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Imaginary Animals: The Monstrous, the Wondrous and the Human
Fire-breathing dragons, beautiful mermaids, majestic unicorns, terrifying three-headed dogs—these fantastic creatures have long excited our imagination. Medieval authors placed them in the borders of manuscripts as markers of the boundaries of our understanding. Tales from around the world place these beasts in deserts, deep woods, remote islands, ocean depths, and alternate universes—just out of our reach. And in the sections on the apocalypse in the Bible, they proliferate as the end of time approaches, with horses with heads like lions, dragons, and serpents signaling the destruction of the world. Legends tell us that imaginary animals belong to a primordial time, before everything in the world had names, categories, and conceptual frameworks. In this book, Boria Sax digs into the stories of these fabulous beasts. He shows how, despite their liminal role, imaginary animals like griffins, dog-men, yetis, and more are socially constructed creatures, created through the same complex play of sensuality and imagination as real ones. Tracing the history of imaginary animals from Paleolithic art to their roles in stories such as Harry Potter and even the advent of robotic pets, he reveals that these extraordinary figures help us psychologically—as monsters, they give form to our amorphous fears, while as creatures of wonder, they embody our hopes. Their greatest service, Sax concludes, is to continually challenge our imaginations, directing us beyond the limitations of conventional beliefs and expectations. Featuring over 230 illustrations of a veritable menagerie of fantastical and unreal beasts, Imaginary Animals is a feast for the eyes and the imagination.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
About the author
Boria Sax
36 books99 followersA person is not a list of accomplishments, and so I prefer not to introduce myself in that way. It is more accurate to say each of us is a collection of stories. Like others, I have more stories than I could ever tell or even know. I have been, among other things, a human rights activist, an impoverished poet, a manual worker, an expert on online education, and a pioneer in Animal Studies.
I was raised on Communism, the grandest of grand narratives. it sought to explain everything but didn’t explain anything very well. I have always missed its dramatic sweep. I wanted big answers for the big questions. I wouldn’t accept the little ones and kept getting in trouble with my teachers.
My father had been a Soviet spy, passing atomic secrets, and the initial years of my life were spent with my nearly destitute family trying to shake the FBI by moving many times a year. My father, a Russian Jew, was impulsive, brilliant, loving, abusive, and seriously mentally ill. My mother, coming from a rather puritanical British background, saw him as a romantic rebel. She was drawn to the Civil Rights movement and was a co-founder of CORE (the Congress on Racial Equality), but the difficulties of survival overwhelmed her idealism. She held our family together with a sort of everyday heroism, and my parents divorced after 18 tempestuous years.
Rather than focusing exclusively on any specialty, I like to draw analogies between domains that appear very far apart. In the 1980s, when I began to write about literature, I was disappointed to discover that I had to spend far more time sorting through commentaries than with poems and stories. The topic of animals in literature and folklore was, however, relatively new. Browsing in used bookshops, I came across eighteenth and nineteenth century encyclopedias of animals, which were an uncharted world of comedy and romance, filled with turkeys that speak Arabic, beavers that build like architects, and dogs that solve murders. They revealed every bit as much about human society as about birds and beasts.
I started writing mostly about human-animal relations and never stopped. Indulging my fondness for paradoxes, I addressed subjects like Nazi animal protection, the modernity of the ravens in the Tower of London, and the Thanksgiving turkey as a sacrificial offering. As for trees, I think of them as just a kind of animal. By now, I have published roughly twenty books, which have been translated into many languages. I often violate academic protocols, not only by addressing broad themes but also by inserting humor and lyricism into my texts. I teach in the college program of the Sing Sing Correctional Facility and the graduate literature program of Mercy University.
There have been two constants in my somewhat untidy life. One is the support of my wife Linda, who has been with me over half a century and whom I cannot thank enough. The other is my writing, which I have worked on continually but am unable to judge. Thanks, reader, for reading this, and I hope you are inspired to read more.
I was raised on Communism, the grandest of grand narratives. it sought to explain everything but didn’t explain anything very well. I have always missed its dramatic sweep. I wanted big answers for the big questions. I wouldn’t accept the little ones and kept getting in trouble with my teachers.
My father had been a Soviet spy, passing atomic secrets, and the initial years of my life were spent with my nearly destitute family trying to shake the FBI by moving many times a year. My father, a Russian Jew, was impulsive, brilliant, loving, abusive, and seriously mentally ill. My mother, coming from a rather puritanical British background, saw him as a romantic rebel. She was drawn to the Civil Rights movement and was a co-founder of CORE (the Congress on Racial Equality), but the difficulties of survival overwhelmed her idealism. She held our family together with a sort of everyday heroism, and my parents divorced after 18 tempestuous years.
Rather than focusing exclusively on any specialty, I like to draw analogies between domains that appear very far apart. In the 1980s, when I began to write about literature, I was disappointed to discover that I had to spend far more time sorting through commentaries than with poems and stories. The topic of animals in literature and folklore was, however, relatively new. Browsing in used bookshops, I came across eighteenth and nineteenth century encyclopedias of animals, which were an uncharted world of comedy and romance, filled with turkeys that speak Arabic, beavers that build like architects, and dogs that solve murders. They revealed every bit as much about human society as about birds and beasts.
I started writing mostly about human-animal relations and never stopped. Indulging my fondness for paradoxes, I addressed subjects like Nazi animal protection, the modernity of the ravens in the Tower of London, and the Thanksgiving turkey as a sacrificial offering. As for trees, I think of them as just a kind of animal. By now, I have published roughly twenty books, which have been translated into many languages. I often violate academic protocols, not only by addressing broad themes but also by inserting humor and lyricism into my texts. I teach in the college program of the Sing Sing Correctional Facility and the graduate literature program of Mercy University.
There have been two constants in my somewhat untidy life. One is the support of my wife Linda, who has been with me over half a century and whom I cannot thank enough. The other is my writing, which I have worked on continually but am unable to judge. Thanks, reader, for reading this, and I hope you are inspired to read more.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
unlikely-to-finish
December 19, 2024Not planning to finish this one. Some really interesting history about like, the thin veil between symbolism and belief in creatures like unicorns, but also kind of poor academic work in terms of drawing broad generalizations about humanity's relationship with other animals based on a pretty culturally narrow lens termed "the west". Too bad because definitely a big interest of mine but I don't really trust the analysis because it feels like the author is grasping at whatever sources support his beliefs about human-animal relationships.
June 6, 2023
This was a bit more philosophical than I was looking for. It contains a lot of information on history and art and is lavishly illustrated. A decent addition to my cryptozoology collection.
February 24, 2024
A nice read, an essay on the historical develpemnt of imaginary animals through history
March 31, 2026
“The first book was captivating. We’re looking forward to featuring Sax’s next title soon.”
November 28, 2016
Firstly the name Boria Sax is perfect for the nature of the book subject - imaginary animals. Boria Sax sounds like a character right out of Harry Potter.
The book reads like a PhD thesis on imaginary animals. Sax colours his theory with some pretty sophisticated sentences that could put off many from reading this. Although not for the faint of heart Sax has a lot of interesting things to say about the origins of where, why and how imaginary animals came into being and whether we have the right to even call them "imaginary". There is some pretty deep stuff here but, for me, the book really shone when he got into the subject of how these animals made it into the Zeitgeist in numerous times of human history and how these animals metamorphosed from being one thing for some people, to another thing, for others.
The book has some amazing pictures and templates that truly takes this book into the 4 or 5 star category. To be honest, without those pictures, this book is pretty dry. It is a great coffee table book and definitely worth a read, but just be warned....be sure to have your dictionary at the ready !. This is not a light read by any stretch of the imagination.
The book reads like a PhD thesis on imaginary animals. Sax colours his theory with some pretty sophisticated sentences that could put off many from reading this. Although not for the faint of heart Sax has a lot of interesting things to say about the origins of where, why and how imaginary animals came into being and whether we have the right to even call them "imaginary". There is some pretty deep stuff here but, for me, the book really shone when he got into the subject of how these animals made it into the Zeitgeist in numerous times of human history and how these animals metamorphosed from being one thing for some people, to another thing, for others.
The book has some amazing pictures and templates that truly takes this book into the 4 or 5 star category. To be honest, without those pictures, this book is pretty dry. It is a great coffee table book and definitely worth a read, but just be warned....be sure to have your dictionary at the ready !. This is not a light read by any stretch of the imagination.
November 18, 2014
Hands down, one of the best books I've read in years. This is one of those eclectic books that goes great on a coffee table, den, or simply in your library. However, it's not one of those books that you simply just put away. It should be read, preferably with hot cocoa, coffee, or wine if that's your thing. It's both relaxing and stimulating. It's artsy, witty, philosophical, and meaty. Anyone interested in folklore, religion, politics, symbolism, heraldry, or history will enjoy this book. If you have any interest in animals, both real and of legend then you will enjoy delving into this book. Did Unicorns exist? Well according to many they did. Dragons, Chimera, Bigfoot, Yeti even the good ol' Chupacabra, they're all featured in this book but in the end is it man that is the strangest creature of all?
April 28, 2016
This book is a visual and literary treasure. If you are at all interested in mythology and the fantastic breadth of the human imagination, many hours of delight await. Profusely illustrated with historical artwork. Also thoughtful on the relations between humans and animals.
January 29, 2015
For a book that I had to read for class it was a great book to read!! I learned so much! Any one who has an interest in the world of magical animals should read this book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews