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Furry Nation: The True Story of America's Most Misunderstood Subculture
Winner of the 2017 Ursa Major Award for Best Non-Fiction Work!
Furry fandom is a recent phenomenon, but anthropomorphism is an instinct hard-wired into the human the desire to see animals on an equal footing with people. It's existed since the beginning of time in prehistoric cave paintings, ancient gods, and tribal rituals. It lives on today--not just in the sports mascots and cartoon characters we see everywhere, but in stage plays, art galleries, serious literature, performance art--and among furry fans who bring their make-believe characters to life digitally, on paper, or in the carefully crafted fursuits they wear to become the animals of their imagination.
In Furry Nation , author Joe Strike shares the very human story of the people who created furry fandom, the many forms it takes--from the joyfully public to the deeply personal-- and how Furry transformed his own life.
Furry fandom is a recent phenomenon, but anthropomorphism is an instinct hard-wired into the human the desire to see animals on an equal footing with people. It's existed since the beginning of time in prehistoric cave paintings, ancient gods, and tribal rituals. It lives on today--not just in the sports mascots and cartoon characters we see everywhere, but in stage plays, art galleries, serious literature, performance art--and among furry fans who bring their make-believe characters to life digitally, on paper, or in the carefully crafted fursuits they wear to become the animals of their imagination.
In Furry Nation , author Joe Strike shares the very human story of the people who created furry fandom, the many forms it takes--from the joyfully public to the deeply personal-- and how Furry transformed his own life.
- GenresNonfiction
352 pages, Paperback
Published October 10, 2017
25 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 8, 2018
Review originally posted on Flayrah.
I am probably not wrong in my belief that many furs have little idea of how the fandom got started. The furry fandom is based around the appreciation of, and I'll simplify here, anthropomorphic characters. Furs find their way here through that appreciation and are able to join in immediately. This is not a bad thing but it is sad that many of us are unaware of our shared history. As we learned above, if we don't know where we come from then we are lost.
It's not that there has been no attempt to describe the origins of the furry fandom; aside from the crowdsourced wikis (e.g. WikiFur), we had Fred Patten's Retrospective: An Illustrated Chronology of Furry Fandom, 1966–1996 and Perri Rhoades' The Furry History Project. The first is not necessarily in the most easy to use form and both of the latter entries are chronological lists of major influences. Joe Strike's book departs from this format employing a mix of personal anecdotes, extensive research and several interviews with prominent furs to build a far more flowing, narrative history of the furry fandom.
Let's start at the very beginning
In Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea universe, magic gains its power through the use of true names. To know someone's true name potentially means the ability to control them. In our world, though diminished in comparison, words still have power and it is necessary to agree on what we mean by a word before we can use it productively. Appropriately, Strike starts off by defining what he means by the term furry and fur.
Strike's definitions improve on the standard definitions in several respects. First, he too recognises the distinction between anthropomorphism and zoomorphism which are both an aspect of the furry fandom – in the chapter at least, although this then fails to make it into the language of his definition. Secondly, he states that a person who meets the criteria for being a fur is a fur regardless of whether they consider themselves a fur or are even aware of the term.
I would accept his definition of a furry human with the simple change of "anthropomorphic character" to "furry character." When it comes to furry characters, his definition is, by his own admission, very broad. I would say overly broad. There needs to be a mix of human and animal characteristics, not just human characteristics applied to an animal (That's where zoomorphism comes in.), and that mixture should create a significant difference to the character. I have previously elaborated in my own definition of furry and will not belabour the point further.
There is one other lexicological point that Strike makes which I hope to see become the dominant convention. He proposes using "furries" strictly for furry characters and "furs" for furry fans. This is primarily to avoid confusion and it is something I can absolutely get behind.
The border is a line that birds cannot see
Not everything is always as clear or well-thought out as his definitions and sometimes it is just wrong. For example, in a chapter on fursuits, Strike writes, referring to Anthrocon 2015:
While it may have been the largest total number of fursuiters ever, in 2014, 45% of Eurofurence's 2071 attendees were fursuiters. That ratio grew even larger in 2015, when one month after Anthrocon, Eurofurence had a fursuiter ratio of 46%! If we're only talking about a ratio then smaller conventions might have exceeded even that.
This shows one of the biggest failings of Furry Nation, its insular view. When you are so fixated on the US that you ignore a fursuiter ratio that is 17% higher then clearly it's beginning to hurt the book. Even in the subtitle of the book it says it talks about "America's most misunderstood subculture." I can understand the desire to focus on a specific region, and the furry fandom did originate in the US, however, the furry fandom is now a global subculture. SoFurry, the oldest active furry art site, considering its origins as Yiffstar, is owned by an Austrian. Inkbunny, WikiFur and Flayrah are all owned by an Englishman. Five out of six of Furnet's servers exist outside of the US. The only two live action films produced within the furry fandom, Bitter Lake and Mascot Fur Life, were both produced in Europe. The most popular furry artist on Furaffinity, Wolfy-Nail, is a Russian living in Austria.
Knowing all that, it makes you begin to wonder what else might be missed. So, when reading Strike's generally-excellent chapter about misrepresentations of the furry fandom in the media, one wonders how much is a problem with the media in general and how much is a problem with American media. Media bias is probably an issue worldwide but I do think it might not be as severe outside of the US.
One example of positive media coverage that Strike points out is a six minute Anthrocon report done by NBC News where "the reporter bravely tries on a tail." It is a pretty positive report and that's great but, as with the fursuiters, keeping the focus on the US misses out on even-more-positive, contemporaneous coverage. That same year, ARTE TV produced a sixteen minute long report on Eurofurence where the reporter wore a full fursuit!
Rampart in chase of She wolf pacts, Forged on heat with setting Suns
Another thing that sometimes gives a strange feel is the treatment of sex. The chapter covering yiff is actually pretty good but the comments elsewhere in the book give the sense that, if Strike does not personally dislike yiff, then he is not comfortable with non-furs being aware of it. This is strongest where he criticised the film Fursonas as not helping furry's reputation for criticising Uncle Kage and then showing Bad Dragon merchandise. That may also have something to do with his relationship with Kage and not just the sex.
Notably absent from the sex chapter is almost any mention of bestiality/zoophilia. That's not to say it is never addressed in the book but, despite his chapter on sex beginning with "it would be equally honest to pretend [sex] doesn't exist," there is a bit of dishonesty where he claims that bestiality is "an absolute and 100% no-go in furry fandom." Now, whatever anyone's personal opinion, bestiality is an, albeit polarising and controversial, aspect of the furry fandom.
Bestiality is not an integral part of the furry fandom, that much is obvious by just going back to any of the definitions of furry. However, what Strike tries to ignore is that there is an overlap between them. Some of the public looks at yiff art and sees that it can overlap with bestiality, particular feral work; in fact one feral artist's Fur Affinity page states, "Please keep in mind my feral art for me is absolutely non-zoophilic. Please don't bring up the topic." Even coming from the other direction, the connection is still made. In his essay Why Zoophilia is a Furry Issue, JM notes that one classification of zoophilia by researchers includes furries as a subset. Furthermore, probably the largest work on the topic, Hani Miletski's book Understanding Bestiality and Zoophilia also makes a couple of references to the furry fandom.
Given the fact that the connections between the furry fandom and bestiality are noticed from both sides and that between 13-18% of furs identify as zoophiles, it is clear that it is not a "100% no-go" in the fandom. Further complicating the issue will be those furs who tolerate it, although do not have an interest themselves, and the issue of distinguishing fantasy from reality. While it is certainly possible to draw the necessary distinctions between furry and bestiality, it takes a lot more work than the incorrect statement that was provided. If he was not going to properly address the topic, it would have been better to leave it alone entirely rather than putting forth a statement that doesn't reflect reality merely to try and score PR points.
Foremost is reason. Reason is non-negotiable.
For most of my criticism, the issues are not major detractors from the book. Yes, there is confusion between what is fact and what is opinion and, yes, it doesn't do a good job of seeing the global picture. However, even taking that into account, there is a lot of good content about the media, fursuits, yiff and more that can still be enjoyed, even if the details are not always perfect. But there is one chapter which almost only pulls the book down; the one entitled "The Spirit Is Willing, but the Flesh Is Furry."
This chapter describes certain furs' spiritual beliefs, however it is done in an entirely credulous manner without the slightest critical analysis. This is a problem because those beliefs are not supported by any sort of evidence. When he says the belief that "you're an animal born by error in a human body" is easy to mock, he doesn't bother to go into why that is the case. That belief assumes the existence of souls. It assumes different species have different types of souls. It assumes souls pre-exist and are added to matching physical bodies. It assumes that somehow the wrong soul can be put in the wrong body. There is no evidence to support a single one of those claims.
Now one might say these are just harmless delusions, let the people have their opium, but they don't always remain that way. A recent report tells of a German man arrested for killing his daughter during an exorcism and then trying to revive her corpse with sex. That is an extreme case but Strike also doesn't question the reality behind the beliefs of a Catholic fur he interviews. Last month, it was reported that The Vatican is increasing the number of priests being trained to perform exorcisms. They are training people to treat a condition which does not exist!
I don't know if the lack of critical examination is due to his own beliefs, a wish to appear more tolerant or an American deference to religion and spiritual beliefs. As the late Christopher Hitchens said, "you can get away with the most extraordinary offenses to morality and truth in this country if you'll just get yourself called Reverend." Belief in therianthropy and Catholicism are seldom harmful in themselves, but they are not based on evidence and their uncritical acceptance gives the impression that such unsupported beliefs are acceptable. That has consequences. There are those who, against the evidence, promote alternative medicine, deny global warming or the need for gun control or question the safety of vaccines and genetically modified food. It is imperative that we base our beliefs on a foundation of evidence.
The Road goes ever on and on
At the beginning, I said Strike's book creates a more personal and compelling narrative of the furry fandom's origins than was previously available. That is true and that is the part where Furry Nation excels. Whether you are familiar with the origins of the fandom or not, you will still learn something from this book because it addresses everything from a new perspective; not just as a series of dates and events but as the story of various people trying to do what they love.
We don't only learn who did what but why they did it. And, sometimes, a bit about the other paths that might've been taken. Leaving aside my complaints about the American-focused nature of the book, the chapter on Anthrocon was one of my favourites. It was extremely interesting, and a bit sad, to learn about the drama that went on behind the scenes. That's stuff that I had no idea about and which we can still see happening in furry groups today. Instead of just learning that Anthrocon moved to Pittsburgh in 2006, we see how the city actually asked for the convention and the change in Kage's attitude about moving there. This personal aspect is the major strength of the book.
I do think the book is flawed in several areas but the core history of the fandom and the personal stories that are included are strong enough to make up for it. There may be better works on specific aspects of the fandom but Furry Nation is more comprehensive than any of the current works explaining the origins of the furry fandom. Furs will appreciate the personal stories that accompany the history while non-furs will gain a much better understanding of the furry fandom from a source immeasurably superior to hyperbolic mainstream news coverage.
In an ideal world, I would like to see an expanded second edition or a new volume which includes more space for the furry world outside of the American borders and which corrects a number of inaccuracies. Considering how much time and effort this book must've taken I doubt we will see something like that for quite a while. In the meantime, Furry Nation will exist as a milestone in the furry fandom and a clear sign of the fandom's massive growth from where it started as a group of people hanging out at science fiction conventions over 30 years ago.
Section title sources:
Do-Re-Mi by Rodgers and Hammerstein
The Border: A Double Sonnet by Alberto Ríos
Amor e Morte by Cradle of Filth
Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker.
The Road Goes Ever On by J.R.R. Tolkien
If you do not know where you come from, then you don't know where you are, and if you don't know where you are, then you don't know where you're going. And if you don't know where you're going, you're probably going wrong.
—Terry Pratchett
I am probably not wrong in my belief that many furs have little idea of how the fandom got started. The furry fandom is based around the appreciation of, and I'll simplify here, anthropomorphic characters. Furs find their way here through that appreciation and are able to join in immediately. This is not a bad thing but it is sad that many of us are unaware of our shared history. As we learned above, if we don't know where we come from then we are lost.
It's not that there has been no attempt to describe the origins of the furry fandom; aside from the crowdsourced wikis (e.g. WikiFur), we had Fred Patten's Retrospective: An Illustrated Chronology of Furry Fandom, 1966–1996 and Perri Rhoades' The Furry History Project. The first is not necessarily in the most easy to use form and both of the latter entries are chronological lists of major influences. Joe Strike's book departs from this format employing a mix of personal anecdotes, extensive research and several interviews with prominent furs to build a far more flowing, narrative history of the furry fandom.
Let's start at the very beginning
In Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea universe, magic gains its power through the use of true names. To know someone's true name potentially means the ability to control them. In our world, though diminished in comparison, words still have power and it is necessary to agree on what we mean by a word before we can use it productively. Appropriately, Strike starts off by defining what he means by the term furry and fur.
A furry human is anyone with an above-average interest in anthropomorphic character, whether or not they consider themselves furry–or have ever even heard of the fandom (a.k.a. "furry but doesn't know it yet");
A furry animal is any animal with any human characteristics, no matter what its origin: entertainment, mythology, advertising, kids' books or adult literature. To put it simply, Furry is about the idea of animals—what they represent in our minds—not their reality.
Strike's definitions improve on the standard definitions in several respects. First, he too recognises the distinction between anthropomorphism and zoomorphism which are both an aspect of the furry fandom – in the chapter at least, although this then fails to make it into the language of his definition. Secondly, he states that a person who meets the criteria for being a fur is a fur regardless of whether they consider themselves a fur or are even aware of the term.
I would accept his definition of a furry human with the simple change of "anthropomorphic character" to "furry character." When it comes to furry characters, his definition is, by his own admission, very broad. I would say overly broad. There needs to be a mix of human and animal characteristics, not just human characteristics applied to an animal (That's where zoomorphism comes in.), and that mixture should create a significant difference to the character. I have previously elaborated in my own definition of furry and will not belabour the point further.
There is one other lexicological point that Strike makes which I hope to see become the dominant convention. He proposes using "furries" strictly for furry characters and "furs" for furry fans. This is primarily to avoid confusion and it is something I can absolutely get behind.
The border is a line that birds cannot see
Not everything is always as clear or well-thought out as his definitions and sometimes it is just wrong. For example, in a chapter on fursuits, Strike writes, referring to Anthrocon 2015:
It was the largest ratio of fursuiters to total con attendence ever—29%
While it may have been the largest total number of fursuiters ever, in 2014, 45% of Eurofurence's 2071 attendees were fursuiters. That ratio grew even larger in 2015, when one month after Anthrocon, Eurofurence had a fursuiter ratio of 46%! If we're only talking about a ratio then smaller conventions might have exceeded even that.
This shows one of the biggest failings of Furry Nation, its insular view. When you are so fixated on the US that you ignore a fursuiter ratio that is 17% higher then clearly it's beginning to hurt the book. Even in the subtitle of the book it says it talks about "America's most misunderstood subculture." I can understand the desire to focus on a specific region, and the furry fandom did originate in the US, however, the furry fandom is now a global subculture. SoFurry, the oldest active furry art site, considering its origins as Yiffstar, is owned by an Austrian. Inkbunny, WikiFur and Flayrah are all owned by an Englishman. Five out of six of Furnet's servers exist outside of the US. The only two live action films produced within the furry fandom, Bitter Lake and Mascot Fur Life, were both produced in Europe. The most popular furry artist on Furaffinity, Wolfy-Nail, is a Russian living in Austria.
Knowing all that, it makes you begin to wonder what else might be missed. So, when reading Strike's generally-excellent chapter about misrepresentations of the furry fandom in the media, one wonders how much is a problem with the media in general and how much is a problem with American media. Media bias is probably an issue worldwide but I do think it might not be as severe outside of the US.
One example of positive media coverage that Strike points out is a six minute Anthrocon report done by NBC News where "the reporter bravely tries on a tail." It is a pretty positive report and that's great but, as with the fursuiters, keeping the focus on the US misses out on even-more-positive, contemporaneous coverage. That same year, ARTE TV produced a sixteen minute long report on Eurofurence where the reporter wore a full fursuit!
Rampart in chase of She wolf pacts, Forged on heat with setting Suns
Another thing that sometimes gives a strange feel is the treatment of sex. The chapter covering yiff is actually pretty good but the comments elsewhere in the book give the sense that, if Strike does not personally dislike yiff, then he is not comfortable with non-furs being aware of it. This is strongest where he criticised the film Fursonas as not helping furry's reputation for criticising Uncle Kage and then showing Bad Dragon merchandise. That may also have something to do with his relationship with Kage and not just the sex.
Notably absent from the sex chapter is almost any mention of bestiality/zoophilia. That's not to say it is never addressed in the book but, despite his chapter on sex beginning with "it would be equally honest to pretend [sex] doesn't exist," there is a bit of dishonesty where he claims that bestiality is "an absolute and 100% no-go in furry fandom." Now, whatever anyone's personal opinion, bestiality is an, albeit polarising and controversial, aspect of the furry fandom.
Bestiality is not an integral part of the furry fandom, that much is obvious by just going back to any of the definitions of furry. However, what Strike tries to ignore is that there is an overlap between them. Some of the public looks at yiff art and sees that it can overlap with bestiality, particular feral work; in fact one feral artist's Fur Affinity page states, "Please keep in mind my feral art for me is absolutely non-zoophilic. Please don't bring up the topic." Even coming from the other direction, the connection is still made. In his essay Why Zoophilia is a Furry Issue, JM notes that one classification of zoophilia by researchers includes furries as a subset. Furthermore, probably the largest work on the topic, Hani Miletski's book Understanding Bestiality and Zoophilia also makes a couple of references to the furry fandom.
Given the fact that the connections between the furry fandom and bestiality are noticed from both sides and that between 13-18% of furs identify as zoophiles, it is clear that it is not a "100% no-go" in the fandom. Further complicating the issue will be those furs who tolerate it, although do not have an interest themselves, and the issue of distinguishing fantasy from reality. While it is certainly possible to draw the necessary distinctions between furry and bestiality, it takes a lot more work than the incorrect statement that was provided. If he was not going to properly address the topic, it would have been better to leave it alone entirely rather than putting forth a statement that doesn't reflect reality merely to try and score PR points.
Foremost is reason. Reason is non-negotiable.
For most of my criticism, the issues are not major detractors from the book. Yes, there is confusion between what is fact and what is opinion and, yes, it doesn't do a good job of seeing the global picture. However, even taking that into account, there is a lot of good content about the media, fursuits, yiff and more that can still be enjoyed, even if the details are not always perfect. But there is one chapter which almost only pulls the book down; the one entitled "The Spirit Is Willing, but the Flesh Is Furry."
This chapter describes certain furs' spiritual beliefs, however it is done in an entirely credulous manner without the slightest critical analysis. This is a problem because those beliefs are not supported by any sort of evidence. When he says the belief that "you're an animal born by error in a human body" is easy to mock, he doesn't bother to go into why that is the case. That belief assumes the existence of souls. It assumes different species have different types of souls. It assumes souls pre-exist and are added to matching physical bodies. It assumes that somehow the wrong soul can be put in the wrong body. There is no evidence to support a single one of those claims.
Now one might say these are just harmless delusions, let the people have their opium, but they don't always remain that way. A recent report tells of a German man arrested for killing his daughter during an exorcism and then trying to revive her corpse with sex. That is an extreme case but Strike also doesn't question the reality behind the beliefs of a Catholic fur he interviews. Last month, it was reported that The Vatican is increasing the number of priests being trained to perform exorcisms. They are training people to treat a condition which does not exist!
I don't know if the lack of critical examination is due to his own beliefs, a wish to appear more tolerant or an American deference to religion and spiritual beliefs. As the late Christopher Hitchens said, "you can get away with the most extraordinary offenses to morality and truth in this country if you'll just get yourself called Reverend." Belief in therianthropy and Catholicism are seldom harmful in themselves, but they are not based on evidence and their uncritical acceptance gives the impression that such unsupported beliefs are acceptable. That has consequences. There are those who, against the evidence, promote alternative medicine, deny global warming or the need for gun control or question the safety of vaccines and genetically modified food. It is imperative that we base our beliefs on a foundation of evidence.
The Road goes ever on and on
At the beginning, I said Strike's book creates a more personal and compelling narrative of the furry fandom's origins than was previously available. That is true and that is the part where Furry Nation excels. Whether you are familiar with the origins of the fandom or not, you will still learn something from this book because it addresses everything from a new perspective; not just as a series of dates and events but as the story of various people trying to do what they love.
We don't only learn who did what but why they did it. And, sometimes, a bit about the other paths that might've been taken. Leaving aside my complaints about the American-focused nature of the book, the chapter on Anthrocon was one of my favourites. It was extremely interesting, and a bit sad, to learn about the drama that went on behind the scenes. That's stuff that I had no idea about and which we can still see happening in furry groups today. Instead of just learning that Anthrocon moved to Pittsburgh in 2006, we see how the city actually asked for the convention and the change in Kage's attitude about moving there. This personal aspect is the major strength of the book.
I do think the book is flawed in several areas but the core history of the fandom and the personal stories that are included are strong enough to make up for it. There may be better works on specific aspects of the fandom but Furry Nation is more comprehensive than any of the current works explaining the origins of the furry fandom. Furs will appreciate the personal stories that accompany the history while non-furs will gain a much better understanding of the furry fandom from a source immeasurably superior to hyperbolic mainstream news coverage.
In an ideal world, I would like to see an expanded second edition or a new volume which includes more space for the furry world outside of the American borders and which corrects a number of inaccuracies. Considering how much time and effort this book must've taken I doubt we will see something like that for quite a while. In the meantime, Furry Nation will exist as a milestone in the furry fandom and a clear sign of the fandom's massive growth from where it started as a group of people hanging out at science fiction conventions over 30 years ago.
Section title sources:
Do-Re-Mi by Rodgers and Hammerstein
The Border: A Double Sonnet by Alberto Ríos
Amor e Morte by Cradle of Filth
Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker.
The Road Goes Ever On by J.R.R. Tolkien
August 21, 2020
Interesting and informative, immensely helpful in understanding the history and what the furry subculture is about.
February 1, 2018
There is a lot to like about this book
December 25, 2017
Furry wasn't born in a vacuum, and it isn't new to the twenty-first century. The anthropomorphic instinct has been part of the human race ever since there's been a human race. We're denied the power and freedom of the beasts, their amazing bursts of speed, their ability to coast on the highest winds and plunge into the ocean's depths. We can mimic them using our brains and our tools, but where they're one with the environment, we've never stopped changing (or destroying) it to suit or needs and whims of the moment.
Might Furry at its heart be an atavistic longing to rejoin the loneliness of being the only "intelligent" species on the plant? ... Furry seeks to bridge the divide between us and other animals, to meet them in the middle, as it were: make them more human via art and storytelling, while we attempt to make ourselves more animal via fursuiting and roleplay. We can enjoy the Edenic natural world they represent in our imaginations without leaving the safety and comfort of our human lives.
This is a book written by someone from within the furry fandom (or "fur", as he prefers it to be referred to, as "fur" sounds more sophisticated). It tells the story of the formation of the modern fandom from the 1980s. It also covers the subcultures within the fandom.
The author starts off with a broad view of the fandom: a furry human is someone with an above-average interest in anthropomorphic characters, whether or not they consider themselves part of the fandom. A furry animal is any animal with any human characteristics.
From his view, fur fandom started off as part of the science-fiction / anime fandom (they hadn't split off yet) known as the Cartoon/Fantasy Organisation. From the human networks C/F O formed, fur fans were able to grow and spun off into various fanzines, conferences (the current, and most popular, iteration being Anthrocon), and other stuff. At several points, he repeats the story that animators in major animation companies - such as Disney - were into fur (e.g. a quote that even though Walt Disney didn't have furry porn hanging on his wall, his subordinates did, that animators would challenge each other to draw furry stuff, and another urban legend that someone applied for a job in an animation company and included furry art as part of his portfolio). All of these stories add to the impression that fur fans are far more common in everyday life than I would have thought.
There's also some description about the hobbyists versus the lifestylers:
The hobbyists (mostly artists) weren't particularly fond of people who took it too far, in their humble opinion; your obsession makes the more "normal" of us look bad, they said.
Furry fandom was born of a cluster of sci-fi, animation and funny animal fans and cartoonists.
Furs who wanted to talk about what Furry meant to them personally, not just who drew the sexiest vixens or whether The Rescuers Down Under was better than The Rescuers,
were "encouraged" by a quaint Internet custom known as a flame war to start their own message board - which they did.
Thus alt.lifestyle.furry was born.
I liked the sympathetic look at Boomer the Dog (a fur fan):
On his website, Boomer tried to answer the people who ask: "Why are you a dog?"
"It's one of the hardest questions, and it's something I've been trying to figure out myself. If you're a Human, think about how hard [it would be] to answer if you were asked, "Why are you a Human?" The question is just too big if you think deeply about it."
There's significant space devoted to fur fans in the media and entertainment. He talks about the negative depictions of fur fans, as well as the media's focus on the sexual aspects of being a fur fan (despite this being a minority of fans). There's how fur fans are portrayed in entertainment. There's also a chapter devoted to anthropomorphic animals, in particular, how Zootopia might be a wink and nod to fur fans.
There are several different aspect of fur fandom, and the author devotes space to each one, through personal narration or interviews/quotes from various fans (or both):
* Those who wear fursuits. The author repeats his estimation that this makes up 20 - 25% of the fandom - a minority. There's a bit of history of how "fursuit" came to be coined (a pun on pursuit). The author also ties this in with his journey into wearing fursuits.
* The artists. The artists take up a lot of his retelling - especially artists from fanzines and other aspects of furry art.
* Fur fandom via electronic media - in particular, Second Life. There's also some mention of bulletin boards.
* Furry porn.
* Therianthropes - people who believe that their soul is that of an animal.
This ends up being a very readable and personal book that puts a nice spin on the furry fandom. I liked the personal stories that people tell, and the effort the author has put into describing aspects of the furry fandom that he does not participate in.
I'm going to end this review on a quote that stuck with me:
"People ask me if there's any particular reason why there's so much sex and violence in my work. I just think it's funny, that's all," the Icelandic furry artist Karno explains. "Only the works people enjoy viewing/hearing/reading survive the ages; only beauty is immortal. That, and far jokes. Ignore whatever political correctness the drones of your time try to impose on you. PC-rote work will be forgotten in a week. Write and draw what you want. You'll be long-time dead [while your work is standing the test of time], so have some fun during your all-too-brief hitch among the living, all right?"
June 9, 2019
This book does a nice job of detailing the history and state of the fandom/subculture/community called Furry. The author goes all the way back to early-history anthropomorphic gods and monsters, drawing a through-line to modern cultural expressions of similar fascinations. Did you know the oldest-known piece of art is a statue of an anthropomorphic lion?
The author explains the depth and breadth of the fandom, making clear there’s much more to it than fetish — although that exists, it’s a fraction of the community, not its primary focus. In addition to the history of the Furry community — a lot is said about early zines, internet message boards, and Furry conventions — he explains fursuiting, furry art, kink, and even dips a toe into spirituality. He points out a number of poor media representations, which are largely responsible for the scorn often leveled at the fandom, as well as a few good ones. And he explores the strange relationship between the Furry community and the animators who create anthro characters while simultaneously avoiding the label.
My quibbles are small and are with the writing style, not the content. At times the author focuses on minutia or over-exposits, and he often includes long quotes when a paraphrase would do. It does read like a first book, but it’s not a dealbreaker.
If you’re curious about the community, wondering if it’s fair how often it’s played for laughs, or interested in niche subcultures in general, you’ll probably find this book as interesting as I did.
The author explains the depth and breadth of the fandom, making clear there’s much more to it than fetish — although that exists, it’s a fraction of the community, not its primary focus. In addition to the history of the Furry community — a lot is said about early zines, internet message boards, and Furry conventions — he explains fursuiting, furry art, kink, and even dips a toe into spirituality. He points out a number of poor media representations, which are largely responsible for the scorn often leveled at the fandom, as well as a few good ones. And he explores the strange relationship between the Furry community and the animators who create anthro characters while simultaneously avoiding the label.
My quibbles are small and are with the writing style, not the content. At times the author focuses on minutia or over-exposits, and he often includes long quotes when a paraphrase would do. It does read like a first book, but it’s not a dealbreaker.
If you’re curious about the community, wondering if it’s fair how often it’s played for laughs, or interested in niche subcultures in general, you’ll probably find this book as interesting as I did.
June 28, 2018
Furry, a much misunderstood subculture in the eyes of the mainstream media and many uninformed onlookers, gets a detailed rundown in this book writen by a furry who has been in the fandom since its earlier days.
He goes into the various aspects, starting with an explanation to what the word "furry" actually means when used to describe either the anthropomorphic characters themselves or the people who populate the fandom.
Furry had an interesting start and, after reading this book, I felt enlightened about a big slice of my life (being a furry myself).
Including interviews featuring various members of the fandom (including fursuit makes) and going into the various aspects; including media coverage of the fandom, early convensions, later conventions and the rise of furry with help from the Internet, and the more niche adult aspects that (the majority of) people would prefer to remain hidden.
Being written by a single person, while he does go to others to get their experiences, he tends to describe his own views on the fandom which does lead to a slightly narrow view of a huge and diverse subject. Despite that however, this book provides a great view into furry history and goes a long way to explain img furry and its strange draw to a percentage of the population.
He goes into the various aspects, starting with an explanation to what the word "furry" actually means when used to describe either the anthropomorphic characters themselves or the people who populate the fandom.
Furry had an interesting start and, after reading this book, I felt enlightened about a big slice of my life (being a furry myself).
Including interviews featuring various members of the fandom (including fursuit makes) and going into the various aspects; including media coverage of the fandom, early convensions, later conventions and the rise of furry with help from the Internet, and the more niche adult aspects that (the majority of) people would prefer to remain hidden.
Being written by a single person, while he does go to others to get their experiences, he tends to describe his own views on the fandom which does lead to a slightly narrow view of a huge and diverse subject. Despite that however, this book provides a great view into furry history and goes a long way to explain img furry and its strange draw to a percentage of the population.
February 16, 2024
My daughter is a furry and it’s difficult to wrap my head around all the nuances, so I was delighted to find this book. I found the history interesting and personal anecdotes a little distracting. Lots of people to keep straight. I do feel like I understand furries better and am glad the culture exists for my daughter. I feel she’ll be all in once she comes of age. For now, she’s an artistic tween with foam bits all over her room as she crafts her next head and I have a better base of info to help guide her through Cons. One note, I would not recommend the audiobook version. The narrator used minimal inflection when reading dialogue exchanges. I kept losing focus due to the many poor edits with repeated sentences/phrases. And, it’s finicky, but the long chapter pauses made me check my phone constantly to see if my app had crashed.
February 17, 2018
This is actually the very first but best, long awaited compendium about the furry community, covering a wide range of basic knowlegde and information from its early beginnings to the present moment. It closed some essential gaps (even after being in for almost 10 years now) and managed to brought me back as an active member after leaving the fandom some years ago through opening my eyes and mind to the fact that there's still plenty of hope and creative space for the future while trying to crash and explain the major negative stereotypes we still suffer and need to fight off on a daily basis. Excellent work!
October 31, 2024
Like Furry Planet, this is a chronicling of the history of the furry community, though in this one it focuses on the furry community in America (where it began), with only passing mentions of the wider world. The latter chapters were more focused, but the earlier chapters of the book struggled a bit to maintain a throughline and jumped to different interviews and topics without a clear transition or link. Still, an interesting look at the characters and events that led to the creation of the community.
March 3, 2018
Informative and well-researched look at the niche sci-fi/fantasy fandom.
September 23, 2018
Good writing, extensive detail. But somehow what should have been an interesting topic seemed examined too thoroughly. I felt overwhelmed by minutia.
December 8, 2020
All thumbs up
December 13, 2025
Rating: 3.5
Performance
I picked up this book on Audible with one of my monthly free credits. I enjoyed the voice over performance, but there were noticeable moments where the audio would restart and redo a sentence in later chapters. There were also some words that I think were mispronounced, although I'm not really sure if that's the case, as I can't remember which ones they were specifically.
Content
The language of this book is fairly accessible and sometimes blunt, and I found the 7hr and 30m book to go by fairly quickly. In terms of the value of this book, there were a lot of elements I already knew as someone in the fandom, but only at a surface level. The author goes in depth somewhat in these areas, and I think that is a point of interest.
The author does do interviews with key individuals, and I think that is partly the selling point of what I thought made this book interesting overall.
There's also mentions of media attention on furry's, and this book talks about a lot of news articles and segments from TV that I had never heard of, so I might look into that someday to learn more.
Performance
I picked up this book on Audible with one of my monthly free credits. I enjoyed the voice over performance, but there were noticeable moments where the audio would restart and redo a sentence in later chapters. There were also some words that I think were mispronounced, although I'm not really sure if that's the case, as I can't remember which ones they were specifically.
Content
The language of this book is fairly accessible and sometimes blunt, and I found the 7hr and 30m book to go by fairly quickly. In terms of the value of this book, there were a lot of elements I already knew as someone in the fandom, but only at a surface level. The author goes in depth somewhat in these areas, and I think that is a point of interest.
The author does do interviews with key individuals, and I think that is partly the selling point of what I thought made this book interesting overall.
There's also mentions of media attention on furry's, and this book talks about a lot of news articles and segments from TV that I had never heard of, so I might look into that someday to learn more.
June 18, 2018
The author is a friend of mine, so I'll keep many of my opinions to myself. Not to mention -- I'm quoted as a "primary source" several times in the book, so my opinion is likely a tad biased! Suffice it to say: Definitely worth a read if you're curious about our strange little subset of Media Fandom.
June 18, 2018
This was a really well crafted study of the fandom by a member of the community who to an objective, smart and playful approach to an often maligned fandom. The fact that they know their Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Cartoon history is an absolute plus making this an engaging and fun read.
Read
December 29, 2018didnt really read it just looked at some
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