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The Book of Clever Beasts: Studies in Unnatural History
The Book of Clever BeastsByMyrtle Reed
230 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1904
1 person is currently reading
4 people want to read
About the author
Myrtle Reed
94 books32 followersMyrtle Reed/Mrs McCullough (1874-1911) was an American author, the daughter of Elizabeth Armstrong Reed and the preacher Hiram von Reed. She sometimes wrote under the pseudonym of Olive Green. She was born in Chicago, where she graduated from the West Division High School. In 1906 she was married to James Sydney McCullough.
She wrote under her own name, but also published a series of cook books under the pseudonym of Olive Green, including What to Have for Breakfast (1905), One Thousand Simple Soups (1907) and How to Cook Fish (1908).
Myrtle was a diagnosed insomniac with prescribed sleeping drafts. She died August 17, 1911 of an overdose of sleeping powder taken with suicidal intent in her flat, called "Paradise Flat" at 5120 Kenmore Ave., Chicago, Illinois. The following day, her suicide letter, written to her maid, Annie Larsen, was published.
She wrote under her own name, but also published a series of cook books under the pseudonym of Olive Green, including What to Have for Breakfast (1905), One Thousand Simple Soups (1907) and How to Cook Fish (1908).
Myrtle was a diagnosed insomniac with prescribed sleeping drafts. She died August 17, 1911 of an overdose of sleeping powder taken with suicidal intent in her flat, called "Paradise Flat" at 5120 Kenmore Ave., Chicago, Illinois. The following day, her suicide letter, written to her maid, Annie Larsen, was published.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 20, 2025
Read the GORGEOUS first edition!! I think this is my favorite of Reed’s books. She is so clever and humorous throughout the book. I was laughing out loud at points.
It follows a man who can communicate (in a way) with animals and finds himself in bizarre situations. Each chapter covers a different animal friend that he comes across. It almost reads as a children’s book, but then it’ll detail some gruesome animal death.
Favorite chapter is Jagg, the Skootaway Goat.
It follows a man who can communicate (in a way) with animals and finds himself in bizarre situations. Each chapter covers a different animal friend that he comes across. It almost reads as a children’s book, but then it’ll detail some gruesome animal death.
Favorite chapter is Jagg, the Skootaway Goat.
July 7, 2019
Whimsical parody subtitled 'Studies in Unnatural History', probably much loved in its day by slightly odd children and President Roosevelt.
Actually I know that Roosevelt liked it because he wrote Reed a letter in praise of the book. He did that a lot to writers of natural histories, so why not to the writer of an unnatural history? The Rough Rider loved anthropomorphised animals. He must have enjoyed a good laugh too, just look at that mustache of his, which looked for all the world like it may have once been an animal
The jokes herein often came by way of some appalling puns, such as when the narrator placed a get on a porcupine race: 'The gambling laws are rightfully stringent, but Lambs gambol, so why not Porcupines?'
When he befriended the tastelessly named Jim Crow his feathered friend slept in the same bed with his feet on the chap's cheeks, 'I went back among the haunts of men, and discovered deep crow's feet around my eyes.'
To get a good feel for the whimsical and strangely violent tone of this oddball book it's worth quoting a full passage from the same chapter:
'I shot one of them one day, when they were doing too much singing, and the rest of the company called an indignation meeting on the spot. Having decided that I was the criminal, they sentenced me to have my eyes pecked out and appointed six of their number as executioners. Happily, I had on my spectacles, and when they had broken and eaten the lenses, they were satisfied. That night six more Crows died in great agony from the eating of broken glass. They did not molest me further, but buried their dead comrades with great pomp and ceremony.'
There was more whimsy when Jocko the Monkey was rescued from Hoop-la the Rabbit with a bowl of spaghetti, then more violence when Jagg the goat, who ate everything and could understand instructions by swallowing bits of paper with dialogue scribbled on them, suddenly came to a sticky end.
Right from the outset Reed seemed determined to traumatise her young readership as much as entertain them. In the very first story Little Upsidaisi the Morse code-reading mouse, after winning his ongoing battle with the cat, decided to commit suicide.
Reed later did the same.
Actually I know that Roosevelt liked it because he wrote Reed a letter in praise of the book. He did that a lot to writers of natural histories, so why not to the writer of an unnatural history? The Rough Rider loved anthropomorphised animals. He must have enjoyed a good laugh too, just look at that mustache of his, which looked for all the world like it may have once been an animal
The jokes herein often came by way of some appalling puns, such as when the narrator placed a get on a porcupine race: 'The gambling laws are rightfully stringent, but Lambs gambol, so why not Porcupines?'
When he befriended the tastelessly named Jim Crow his feathered friend slept in the same bed with his feet on the chap's cheeks, 'I went back among the haunts of men, and discovered deep crow's feet around my eyes.'
To get a good feel for the whimsical and strangely violent tone of this oddball book it's worth quoting a full passage from the same chapter:
'I shot one of them one day, when they were doing too much singing, and the rest of the company called an indignation meeting on the spot. Having decided that I was the criminal, they sentenced me to have my eyes pecked out and appointed six of their number as executioners. Happily, I had on my spectacles, and when they had broken and eaten the lenses, they were satisfied. That night six more Crows died in great agony from the eating of broken glass. They did not molest me further, but buried their dead comrades with great pomp and ceremony.'
There was more whimsy when Jocko the Monkey was rescued from Hoop-la the Rabbit with a bowl of spaghetti, then more violence when Jagg the goat, who ate everything and could understand instructions by swallowing bits of paper with dialogue scribbled on them, suddenly came to a sticky end.
Right from the outset Reed seemed determined to traumatise her young readership as much as entertain them. In the very first story Little Upsidaisi the Morse code-reading mouse, after winning his ongoing battle with the cat, decided to commit suicide.
Reed later did the same.
September 3, 2025
9/10
A common refrain in the book, “The death of a wild animal is always a tragedy,” is nearly always coupled with the most over-the-top, Looney Tunes-esque animal fatality you could imagine. The Book of Clever Beasts is probably not something I would read to a young child, but it’s great for older kids/adults. I say this because the very first story includes a Tom and Jerry situation where the Tom stand-in (literally named Tom-Tom) is annihilated by a train and the Jerry stand-in commits suicide shortly thereafter. Note that this book was written long before the cartoon.
Reed inserts puns around every corner, like little secrets in the text you can unravel if you think carefully enough. Some are obvious, like placing Hare tonic on a balding head to see if hair will regrow, but others are more subtle. For instance, when discussing crow dialect, the combination of “Haw-Ker” means “travelling salesman or man practising music.” They can border on the line of being dad jokes too, such as when Jenny Ragtail is asked why lady Rabbits (animals are always capitalized in the text) do not eat toadstools, she responds through crude sign language that they “took up too mushroom.”
The thing I loved most was that the book is so absurd but takes itself so seriously. Mr. Johnson-Sitdown has rivalries and friendships with the animals he studies, collects evidence and data about the animals, and treats it all with the utmost scientific duty. According to some brief research, Teddy Roosevelt liked this book and sent Reed a warm letter regarding it. This is exactly the kind of book I would expect him to love lol.
A common refrain in the book, “The death of a wild animal is always a tragedy,” is nearly always coupled with the most over-the-top, Looney Tunes-esque animal fatality you could imagine. The Book of Clever Beasts is probably not something I would read to a young child, but it’s great for older kids/adults. I say this because the very first story includes a Tom and Jerry situation where the Tom stand-in (literally named Tom-Tom) is annihilated by a train and the Jerry stand-in commits suicide shortly thereafter. Note that this book was written long before the cartoon.
Reed inserts puns around every corner, like little secrets in the text you can unravel if you think carefully enough. Some are obvious, like placing Hare tonic on a balding head to see if hair will regrow, but others are more subtle. For instance, when discussing crow dialect, the combination of “Haw-Ker” means “travelling salesman or man practising music.” They can border on the line of being dad jokes too, such as when Jenny Ragtail is asked why lady Rabbits (animals are always capitalized in the text) do not eat toadstools, she responds through crude sign language that they “took up too mushroom.”
The thing I loved most was that the book is so absurd but takes itself so seriously. Mr. Johnson-Sitdown has rivalries and friendships with the animals he studies, collects evidence and data about the animals, and treats it all with the utmost scientific duty. According to some brief research, Teddy Roosevelt liked this book and sent Reed a warm letter regarding it. This is exactly the kind of book I would expect him to love lol.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2017
Here's my underwhelming review: Strange book I downloaded from Project Gutenberg. Good for light reading before bed. Prepare to be thrown into a depression when you're least expecting it whilst reading. RIP cute animal protagonist in every story.
July 28, 2025
✒️ Excellent. I greatly enjoyed this book from this little-known Chicago authoress. She received a letter of appreciation from Theodore Roosevelt regarding this book.
📕Published — 1904. In the public domain.
📖 Book version.
༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻
📕Published — 1904. In the public domain.
📖 Book version.
༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻
dnf
December 31, 2025Dnf. Not for me.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews