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Freeman's #9
Freeman's: Animals
Featuring new work from Mieko Kawakami, Martín Espada, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Arthur Sze, Camonghne Felix, and more, the latest installment of the acclaimed literary journal Freeman's explores the irrevocably intertwined lives of animals and the humans that exist alongside them.
Over a century ago, Rilke went to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, where he watched a pair of flamingos. A flock of other birds screeched by, and, as he describes in a poem, the great red-pink birds sauntered on, unfazed, then "stretched amazed and singly march into the imaginary." This encounter--so strange, so typical of flamingos, with their fabulous posture--is also still typical of how we interact with animals. Even as our actions threaten their very survival, they are still symbolic, captivating and captive, caught in a drama of our framing.
This issue of Freeman's tells the story of that interaction, its costs, its tendernesses, the mythological flex of it. From lovers in a Chiara Barzini story, falling apart as a group of wild boars roams in their Roman neighborhood, to the soppen emergency birth of a cow on a Wales farm, stunningly described by Cynan Jones, no one has the moral high ground here. Nor is this a piece of mourning. There's wonder, humor, rage, and relief, too.
Featuring pigeons, calves, stray dogs, mascots, stolen cats, and bears, to the captive, tortured animals who make up our food supply, powerfully described in Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk's essay, this wide-ranging issue of Freeman's will stimulate discussion and dreams alike.
Over a century ago, Rilke went to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, where he watched a pair of flamingos. A flock of other birds screeched by, and, as he describes in a poem, the great red-pink birds sauntered on, unfazed, then "stretched amazed and singly march into the imaginary." This encounter--so strange, so typical of flamingos, with their fabulous posture--is also still typical of how we interact with animals. Even as our actions threaten their very survival, they are still symbolic, captivating and captive, caught in a drama of our framing.
This issue of Freeman's tells the story of that interaction, its costs, its tendernesses, the mythological flex of it. From lovers in a Chiara Barzini story, falling apart as a group of wild boars roams in their Roman neighborhood, to the soppen emergency birth of a cow on a Wales farm, stunningly described by Cynan Jones, no one has the moral high ground here. Nor is this a piece of mourning. There's wonder, humor, rage, and relief, too.
Featuring pigeons, calves, stray dogs, mascots, stolen cats, and bears, to the captive, tortured animals who make up our food supply, powerfully described in Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk's essay, this wide-ranging issue of Freeman's will stimulate discussion and dreams alike.
336 pages, Paperback
Published October 11, 2022
About the author
John Freeman
55 books287 followersNote: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
John Freeman is an award-winning writer and book critic who has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal. Freeman won the 2007 James Patterson Pageturner Award for his work as the president of the National Book Critics Circle, and was the editor of Granta from 2009 to 2013. He lives in New York City, where he teaches at NYU and edits a new literary biannual called Freeman's.
John Freeman is an award-winning writer and book critic who has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal. Freeman won the 2007 James Patterson Pageturner Award for his work as the president of the National Book Critics Circle, and was the editor of Granta from 2009 to 2013. He lives in New York City, where he teaches at NYU and edits a new literary biannual called Freeman's.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 11, 2025
”Immancabilmente predatori, immancabilmente prede.”
Una presentazione, sei corti e la bellezza di sedici contributi (di cui ammetto ignoravo tutti gli autori e le autrici tranne Olga Tokarczuk) che spaziano dalla saggistica alla poesia passando attraverso la narrativa con il comune denominatore gli animali.
Freeman’s è una rivista letteraria curata dallo scrittore americano John Freeman pubblicata in Italia da” Black Coffee”, casa editrice indipendente dedicata alla letteratura nordamericana contemporanea.
"Questo numero di Freeman’s si propone di aprire quello spazio fecondo che esiste tra noi e la Terra, il luogo abitato dagli animali, siano essi simbolici o reali, parte della cultura o parte della nostra alimentazione”
Giocatoli, strumenti, oggetti..
Raramente gli animali sono concepiti come esseri in sé e quindi la relazione che instauriamo si basa su questo.
Il punto centrale è che ora, come non mai, sono importanti.
La pandemia ha creato dei varchi attraverso i quali molte persone hanno rivisto il loro rapporto con il mondo della natura ma l’urgenza ambientale e climatica in cui troviamo spinge ad una riflessione più profonda perché ciò che sta accadendo coinvolge tutti anche coloro che negano o non vogliono pensarci.
Un mondo che si sta sgretolando deve farci pensare a ciò che accadrà a noi ma anche a loro.
”Gli animali non sono mai stati così importanti, così sovraccarichi di significato come adesso, mentre gli umani affrontano l’estinzione senza affrontarla davvero.
Eppure, dato che troppo spesso vengono guardati dal buco della serratura della nostra avidità, del nostro senso di colpa, della nostra morbosa curiosità passivo-aggressiva che si nutre di brutte notizie, gli animali restano invisibili.
Fammi vedere che soffri, e ora lenisci il mio senso di colpa col tuo musetto adorabile.
A che serve al regno animale risultare carino e coccoloso, quando è l’unica cosa che separa l’essere umano dall’apocalisse?”
Animali reali o immaginarie, storie di fantasia o saggi che analizzano il rapporto uomo-animale.
I contributi sono veramente molto diversi tra loro e (ovviamente) non mi sono piaciuti tutti allo stesso modo.
Da cinque stelle la riflessione che fa Olga Tokarczuk (“Le maschere degli animali”).
Citando La vita degli animali di J. M. Coetzee e Sotto la pelle di Michel Faber ci parla di come non tutti riescono/vogliono vedere l’orrore che ci circonda.
E’ più facile negare e chi parla di diritti degli animali viene tacciato spesso e volentieri di radicalismo e stravaganza.
Fa meno male.
Il problema è che questa cecità volontaria ci rende complici.
Parole ordine: comprensione ed empatia.
Da cinque stelle anche “La cerimonia del Salmone” di - Sasha Taqwsəblu Lapointe, autrice nativa americana di etnia Salish che ci parla di cibo colonizzato raccontandoci la sua esperienza alimentare strettamente connessa al bisogno (più o meno conscio) di integrasi nella società americana…
Di altro genere è la prova narrativa della scrittrice americana Tess Gunty che in “Pesci senza mandibola” mette in scena un grottesco racconto dove una cena a casa di un miliardario diventa metafora proprio della nostra società e la volontaria cecità in cui ci rifugiamo..
”Quando mi intristisco pensando alla nostra economia di estrazione, penso a quanto sarà bella la vita delle altre specie quando noi umani ci autoelimineremo».
Scoperta più che piacevole (non vedo l’ora di leggere altri numeri di questa rivista).
Una presentazione, sei corti e la bellezza di sedici contributi (di cui ammetto ignoravo tutti gli autori e le autrici tranne Olga Tokarczuk) che spaziano dalla saggistica alla poesia passando attraverso la narrativa con il comune denominatore gli animali.
Freeman’s è una rivista letteraria curata dallo scrittore americano John Freeman pubblicata in Italia da” Black Coffee”, casa editrice indipendente dedicata alla letteratura nordamericana contemporanea.
"Questo numero di Freeman’s si propone di aprire quello spazio fecondo che esiste tra noi e la Terra, il luogo abitato dagli animali, siano essi simbolici o reali, parte della cultura o parte della nostra alimentazione”
Giocatoli, strumenti, oggetti..
Raramente gli animali sono concepiti come esseri in sé e quindi la relazione che instauriamo si basa su questo.
Il punto centrale è che ora, come non mai, sono importanti.
La pandemia ha creato dei varchi attraverso i quali molte persone hanno rivisto il loro rapporto con il mondo della natura ma l’urgenza ambientale e climatica in cui troviamo spinge ad una riflessione più profonda perché ciò che sta accadendo coinvolge tutti anche coloro che negano o non vogliono pensarci.
Un mondo che si sta sgretolando deve farci pensare a ciò che accadrà a noi ma anche a loro.
”Gli animali non sono mai stati così importanti, così sovraccarichi di significato come adesso, mentre gli umani affrontano l’estinzione senza affrontarla davvero.
Eppure, dato che troppo spesso vengono guardati dal buco della serratura della nostra avidità, del nostro senso di colpa, della nostra morbosa curiosità passivo-aggressiva che si nutre di brutte notizie, gli animali restano invisibili.
Fammi vedere che soffri, e ora lenisci il mio senso di colpa col tuo musetto adorabile.
A che serve al regno animale risultare carino e coccoloso, quando è l’unica cosa che separa l’essere umano dall’apocalisse?”
Animali reali o immaginarie, storie di fantasia o saggi che analizzano il rapporto uomo-animale.
I contributi sono veramente molto diversi tra loro e (ovviamente) non mi sono piaciuti tutti allo stesso modo.
Da cinque stelle la riflessione che fa Olga Tokarczuk (“Le maschere degli animali”).
Citando La vita degli animali di J. M. Coetzee e Sotto la pelle di Michel Faber ci parla di come non tutti riescono/vogliono vedere l’orrore che ci circonda.
E’ più facile negare e chi parla di diritti degli animali viene tacciato spesso e volentieri di radicalismo e stravaganza.
Fa meno male.
Il problema è che questa cecità volontaria ci rende complici.
Parole ordine: comprensione ed empatia.
Da cinque stelle anche “La cerimonia del Salmone” di - Sasha Taqwsəblu Lapointe, autrice nativa americana di etnia Salish che ci parla di cibo colonizzato raccontandoci la sua esperienza alimentare strettamente connessa al bisogno (più o meno conscio) di integrasi nella società americana…
Di altro genere è la prova narrativa della scrittrice americana Tess Gunty che in “Pesci senza mandibola” mette in scena un grottesco racconto dove una cena a casa di un miliardario diventa metafora proprio della nostra società e la volontaria cecità in cui ci rifugiamo..
”Quando mi intristisco pensando alla nostra economia di estrazione, penso a quanto sarà bella la vita delle altre specie quando noi umani ci autoelimineremo».
Scoperta più che piacevole (non vedo l’ora di leggere altri numeri di questa rivista).
December 8, 2022
Thank you Grove Atlantic for the free book as part of the Tandem Global Readalong
I would never have know to pick up this book without the benefit of the Readalong. I loved the selection of writers included in this anthology and the varied types of writing from poetry, essays and short stories. Each of the stories include as it’s main character an animal from the usual cats and dogs, to salmon and hagfish, to name a few. The topics ranged from the fiction, nonfiction, philosophical, themes of families, relationships, including lgbtq, and tough issues of suicide, depression, and animal cruelty. The stories made me feel everything from a smile to my face, chuckling out loud, to tearing up from the cruel nature of humans to other humans, but most of all to our treatment of animals.
Overall, this is quite a comprehensive list of authors from all over the world, that if not for reading this book will not open my mind and my heart to our relationship with nature and animals.
I would never have know to pick up this book without the benefit of the Readalong. I loved the selection of writers included in this anthology and the varied types of writing from poetry, essays and short stories. Each of the stories include as it’s main character an animal from the usual cats and dogs, to salmon and hagfish, to name a few. The topics ranged from the fiction, nonfiction, philosophical, themes of families, relationships, including lgbtq, and tough issues of suicide, depression, and animal cruelty. The stories made me feel everything from a smile to my face, chuckling out loud, to tearing up from the cruel nature of humans to other humans, but most of all to our treatment of animals.
Overall, this is quite a comprehensive list of authors from all over the world, that if not for reading this book will not open my mind and my heart to our relationship with nature and animals.
June 26, 2022
‘The stakes of this moment in time, our contradictory attitudes about its moral dilemmas, and our always-intense curiosity about the lives of animals has made it an important period to re-narrate our relationship to the animal world. To strip this interaction from the fantasy of purity – as if it’s ever possible to truly know a wild living thing, or to observe it without altering its life – and to accept the messy, imperfect not-knowledge of at least some form of creative regard. Of acknowledgement by virtue of symbolic or actual engagement of shared stakes.’ – John Freeman.
Impressive collection (but that is to be expected when it comes to Freeman’s – at least in my experience) – mostly brilliant, but all of them uniquely interesting. The cover’s deceiving; definitely more ‘dog’ stories than ‘cat’. But I happen to like dogs a bit more (I think? I have more precious dog-related memories; probably just biased), so I really can’t/shouldn’t complain. It’s a diverse collection of stories by a bunch of very different writers; yet, it doesn’t feel like the diversity was forced upon. I have read a few Freeman’s and they were all very well-edited; and overall – great reading experiences. They usually contain a carefully curated list of work from writers I’ve already like and/or writers that I’m curious about, so it always makes me excited to receive/pick up a copy.
Instead of a full-blown rambling sesh about each and every writer/writing that I like, I’ve added below some excerpts from a certain few that resonated with me.
‘I find it easier to bear the suffering of human beings that the suffering of animals. The human being has its own extended ontological status, broadcast far and wide, which makes it a privileged species. It has culture and religion to support it in its suffering. It has its rationalisations and sublimations. It has God, who in the end will save it. Human suffering has meaning. For an animal there is neither consolation nor relief, because it has no salvation ahead of it. Nor does it have meaning. An animal’s body does not belong to it. It has no soul. An animal’s suffering is total and absolute. If we try to look into this condition with our human capacity for thought and with sympathy, the full horror of animal suffering is revealed, and but the same the unbearably shocking horror of this world.’ – from ‘The Masks of Animals’ by OLGA TOKARCZUK.
‘It is a rule of palaeontology that once an organism begins developing baroque adaptations to an increasingly narrow niche, or an increasingly vulnerable social network, it’s fast on its way to extinction. You can see it in the trilobites in the Wellsville Mountains in northern Utah; you can read in the layers of stone, the increasingly desperate, ostentatious, futile efforts to fit into a place that no longer wants them…Geology suggests that in hard times simplicity is pretty much the ticket to survival. The beast of time does not seem to pay as much predatory attention to the simple, but relishes the baroque. As do we. Time the destroyer; humankind the destroyer – of everything, and therefore our selves.’ – from ‘Baroque, Montana’ by RICK BASS.
‘I wandered out of our shared phantasmagoria to my room…But got lost due to fucking environmental agnosia, which I define as the opposite of synaesthesia, which I also happen to have, because the sensory pathways of my brain resemble summertime subway construction in New York City – all lines either mixed up or shut down. Everything delayed. Space and time have never been easy on me, is what I’m trying to say, so you can imagine my psychic bedlam in the fortress. Bedlam comes from Bethlehem Hospital, an asylum for the mentally ill in England, rebuilt in 1676 to resemble a castle. It was opulent on the outside, but abusive on the inside – the staff did things to the patients that made me tremble and commit when I first read about them. You have to be careful with facts; if they find you in the wrong state, they can make you puke. Where was I?’ – from ‘On Jawless Fish’ by TESS GUNTY.
And not to forget – ‘The Tongue’ by MIEKO KAWAKAMI. A short story (worthy of anyone’s time) with elements of surrealism – which opens with the protagonist, a teenage girl, out on a date (at a zoo) with a boy she isn't even really interested in. And then he very quickly makes a casual comment that triggers her personal/private anxieties. And then it transitions to her trying to basically trying to deal with her 'life' at 'home' where I suppose is also the root of all her emotional troubles – and/but portrayed in a very strange way, like an endless dream (more like a nightmare tbh) sequence. It definitely made me think that Kawakami may actually be a better short story writer than a novelist. And I would argue that more often than not, that is a more difficult thing to achieve/do, hence – truly impressive (in my opinion anyway). If you only have time for one, go for this.
February 14, 2023
As with any anthology of more than twenty pieces, this ranges through middling to good, with a few excellent to make the whole worthwhile. Among the best is an essay by Olga Tokarczuk (something of coup to have her), a story by Welshman Cynan Jones, and another by Chiara Barzini. Although many of the contributors are American career writers, the international contingent is as strong in this issue as previous ones. Worth a look.
July 1, 2023
An extremely enjoyable collection, which I (mostly) enjoyed from beginning to end! I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who cares about animals, nature, or generally nuanced and interesting storytelling. Here are some of my Absolutely Biased Reviews i wrote along the way:
six shorts:
- about the dogs: 6/10! Brought up a lot of interesting concepts about strays, kindness, and help in a time of need. Looking at the pandemic in the lens of nature's reclamation of the cities and how humans reflect poorly on kindness towards strays at a time of scarcity due to our own caste systems makes this an interesting read!
- blue dot: 7/10! Excellent descriptions, and the connection of the author towards the woods and nature as a source of hope (of course inseparable with her love towards her husband, who cherishes and knows these woods like the back of his hand) and the subsequent destruction of it along with the death of her husband - forms a sad little short story about cherishing nature and the joy it brings.
- the tongue: 5/10! I liked the prose, and I kind of understand the idea of the heavy tongue and the trapped animals and the eating of the cold chicken as a stand in for people pleasing and the inability to stop doing so, but it was just a little bit too abstract and confusing for my tastes.
- useless to speak: on the extinction of the passenger pigeon: 9/10! a surprisingly funny and incredibly interesting short story on the history of the passenger pigeon, the lead up to its extinction, and its aftermath. bonus marks for the take about how humans love to be the chief - and only - destructor. would absolutely recommend reading!
- megalonyx jeffersonii: 7/10! A lighthearted and entertaining read about a GNC model sloth in a museum. not much else to add, i liked it!
- the cat thief: 5.5/10! bro what the fuck..
- cow: 8/10! the first half of the story was super confusing (probably due to both the writing style And regional differences), but where the writing got good, it got Good. the descriptions and language were poetic and always hit when it needed to, and the birth of the cow, tied in to the injury of the main character, had me feeling as anxious and hopeful as the main character probably had been in the moment. the beauty of life and the beauty of death. a good read!
- FROM ÆDNAN: 8.5/10! a wonderful collection of poems about nature, sorrow, loss and rebirth, and how they're all fundamentally connected. i like the portrayals of loss and grief, and how it sticks with you and gets passed on time and time again, whilst life continues to march on. the descriptions + ideas about nature were tender, raw, and beautiful. a great story overall!
- the masks of animals: 6/10! a pretty interesting article about the treatment of animals and human ignorance towards it! i would say the only part that made me wince was all that shit about the holocaust????
- baroque, montana: 6/10! it's always interesting to see Rick Bass write about and describe nature, since it's obvious that he really cares about and is passionate about it. so, seeing him write a semi-nonfiction piece about it (showing his passion and ideas in their purest form) is great! this study of the human introduction into the ecosystem, and our need to conquer (particularly with megafauna and things that appear larger than life) + the way it mirrors nature itself is pretty insightful and generally interesting enough to keep me reading. oh, and the discussion about how charles darwins misinterpretation on nature based on the premature developments of the galapagos islands - survival of the fittest - misinformed human intentions for centuries to come, creating a competition based, rather than collaboration based existence, is pretty eye opening. good stuff!
(much longer review bcs im a fan of bass' work sorry :])
in some thousand years: 4/10! Just a short, simple poem about the temporary state of humans on earth and how we should protect nature so that life is at least worth living. simple and to the point :)
let the memory rise: 2/10! I'd be more inclined to like it if the narration about the main character didn't make me feel like i was reading a thread from a twitter blue user. I don't know, I guess the part about the bear talking to the girl was pretty cool.
heres the thing: 6/10! I like the motif of the sewer rats as a symbol for the perceived ugliness of the self and feelings of being trapped and shunned. the ending was also sweet :) youre a rat but you can also be anything :)
first salmon ceremony: 7/10! a lovely short story about a woman coming to terms with her indigenous traditions. i like how it talks about honouring the food that you eat and how much that means to the community + the way it portrays the importance and beauty of the salmon ceremony to her culture and herself was really cool :) just a pleasant story overall.
the art of breathing: 7.5/10! a lovely poem that uses marine life and motifs of diving, swimming, and generally being underwater - as a means of exploring freedom and escapism. the descriptions (added bonus) were also really atmospheric and generally had the sombre, quiet vibe that i think the poet was trying to get across. a good read overall!
star: 8.5/10! Nothing phenomenal about the lyricism or writing or anything, but the characters were, and I can't emphasise this enough, extremely well written and likeable (whenever they were meant to be). Just a story about sex work, independence, and freedom, that has me rooting for the main character, and especially star, to have their happy endings :)
oxbow lakes - 5/10! A short, but decently interesting poem on the choices we make to remain ignorant towards the injustices in the world. not interesting enough to keep my attention or leave much of an impact, but some of the contrasts and metaphors are pretty cool.
gigi and the white rabbit - 6/10! An extremely likeable main character and he really makes you want to root for him! The establishment of the setting (descriptions and all) was also pretty good. I was entertained the whole way through, which was why it was a bit disappointing when the ending came abruptly and without much wrapping up of anything. But then again, maybe I just missed something. Who knows?
the boar - 😨/10! Everything i learned about this story was out of my will.
love song of the moa - 6.5/10! A short, but nonetheless poignant read about the assimilation and erasure of the moa, placed into context by a man waiting to buy sliced turkey for his wife. the comparison of the "hunting" of the moa to that of flightless birds were really interesting in a lot of ways, and i found the ending a touch empowering.
lucky land - 8.5/10! I wish i had something more significant to say about this short story but I'm not gonna lie I just think all the characters are likeable, the story was funny/engaging, and you can really tell the writer had a LOT of fun writing it. Honestly, one of my favourites just out of how much fun I had reading it.
yaguareté white - 7.5/10! A lovely poem about the exploration of heritage, colonisation, and one's longstanding connection with culture. The way that the author portrayed their hometown and the complexities that came with it, as well as the significance and symbolism of jaguars in their history was poignant and beautiful - ultimately a great read.
on jawless fish - 9/10! This is everything The Boar wanted to be and More. On jawless fish is like Glass Onion if there was no murder and the humour of it all was cranked up to a thousand. I found all the characters, down to the groundskeeper and host, genuinely really funny and likeable, and the main character was probably my favourite out of all the stories in this collection. Kept me engaged the whole way through, and certainly did Not disappoint as the final chapter to this book. Would EASILY recommend!
six shorts:
- about the dogs: 6/10! Brought up a lot of interesting concepts about strays, kindness, and help in a time of need. Looking at the pandemic in the lens of nature's reclamation of the cities and how humans reflect poorly on kindness towards strays at a time of scarcity due to our own caste systems makes this an interesting read!
- blue dot: 7/10! Excellent descriptions, and the connection of the author towards the woods and nature as a source of hope (of course inseparable with her love towards her husband, who cherishes and knows these woods like the back of his hand) and the subsequent destruction of it along with the death of her husband - forms a sad little short story about cherishing nature and the joy it brings.
- the tongue: 5/10! I liked the prose, and I kind of understand the idea of the heavy tongue and the trapped animals and the eating of the cold chicken as a stand in for people pleasing and the inability to stop doing so, but it was just a little bit too abstract and confusing for my tastes.
- useless to speak: on the extinction of the passenger pigeon: 9/10! a surprisingly funny and incredibly interesting short story on the history of the passenger pigeon, the lead up to its extinction, and its aftermath. bonus marks for the take about how humans love to be the chief - and only - destructor. would absolutely recommend reading!
- megalonyx jeffersonii: 7/10! A lighthearted and entertaining read about a GNC model sloth in a museum. not much else to add, i liked it!
- the cat thief: 5.5/10! bro what the fuck..
- cow: 8/10! the first half of the story was super confusing (probably due to both the writing style And regional differences), but where the writing got good, it got Good. the descriptions and language were poetic and always hit when it needed to, and the birth of the cow, tied in to the injury of the main character, had me feeling as anxious and hopeful as the main character probably had been in the moment. the beauty of life and the beauty of death. a good read!
- FROM ÆDNAN: 8.5/10! a wonderful collection of poems about nature, sorrow, loss and rebirth, and how they're all fundamentally connected. i like the portrayals of loss and grief, and how it sticks with you and gets passed on time and time again, whilst life continues to march on. the descriptions + ideas about nature were tender, raw, and beautiful. a great story overall!
- the masks of animals: 6/10! a pretty interesting article about the treatment of animals and human ignorance towards it! i would say the only part that made me wince was all that shit about the holocaust????
- baroque, montana: 6/10! it's always interesting to see Rick Bass write about and describe nature, since it's obvious that he really cares about and is passionate about it. so, seeing him write a semi-nonfiction piece about it (showing his passion and ideas in their purest form) is great! this study of the human introduction into the ecosystem, and our need to conquer (particularly with megafauna and things that appear larger than life) + the way it mirrors nature itself is pretty insightful and generally interesting enough to keep me reading. oh, and the discussion about how charles darwins misinterpretation on nature based on the premature developments of the galapagos islands - survival of the fittest - misinformed human intentions for centuries to come, creating a competition based, rather than collaboration based existence, is pretty eye opening. good stuff!
(much longer review bcs im a fan of bass' work sorry :])
in some thousand years: 4/10! Just a short, simple poem about the temporary state of humans on earth and how we should protect nature so that life is at least worth living. simple and to the point :)
let the memory rise: 2/10! I'd be more inclined to like it if the narration about the main character didn't make me feel like i was reading a thread from a twitter blue user. I don't know, I guess the part about the bear talking to the girl was pretty cool.
heres the thing: 6/10! I like the motif of the sewer rats as a symbol for the perceived ugliness of the self and feelings of being trapped and shunned. the ending was also sweet :) youre a rat but you can also be anything :)
first salmon ceremony: 7/10! a lovely short story about a woman coming to terms with her indigenous traditions. i like how it talks about honouring the food that you eat and how much that means to the community + the way it portrays the importance and beauty of the salmon ceremony to her culture and herself was really cool :) just a pleasant story overall.
the art of breathing: 7.5/10! a lovely poem that uses marine life and motifs of diving, swimming, and generally being underwater - as a means of exploring freedom and escapism. the descriptions (added bonus) were also really atmospheric and generally had the sombre, quiet vibe that i think the poet was trying to get across. a good read overall!
star: 8.5/10! Nothing phenomenal about the lyricism or writing or anything, but the characters were, and I can't emphasise this enough, extremely well written and likeable (whenever they were meant to be). Just a story about sex work, independence, and freedom, that has me rooting for the main character, and especially star, to have their happy endings :)
oxbow lakes - 5/10! A short, but decently interesting poem on the choices we make to remain ignorant towards the injustices in the world. not interesting enough to keep my attention or leave much of an impact, but some of the contrasts and metaphors are pretty cool.
gigi and the white rabbit - 6/10! An extremely likeable main character and he really makes you want to root for him! The establishment of the setting (descriptions and all) was also pretty good. I was entertained the whole way through, which was why it was a bit disappointing when the ending came abruptly and without much wrapping up of anything. But then again, maybe I just missed something. Who knows?
the boar - 😨/10! Everything i learned about this story was out of my will.
love song of the moa - 6.5/10! A short, but nonetheless poignant read about the assimilation and erasure of the moa, placed into context by a man waiting to buy sliced turkey for his wife. the comparison of the "hunting" of the moa to that of flightless birds were really interesting in a lot of ways, and i found the ending a touch empowering.
lucky land - 8.5/10! I wish i had something more significant to say about this short story but I'm not gonna lie I just think all the characters are likeable, the story was funny/engaging, and you can really tell the writer had a LOT of fun writing it. Honestly, one of my favourites just out of how much fun I had reading it.
yaguareté white - 7.5/10! A lovely poem about the exploration of heritage, colonisation, and one's longstanding connection with culture. The way that the author portrayed their hometown and the complexities that came with it, as well as the significance and symbolism of jaguars in their history was poignant and beautiful - ultimately a great read.
on jawless fish - 9/10! This is everything The Boar wanted to be and More. On jawless fish is like Glass Onion if there was no murder and the humour of it all was cranked up to a thousand. I found all the characters, down to the groundskeeper and host, genuinely really funny and likeable, and the main character was probably my favourite out of all the stories in this collection. Kept me engaged the whole way through, and certainly did Not disappoint as the final chapter to this book. Would EASILY recommend!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 23, 2022
My platonic ideal of reading is in short bursts wherein some pieces are life affirming, important, or creatively perfect so that I urgently want to read the next entry and the next, and afterwards am excited to discover more work from writers I didn't know before. I should say that this is my platonic ideal now that I've had the unexpected pleasure of stumbling across and reading this anthology. Not every piece was for me but some of them absolutely were the exact musings on us and our animal relatives that I want and need to read in these times of environmental disaster and grief.
Standouts for me were "Baroque, Montana" by Rick Bass, "Let the Memory Rise" by Lily Tuck, "First Salmon Ceremony" by Sasha Taqwšəblu LaPointe, "The Art of Breathing" by Stuart Dybek, "Oxbow Lakes" by Arthur Sze, "Lucky Land" by Shanteka Sigers, "Yaguareté White" by Diego Báez, and "On Jawless Fish" by Tess Bunty.
Thank you to Grove Press for this advanced copy via Novel., my local indie.
Standouts for me were "Baroque, Montana" by Rick Bass, "Let the Memory Rise" by Lily Tuck, "First Salmon Ceremony" by Sasha Taqwšəblu LaPointe, "The Art of Breathing" by Stuart Dybek, "Oxbow Lakes" by Arthur Sze, "Lucky Land" by Shanteka Sigers, "Yaguareté White" by Diego Báez, and "On Jawless Fish" by Tess Bunty.
Thank you to Grove Press for this advanced copy via Novel., my local indie.
September 6, 2023
3/5 there were great ones in there but also some absolute mehs, but i really enjoyed my time :]
Ranking as follows:
5 stars:
Short by meiko kawakami
Short by matthew gavin frank
In some thousand years
First salmon ceremony
Gigi and the white rabbit
4 stars:
Short by anuraha roy
The art of breathing
Aednan
Oxbow lakes
On jawless fish
3 stars:
Short by son bon mi
Baroque montana
Star
The boar
Love song of the moa
Yaguarete white
2 stars:
Short by a kendra greene
The mask of animals
Let the memory rise
Heres the thing
Lucky land
1 star:
Short by debra gwartney
Cow
Ranking as follows:
5 stars:
Short by meiko kawakami
Short by matthew gavin frank
In some thousand years
First salmon ceremony
Gigi and the white rabbit
4 stars:
Short by anuraha roy
The art of breathing
Aednan
Oxbow lakes
On jawless fish
3 stars:
Short by son bon mi
Baroque montana
Star
The boar
Love song of the moa
Yaguarete white
2 stars:
Short by a kendra greene
The mask of animals
Let the memory rise
Heres the thing
Lucky land
1 star:
Short by debra gwartney
Cow
April 3, 2025
Didn‘t enjoy this as much as Freeman‘s: Love, most likely due to the fact that to be fascinated by animals (especially wild ones) always leaves you feeling morally shaken (What IS our relationship to animals? Pets?), with the perpetual reminder of human-made climate change affecting all such creatures. Not that I‘m saying the stories were not superb. Freeman‘s always introduces me to gifted new writers whose larger work I immediately seek out.
December 20, 2022
Thank you to Grove Atlantic and Tandam for the opportunity to participate in this read-along.
This isn’t typically a book I would have picked up on my own but I consider myself an animal lover so I thought what the heck!!
I’m so glad I participated as I truly enjoyed all the stories and the poetry! I guess the saying….don’t judge a book by its cover is true because I loved it!
This isn’t typically a book I would have picked up on my own but I consider myself an animal lover so I thought what the heck!!
I’m so glad I participated as I truly enjoyed all the stories and the poetry! I guess the saying….don’t judge a book by its cover is true because I loved it!
June 22, 2022
I had no idea this journal existed. This is quite good and I'll have to check out the other issues. This has a nice variety and includes some strong writing. Recommended.
Thanks very much for the free review copy!!
Thanks very much for the free review copy!!
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February 21, 2023i'm a big fan of "freeman's love" so i thought i'd give this anthology a shot, but it's just not for me, i fear. so much beauty in sentences from Gunty and Tokarczuk and more, but this isn't my favorite subject matter. Perhaps I will revisit more in the future!
December 11, 2023
Loved this especially gigi and the white rabbit!
June 24, 2025
Only read Cow by Cynan Jones.
January 6, 2023
It was hard to rate this one since it’s a collection of short stories BUT there were stories I really liked and this book can really change ur perspective on animal & human interactions
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