Three reasons you should read Susan Orlean’s On Animals even if, like me, you are a faithful subscriber to The New Yorker and eagerly consumed nearly all of the essays when they first appeared during the more than 25 years this collection spans: (1) Every essay in the book is magnificent. (2) Every essay in the book is magnificent. (3) Every essay in the book is magnificent.

I very much enjoyed Orlean’s perspective in these original, perceptive, and clever essays showcasing the sometimes strange, sometimes sick, sometimes tender relationships between people and animals.

Orlean didn't set out to write an animal-rights treatise and it's not a critic's job to foist her own sensibilities on to an author. It is appropriate, though, to point out that Orlean's way of being 'animalish' does not always go hand in hand with a heightened sensitivity to animals' life experiences.

Orlean’s deft handling of facts and her lived experience as an animal softy create a pleasing friction. It turns out that Orlean the pet owner is sentimental — supposedly a reporter’s bane — until reality intervenes.

... tends to build, novelistically, through its individual pieces into a broad meditation on how the connections we make or fail to make with animals mark us profoundly along our human journey. Orlean doesn’t pontificate, though; as always, her tone is conversational and self-questioning..

The mix is remarkably eclectic, though with Ms. Orlean, that goes without saying. Does any prominent nonfiction writer range more widely?.

The pageant of animals in these pieces is equally spectacular, as is the writing.

Regardless of whether you’re an animal lover, On Animals is a fabulously fun collection of essays.

... these 15 incisive, entertaining treats reveal the kind of animal person Orlean is.

Orlean has a conventional, carefully researched, narrative-nonfiction approach.

Between the bookend pieces about her own experiences with other species, On Animals offers a wide-ranging look at how humans and animals interact. Her four-legged, two-winged and even finned subjects include the wild and domestic, the friend and the servant. And despite her admitted tendency to anthropomorphize, she does not romanticize.

[An] ebulliently descriptive, robustly factual, occasionally alarming collection.

Orlean is a fun writer to read.

Delightful.

Clever.

Orlean writes with genuine appreciation for her subjects. She is quick to point out an animal’s admirable qualities, whether it’s the beauty of a chicken’s feathers or the work ethic of a mule. The book is littered with comical anecdotes and fun facts.

... a series of love letters to the animal world. Orlean’s curiosity is boundless, as she explores the fascinating diversity and beauty, as well as the endearing peculiarities of a range of creatures. But love can be complicated. The real subject of this book is human animals, and their often warped and whacky interactions with other species.

Orlean highlights a wide array of topics in this collection, everything from urban chicken husbandry to taxidermy. The mystery of what wild story might come next will keep any reader flipping these pages.

[Orlean] writes with humor and generosity about the ark’s worth of birds and mammals she has brought into her life.