McBain in the New Statesman. During a spell working at an abattoir, he describes pigs panicking and squealing before they are stunned because they “can smell blood”, and can communicate with one another. At a pig farm known for its welfare standards, he describes picking up “overlays”: piglets accidentally crushed by their mothers, which have been bred to be three times their natural size. Yet the book also has its lighter moments: in San Francisco, Mance visits “Corgi Con”, where Corgi owners dress up as their pets (and vice versa).
Although Mance is himself a vegan (partly because of what his research led him to find out about the dairy industry), he isn’t doctrinaire or sanctimonious, said Ben Cooke in The Times. “For instance, he’s not that perturbed by hunting”: he even thinks big-game hunting is a good idea, because the money earned from selling licences can “provide hefty funding for national parks”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Ultimately, what he wants is for people to stop dividing animals into “would-be humans” and “milk machines”, and see them for what they are – as “creatures valuable in their difference”. We may be a long way from achieving that now – but this thoughtful book ought to move us in the right direction
Jonathan Cape 400pp £20; The Week Bookshop £15.99
The Week Bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful northThe Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
-
Giorgio Armani obituary: designer revolutionised the business of fashionIn the Spotlight ‘King Giorgio’ came from humble beginnings to become a titan of the fashion industry and redefine 20th century clothing
-
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – a ‘comfort’ watch for fansThe Week Recommends The final film of the franchise gives viewers a chance to say goodbye
-
The Paper: new show, same 'warmth and goofiness'The Week Recommends This spin-off of the American version of The Office is ‘comfortingly and wearyingly familiar’
-
Rachel Jones: Gated Canyons – ‘riotously colourful’ works from an ‘exhilarating’ painterThe Week Recommends The 34-year-old is the first artist to take over Dulwich Picture Gallery’s main space
-
Born With Teeth: ‘mischievously provocative’ play starring Ncuti GatwaThe Week Recommends ‘Sprightly’ production from Liz Duffy Adams imagines the relationship between Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe
-
Art review: Lorna Simpson: Source NotesFeature Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, through Nov. 2
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
