Love in Infant Monkeys

by Lydia Millet

Lions, rabbits, monkeys, pheasants—all have shared the spotlight and tabloid headlines with famous men and women. Sharon Stone’s husband’s run-in with a Komodo dragon, Thomas Edison’s filming of an elephant’s electrocution and David Hasselhoff’s dogwalker all find a home in Love in Infant Monkeys. At the rare intersections of wilderness and celebrity, Lydia Millet hilariously tweaks these unholy communions to run a stake through the heart of our fascination with pop icons and the culture of human self-worship.

In much fiction, animals exist as author stand-ins—or even more reductively as symbols of good and evil. In Millet’s ruthless, lucid prose—each story based on a news item, biography, or other fact-based account of a celebrity-animal relationship—animals are as complex and rich as our imaginings of them. In these spiraling fictional riffs and flounces on real life, animals show up their humans as bloated with foolishness and yet curiously vulnerable—as in a tour-de-force, Kabbalah-infused interior monologue by Madonna after she shoots a pheasant on her English estate.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Animals, Book Club, Humor, Novels

176 pages, Paperback

First published August 27, 2009

About the author

Lydia Millet has written twelve works of fiction. She has won awards from PEN Center USA and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and her books have been longlisted for the National Book Award, shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award and Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and named as New York Times Notable Books. Her story collection Love in Infant Monkeys was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. She lives outside Tucson, Arizona.

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book lost to "Tinkers" by Paul Harding in the Pulitzer Award for Fiction in 2010. As I've read both, I think I know why. This book has a more innovative concept but the jurors probably were not yet ready for it. In fact, this is my first time to read something like this. The book is composed of 10 short stories featuring celebrities and their encounters with animals, pets or otherwise. I understand that these encounters are based on real-life news. In fact, when I googled the title, I came across the story of Harry Harlow's actual documented experiment regarding infant and mother monkeys. The husband of Sharon Stone was also bitten by a Kumodo dragon during one of their visits at a zoo. Not sure if pop star Madonna really shot a pheasant (bird), David Hasselholf really had a dog pet or President Jimmy Carter really hit a swimming rabbit in a pond but Millet wrote them as if they all indeed happened.

But these stories reminded me of the difference in saying "animal!" to somebody in our local language, Filipino (Tagalog). Similar to the word "ma" in Chinese, "animal!" (or hayop in the vernacular) can have a number of meanings: when you say it with an angry tone, it means you hate the person because s/he behaves like an animal; when you say it to your lover especially when you are in bed, that means you are having the time of your life; when you say it to an ugly person, you literally mean it and you can even be specific!

Seriously, this Pulitzer finalist rocks. It was a bit hard to understand and there were several instances that after reading a paragraph, I asked myself "what did she say?" and I had to re-read. It was like reading Helen Cixious but even if I did not understand half of the book, the half that I understood was already great and deserved to be appreciated. I think the difficulty was not only because of the events, phrases and terms that could only be familiar to the Americans but also the innovative prose of Millet. Her writing could be playful and all of the sudden become very serious (philosophical) that the shift could be disorientating.

If you love animals, please go for this book. Hands down, they stole the whole book from the celebrities. Just be prepared, however, for the meaningful phrases that could blow you off - positively if you love them or negatively if you hate profound mind-boggling phrases. For me, the line below encapsulates Millet's view of man and his pet animal:

"People love their pets, but the love is tinged with sadness. Because the love is for a pet, they are ashamed of this. They want the love to seem as small as a hobby so no one will have to feel sorry for them."

I am not sure whether you agree or disagree with that or if you undestand it but it blew me off.

Positively.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the title of this book and the cover. The stories are unusual, mixing different circumstances and people with well-known figures.

The first story features Madonna and I fund it to be quite humorous and the thoughts she has match how I think of Madonna. I liked the story with Tesla, he is a fascinating man, and I find this story quite touching. I also loved the last story which was the shortest, called The Walking Bird, and though strange was quite complete for so short a story.

Well written, and shows the fascination people hold for the public icons in the public's eye.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the reasons that I frequently hate on contemporary fiction is that anything high-concept tends to turn me off. A clever and/or quirky conceit does not guarantee that a work of fiction will be well-written, and I frequently find the gimick being used to be a distraction if the writing is, in fact, passable. This collection of short stories by Lydia Millet is, indeed, high-concept and it inspired mixed feelings in me. The concept is particularly cloying: Each story in the collection involves a (real) famous person and an animal of some sort. The connections between celebrity and animal are a bit obvious and the idea is not even as "clever" as some other similarly concept-driven books. But Millet's writing is really quite good and there are stories here that are resonant and poignant. While the first story, "Sexing the Pheasant," about Madonna on a hunting expedition with Guy Richie, seemed utter shallow fluff to me, "Tessla and Wife," about a cleaning woman observing Tessla's destition and love of pigeons in his later years is moving and rather beautiful. What this collection really suffers from, in my opinion, is a slavish devotion to the gimick Millet chose to exploit. One story in the collection that I could have really loved, "Sir Henry," is about a dog walker to the rich and elite. He is entirely uninterested in his celebrity clients, but lives for their dogs, according them the utmost respect and treating them as friends and equals. He has a strict policy that he will not adopt a client's dog as his own should the client need to get rid of it, but when a concert violinist who is dying of cancer begs him to take her beloved poodle when she passes away he becomes conflicted and begins to explore his own humanity. The story is full of compassion and does a perfect job of creating an intense emotional landscape for an outwardly reserved character. The problem is, David Hasslehoff is thrown in in a cameo, as one of the dog walker's other clients, for no other reason I could see than staying true to the formula of the book. This is exactly what irks me about this type of fiction. Millet is a talented writer with a strong, unique voice and I could have adored this collection, as opposed to merely liking it, had she shelved the gimick in favor of just plain, honest narrative.

[Katerina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most controversial five stars.
I recognize its drawbacks; however, this book startled and shook me while being quite routinely realistic; it doesn’t happen very often. Also, the book works really well as a collection: all texts are arranged with precision and purpose, complimenting each other in a meaningful way.

If you like animals, I’d recommend treading with caution.

[Christopher MacMillan · Rating 5 out of 5]

So when I had first heard of this book, I thought it was going to be a silly, light-hearted romp about celebrities and their pets, that would be a laugh-a-minute. While Lydia Millet did indeed write a book that is funny, I was stunned to find how much complexity, intelligence, depth, and - especially - melancholy are found in each one of these simple stories.



Carefully composed to be concise and easy-to-read, Millet presents to us a surge of emotion, morals, and symbolism, with each one of her short-stories containing much more meaning than what appears on the surface. The whole novel is incredibly thought-provoking, and draws a lot of insight into the way we think about and treat animals -- and why it is so important to treat them well. Anyone who carries any compassion for animals will be moved by this book.



Homosexuality and religion are examined via Thomas Edison's worship of an elephant he helped electrocute; Kabbalah is studied when Madonna shoots a pheasant, and is then upset with the task of having to watch it die; the harsh reality of fame is brought to us by a Komodo dragon who becomes a media sensation for attacking Sharon Stone's husband; life and death are observed by David Hasselhoff's dog-walker; Nazi death-camps are channelled in a laboratory that studies - ironically - monkeys' capability to feel love; Jimmy Carter's presidency is summed up in an interaction between him a rabbit; but my favourite story of all is when existentialism is captured by a young lioness, who allows a giraffe to enjoy the simple, lazy pleasures of one last afternoon in the sun before its inevitable death.



Whether celebrities on a TV screen, or animals in a zoo, observe as we might, we will never truly have insight into what it is like to be them, and Millet draws these parallels beautifully and with tenderness, humour, and a shocking ability to make people think. Pro-animal rights, and anti-celebrity fascination, this is a stunning collection which should put Millet on the map as one of today's greatest writers.

[Faiza Sattar · Rating 3 out of 5]

★★★☆☆ (3/5)

The universe of Lydia Millet’s “Love in Infant Monkeys” is comprised of two kinds of people: those who associate themselves with animals and extend all the warmth and compassion they can muster towards them, and those who inflict unimaginable horrors on the animals in order to assert dominance of mind and body. This collection of ten short stories feature a myriad of animals and birds through whom human beings can assess their qualities and worth. Reminiscent of a documentary “Earthlings” which narrated human’s harsh treatment of animals (in the context of food and entertainment), these short stories leave the reader with enough material to ponder upon.

The illustrations at beginning of each chapter, as well as stylistic choices of narration are reminiscent of Vonnegut. Lydia Millet presents a critique of contemporary culture where celebrities are infused deep into our social fabric. Whilst we pay homage to these incorporeal beings, we forget out duty towards animals and nature and what humility towards creatures other than ourselves can bring about.

Sexing the Pheasant ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
This short story is told from first person perspective of Madonna, the singer, who is out hunting birds. Her thoughts leap from one topic to another, fame, gender, religion, nations, ideals and relationships. The smug self-centredness of her thought pattern is nauseating which likens herself to a deity all the while a pheasant sputters to death at her feet. Human arrogance runs parallel to lack of empathy for other creatures.

Girl and Giraffe ★★★★☆ (4/5)
This recounts a story of George Adamson, a wildlife conservationist, who raised two lions, calling them Girl and Boy. He witnesses a deep understanding of animal sympathy when a baby giraffe is about to be preyed upon by the lioness Girl.

Sir Henry ★★★★☆ (4/5)
This is one of my favourite stories about a dog-walker and his poignant relationship with our four-legged friends. It is a story about loneliness and attachment, the relationship dogs have with their owners and the relationship owners have amongst themselves (as humans). A dog’s qualities can never falter, their innocence epitomises all that is good about nature and the universe and is not reflective of however famous their owners are.

Sir Henry is a dachschund belonging to David Hasselhoff. Whilst the famous people are least bothered about their pets, using them only to show off in public places, the dog-walker considers the pets as individuals, not associating them with their owners. He likens the value of humanity which is amiss in humans themselves, to the values shown by dogs.

Thomas Edison and Vasil Golakov ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Thomas Edison wants to flaunt the power of his latest invention and uses an elephant as a prop, resulting in her death. Edison is haunted by the elephant’s photograph and whenever alone, he indulges in a conversation with her, trying to either apologise for his callousness or justifying human cruelty as a mere means of survival.

Tesla and Wife ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
The genius Tesla develops strong affinity with pigeons later in his life, considering one of them to be his wife. He showers limitless affection to the birds and in the process of doing so, develops a warm relationship with one of his maids who is a victim of domestic abuse. The story is from the perspective of another maid who knew both of them together and apart.

Love in Infant Monkeys ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Harry Harlow, the psychologist, wants to prove the qualitative function of love and uses monkeys for experimentation to prove his theories. As a person, he is distant from his family and uses inebriation to keep feelings of sympathy, care and love at bay. The monkeys are put through torturous practices to prove a scientific point, but at the cost of Harry’s mental and physical health of which he is in denial of.

Chomsky, Rodents ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
A husband happens to meet Noam Chomsky, notable social critic and political philosopher, at a town dump where the latter is trying to give away a gerbilarium. The ensuing conversation between them and another woman deals with motherhood and confining gender roles.

Jimmy Carter’s Rabbit ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
President of the free world Jimmy Carter visits an old friend who now practices psychotherapy. Each misunderstands the purpose of this untimely visit, shifting reasons and guilt of an old incident on one another. Emasculation and misunderstanding between two men on the verge of reconciling their relationship provides for tension of the story.

The Lady and the Dragon ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Sharon Stone’s husband is bitten on the toe by a komodo dragon. The reptile is transferred to a different zoo and ends up being brought by an eccentric Indonesian millionaire. The millionaire uses the dragon to lure the actress into a relationship with him.

Walking Bird ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
This is the only story without a celebrity character. A family visits the zoo and notices animals disappearing. Perhaps this story signifies the imminent threat of mass extinction and what future families will be deprived of.

Animals serve as a foil to human comprehension of their immediate surroundings. At times a dying bird provides a plane for self-exploration, a dead elephant can arouse maddening guilt, whilst at other times, a bird can help humans understand the surreal and natural. In an environment of severe competition for material gains, these voice-less beings which we consider less intelligent can inculcate morals which we may have forgotten long ago. Our pitiless natures have stifled our ability to reason and animals can help reach our natural balance.

This collection works as a parable of human hubris in its natural context. Lydia Millet’s exploration of the animal and human world united in form, mixed with fictive and non-fiction elements, provide us with an overall edifying read.

Read full review here: http://wp.me/pZgHK-Iq

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has some really interesting short stories, each of which pair an animal with a celebrity for surprising little snippets. They are funny and quirky and thought-provoking. I can see why this one was a Pulitzer runnerup!

[Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely 5 stars, but still need to think it through. So many ideas packed into a compact collection. Each story has a different theme, though they are united by the global idea of interaction between a human and an animal.
I love almost every story, they are unusual, smart, sometimes weird, but very kind in a non-mawkish way.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

MONKEYS is a collection of short stories inspired by animal run-ins with celebrities that made the news. From the Komodo dragon who attacked Sharon Stone’s beau to the swimming rabbit who startled Jimmy Carter, the animals in these stories are as varied and unexpected as the people they interact with.

However, don’t expect this to be an airy or funny collection. Far from it. The grim fact is that while a select few animals in our society are loved and cared for, the vast majority experience no such kindness. The stories in this book reflect this, and I found some of the content sad and upsetting. However, I also recognize that the author wasn’t attempting to defend the cruel actions of humans, but rather depict things as they are.

The title story is perhaps the most devastating. The author imagines the inner monologue of Harry Harlow, whose infamous Cold War-era psychology experiments reignited the campaign questioning how animals are treated in laboratories. Harlow’s sadistic experiment designs, as well as the apparent contempt he expressed for the monkeys at his mercy, no doubt unintentionally created many new animal welfare activists with each public appearance he made. In Millet’s story, an unexpected dream rouses some empathy in Harlow’s mind for the monkeys, but he is too far mired in his work and the mess his life has become to make any sense of these nagging thoughts.

Having similar difficulty connecting to the animals she harms is Madonna, whose story seems to be generating the most buzz surrounding this book. During her “British Aristocrat” phase, Madonna indeed went pheasant shooting on a country estate. In her chapter, the pop star has trouble focusing on the suffering she has caused a wounded bird because she keeps focusing upon successfully cultivating her latest public image. Perhaps this is a metaphor for all of us who should see the bad things happening right before us but are too distracted by everything else.

[Paolo Latini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siamo tutti animali e qualcuno un po' di più

Lyida Millet, FYI, è una scrittrice americana nota per il carattere eclettico del suo stile narrativo, che va dai pastiche grotteschi e surreali di George Bush, Dark Prince of Love (Soft Skull, 2000—dove si racconta della passione quasi-erotica di una giostraia per George Bush senior) e del picaresco Everyone’s Pretty (Soft Skull, 2005—che segue le disavventure di un ex-magnate della pornografia), a testi caratterizzati da stile e contenuti più poetici come My Happy Life (Soft Skull, 2002—la cui protagonista è una senzatetto che racconta la sua storia scrivendola sulle mura dell’ospedale abbandonato nel quale è rimasta intappolata) e How the Dead Dream (Counterpoint, 2007—che narra di come la morte di presone care ha cambiato le ambizioni del protagonista).
Love in Infant Monkey raccoglie una serie di racconti pubblicati tra il 2006 e il 2009, e l’idea di partenza è accattivante: racconti che fotografano la (dis)avventura di una celebrità con un animale. Una forma, verrebbe da pensare, a metà strada tra le fan fiction di oggi e gli esperimenti post-moderni in cui si scriveva finzione su personaggi reali (come ha fatto Robert Coover con Richard Nixon o in casa nostra Umberto Eco con i protagonisti del Risorgimento). Ancor più accattivante leggere la lista di personaggi famosi scomodati, che vanno dal mondo della scienza (Edison, Tesla), a quello della cultura (Chomsky) alla cultura pop (Madonna, Sharon Stone, David Hasseloff).
"Sexying the Pheasant," che apre la raccolta, è una premessa e una promessa: una Madonna in divisa militar-chic spara a e uccide per sbaglio un fagiano, e il racconto segue i capricci delle meditazioni simil-buddiste che Madonna intrattiene tra sé e sé davanti al cadavere del volatile. Ed è un racconto ben riuscito, vuoi perché Madonna svolge una funzione narrativa precisa, ponendosi come ideal-tipo di una persona resa celebrità, quasi divinità, dal processo di idolatria pagana che da sempre crea e disfa icone pop (una delle frasi che rimbombano nella mente di Madonna è “OK, granted, sometimes the mirror suggested it: not your fault if your reflection reminded you of all that was sacred, all that was divine and holy. The world would do it to you… And of course, it was not wrong to see God in yourself”), vuoi perché si esplicita una delle chiavi di lettura dei racconti che seguiranno: il rapporto tra umano e animale. Madonna rappresenta un essere umano che la sua popolarità ha in un certo modo trasformato in divino, il fagiano l’animale che come tutti gli animali, è costretto a vivere in un perenne anonimato, sullo sfondo ci sono Guy Ritchie e i campagnoli inglesi con i quali si stava allegramente sbronzando, che rappresentano l’umanità “piccola,” non poi tanto distante dall’animalità (“She felt annoyed, but then a surge of forgiving. She could not blame them for their alcoholism. They were so small! All of them. Pity warmed her, a generous blossoming. It was so hard to be small”).
Peccato che nei racconti successivi questa vena viene completamente persa, le promesse disattese e le premesse tradite. I personaggi celebri di volta in volta utilizzati sono quando va bene un’inutile distrazione, quando va male un fastidio irritante e una presenza gratuita che non svolge nessuna funzione narrativa importante. Così il David Hasseloff che compare alla fine di "Sir Henry" è ininfluente ai fini del racconto—che sta in piedi per conto suo e riesce benissimo a descrivere la solitudine di molti uomini e di molti animali domestici—e la sua funzione di rappresentante del mondo effimero dello star-system poteva benissimo essere svolta da una qualunque altra celebrità o anche da un personaggio fittizio. Stesso discorso per il Jimmy Carter di "Jimmy Carter’s Rabbit" o per il Chomsky che incontriamo in "Chomsky, Rodents" che poteva benissimo essere rimpiazzato da un qualunque filosofo del linguaggio. Ma è proprio in questo racconto che si trova la vera chiave di lettura dei racconti qui raccolti. Durante un dialogo che Noam Chomsky intrattiene con una neo-mamma, quest’ultima dice “What you realze when you have a kid, if you’re a woman, is we’re animals and it’s hard to be animal (p. 122, corsivo mio), e continua: “but what you also realize as a mother is… that it’s great to be an animal; it’s what the core of life is, to be an animal. Not to be human. I don’t mean to be human; I don’t mean that at all, Noam. I mean to be a mammal” (ivi). E infatti i protagonisti “umani” di questi racconti sembrano spesso comportarsi in modo disumano: i già citati ubriaconi inglesi di "Sexying the Pheasant," l’eccentrico bracconiere miliardario che vuole uccidere il varano, dopo aver capito che non gli sarebbe servito al suo scopo di conquistare Sharon Stone (una sua sosia in realtà) e renderla sua schiava per il resto della vita; Harry Harlow che da una parte chiede alle madri di mostrarsi più amorevoli con i loro figli e dall’altra isola e tortura dei cuccioli di scimmia. A controbilanciare c’è la leonessa di "Girl and Giraffe" che accetta di lasciare a una giraffa un ultimo pomeriggio di libertà nella savana prima di sbranarla, e trasformarla nella sua cena, una “gentilezza” decisamente poco efferata e animalesca.
Bello ed esplicativo il racconto finale, l’unico privo di una celebrità: qui una madre trascura la figlia durante un pomeriggio allo zoo, e alla fine della giornata si accorge che improvvisamente gli animali sono tutti scomparsi e riesce a stento a trattenere le lacrime.
Nel complesso, si ha una manciata di racconti che invece di essere surreali sono semplicemente insensati, e invece di essere grotteschi si limitano ad essere ridicoli. Spesso, e con le eccezioni di "Sexying the Pheasant," "Sir Henry" e (parzialmente) "Chomsky, Rodents" la narrazione è troppo semplicistica, scialba, costituita da ¶ formati da una o due frasi, che se da una parte rappresentano bene il flusso di pensieri dell’io narrante (quasi sempre un testimone esterno della vicenda narrata che riporta i fatti per come li ha visti), dall’altra rende poco interessanti delle situazioni che se sviluppate diversamente e inserite in contesti più elaborati avrebbero costituito una pagina di letteratura contemporanea più incisiva.

"Sexying the Pheasant" è consultabile, leggibile, apprezzabile, scaricabile e altre cose che finiscono in -bile qui http://www.lydiamillet.net/excerpts/l...

[Joy D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Millet's short story collection explores the complex and often troubled relationships between humans and animals. The stories are a blend of fact with fiction. The main event of each story is based on a real occurrence, supplemented with fictional characters. It is, in part, a critique of our society’s obsession with celebrities. We have Madonna shooting a pheasant, Tesla and his pigeons, Thomas Edison and an elephant, Jimmy Carter and rabbits, Noam Chomsky and gerbils, a Sharon Stone stand-in and a Komodo dragon, and more. Many of these stories feature animal cruelty (which really happened), such as Harry Harlow's infamous maternal deprivation experiments with rhesus monkeys.

Millet excels at exposing contradictions in human-animal relationships - how we can simultaneously love animals and participate in their exploitation, how we can study them scientifically while treating them cruelly, and how our attempts to connect with them often reveal more about our own limitations than about the animals themselves. There is quite a bit of satiric wit, but I would not call it “funny.” I am in the process of reading through Millet’s back catalogue, starting with her short stories. This collection is a mix of satire and social commentary. Her creativity is obvious, but it is difficult material for animal lovers like me.

[Annie Tate Cockrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange and wonderful collection of stories - each one is about an animal and somehow ties in their relationship with a public figure. As it goes with story collections some spoke to me and some didn’t as much. I felt very moved by a story called Tesla and Wife about a fictionalized Tesla and his intense love for pigeons. This book could be a difficult read for an animal lover (it often was for me) as there are some sad / gruesome moments about sweet animals :(

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any collection that starts with a story told from the perspective of Madonna hunting pheasant ("A woman with a gun was kind of a man in girl's clothes, a transvestite with an external dildo."), I will probably love. And while that first story is probably the least like anything I've seen before which, for me, is always a pleasant discovery, the other stories step away from cleverness toward humanity, and it's there that the real rewards are found. Humanity is examined through a semi-tame lion and a giraffe, through a dog walker and his charges ("The poodle was stately, subtle and, like the dachshund, possessed of a poise that elevated it beyond its miniature stature."), through Thomas Edison's obsession with an electrocuted elephant ("This is my gift to you: I will never forgive: Now and forever, you are not forgiven."), through Nikola Tesla and his beloved pigeons, through monkeys tortured for the sake of science ("To know how love works, a scientist must study its absence."), through Noam Chomsky's sadness at the memory of gerbils lost, through Jimmy Carter's regret toward an unsaved cat ("I had no doubt that the rabbit had affected his conjugal performance.") and, in the last two stories, it is found in zoos and aviaries. I love nothing more than the lens of the absurd illuminating the everyday in surprising ways, and this book does that throughout. It is the feeling of being surprised at finding exactly what is expected.

[Banu Yıldıran Genç · Rating 3 out of 5]

bazılarını okumak çok acı verse de hayvanlarla ilgili gerçek kahramanlara sahip bu öyküler insana ne "pislik" bir tür olduğunu hatırlatıyor. gerçek kahramanlar derken Madonna, Tesla gibi pop şarkıcısından bilim insanına kadar uzanan bir liste var :)
neyse ki Lydia Millet mizahı eksik etmiyor da hayvanlara yaptıklarımızın ağırlığından ezilip yok olma isteği az da olsa unutuluyor.

[Louise Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a haunting, sometimes disturbing, imaginative collection of short stories; animals and people share the stage, and the animals force us to look at our own animality. We can no longer cling to our delusion that we above all of the other creatures on Earth.

[k · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone needs to read at least one book by Lydia Millet. How are y'all living your lives without her books in them ?

[goula ✩ · Rating 2 out of 5]

just so hit or miss, didn't feel cohesive because it's thematically consistent but does not track in its execution across the stories, would have much preferred this if the distance between man and animal was kept consistent, or at least if the changes felt like they offered something, but stories where i wanted more of the animal kept them on the periphery and stories where the life of the person the animal was being attached to felt like it should matter(because otherwise what's the point...looking at u sir henry) were just mentioned as what seemed like an afterthought, even in the stories i preferred otherwise :[ story about tesla was the only real standout for me, i could've read that removed from the context of the collection and still enjoyed it just as much, maybe even more !!

✧ favorite: tesla and wife

[Isabella Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique read! A series of short stories about interactions between celebrities/historical figures and animals. Each story is embellished from a real event.

Light, enjoyable, well-written, made me laugh, and about celebrities and animals. What’s not to like.

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really quick, surprisingly deep read. I hate celebrities and am generally indifferent to animals so was shocked to not hate this book, and instead found it rather touching. Particular favorites were Girl and Giraffe, Chomsky Rodents, and Tesla and Wife. Really delicate examination of mutuality and transcendence. Recommended, but a little unorthodox.

[Hannah Goldbach]

Going to be on a Lydia Millet kick for a long while. So sad, but geez she gets her point across well.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic, short stories! A real blend of fact and fiction. I found the animal cruelty so hard to read about, we have much to learn as humans, starting with ending animal abuse.

[Celeste Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

short glimpses of real life tales between celebrity (and not) and animals, loved the faux sharon stone and komodo dragon and rich billionaire obsessed with ms stone story. is it true or embellished? mostly the latter but very good.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I was about to check out at the library, I saw this book on the shelf of librarians' picks. I recalled that I had just seen that my friend Beth rated the book on goodreads. I was pretty sure she had given it a good rating, but I realized later that I wasn't positive about that. Still, after I finished another book, I picked it and gave it a shot. At first I was a little disappointed - I hadn't realized it was short stories. I am not a big fan of short story collections. Or, I guess, of short stories in general (which makes little sense as I used to write them myself). It just seems that there are so few that are well-executed. Endings in general are hard, but I find short story endings even harder. It's as if every short story writer wants to leave the read with a vague, unsettled sense. They feel incredibly esoteric. It feels like the story takes itself too seriously and thinks it is really, really deep.
Enough of that. That topic might need its own manifesto.
Not only did I enjoy Lydia Millet's stories, but I generally found her endings to be far less pretentious than most. I loved her unabashed use of real celebrities as characters (though I do wonder: did she have to get their permission? It's not an important question, but I did find it popping up more than once). More often, writers will give a character the traits of a known celebrity, but give it another name or no name at all (for some reason I really hate it when authors use "______" instead of giving a character a name. boy do i hate that.). I was willing to accept the dog owner as a generic celebrity, so when his identity was casually revealed, it was funny and clever. And stories that involve Nikola Tesla? How can that be bad? And Chomsky?? If you are going to use real people in your stories, these are some good ones to use.
I'm now curious about Millet's novels. I plan on reading one, and soon, to see how her style shifts between the different formats.
Oh - and I loved the illustrations. When I got to the "Sir Henry" story, I felt fairly certain that I knew what Beth liked about the book.

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the Magnum opus shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize Love in Infant Monkeys, by Lydia Millet, the short story Sir Henry

10 out of 10





The fantastic Love in Instant Monkeys starts on a brilliant, high note with a short story in which Madonna shoots down a poor pheasant, then is unable to put him (it will turn out the bird is male) out of his misery and the reader is offered a festival of humor, satire, religious information and so much more – there is a wondrous review in which the author speaks about the megastar making never ending jokes on herself and the special gift that Lydia Millet must have to write about such a figure, that is ridiculous in herself…



However, the tone, themes, gravitas and decorum all change with the next stories – and as the esteemed reviewer puts it, the reader is already hooked with the first story that is so exhilarating, jocular, light and still deep and thoughtful…well, the reviewer does not say these things exactly and you should stop reading here and look for that much better view – that are grave, put at the center tragic events, the cruelty and intelligence of humans, some of them visionary enough to state that ‘Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages”…and then still be willing to use electricity to kill so many poor beasts, as we learn from the short story Thomas Edison and Vasil Golakov

Which brings us to Sir Henry, a story about a dog walker and some of the animals he takes care of, including Sir Henry, a Dachshund who is one of the favorites of the main character…this ‘professional’ has a penchant, nay a clear, enforced preference for dos with dignity, proper attitude – when he has to deal with pets that lack those, he is curt and keeps the distance, metaphorically – and I wonder what he would do with borzois…we have had quite a few of those, only one left, but there were five…



Indeed, borzois are more than dignified and decorous, they are resplendent animals – our very own Queen Mary had them, Leo Tolstoy, Russian aristocrats…they are called Russian hounds actually – but they have been the cause of major distress here – the spouse insisted on having five, plus the mixed breed already parked near the door, and that was too much for yours truly, who still believes major psychological issues could be traced to, explained by and justified with that imposition upon his mental health…

The dog walker would put me in the ostracized category…at one point, he is terribly annoyed and then infuriated with a client, a teenage heiress that was always present in the pages of the tabloids (maybe Hilton is her family name) and that on impulse gave away one of his favorite dogs, to a Senegalese dancer who took the animal to Africa…by the time the dog walker finds about this, the pet is already on the plane and it would haunt the imagination, with pictures of the poor beast suffering from hunger…



Ever since this impulse gifting incident – or apocalypse – the dog walker has decided to select his clients and pay attention to the humans and less to the animals he would have to walk, thus interacting only with those who show signs that they will keep the dogs until the end of their lives and not abandon them or give them away…he now walks with Sir Henry and he has a poodle that has a good relationship with the Dachshund…the former belongs to a performer that has to travel around the globe, and when at home, he is still very busy with the gym and shopping, tanning and his name is David Hasseldorf…

The poodle has a different owner, a violinist that has cancer and he is alas in the last stage, but has always been very dedicated to his animal, so loving actually that when they meet in the park, the violinist asks the dog walker is he would adopt the pet, once he will be dead, which will happen soon, if he will have a trust, expenses and fees all covered…very surprised by this, the main personage finds a way out and says he will think about it, the problem being that he has a policy of not taking dogs in to keep…



After all, if he would do that, his impressive business would transform itself into an Animal Shelter…as it is, the services belong to the top tier and the professional works only with the very affluent, who do not notice that his fees are about as ‘high as rents in Brooklyn’, has people working for him and they have to be at least vet technicians, and though there would be advantages in keeping the poodle, who is one of the favorites, walks splendidly with Sir Henry, keeps decorum, there are downsides… the dog walker is clearly closer to animals than people and there is an incident involving strangers…

Two children approach and his policy is to keep away, for especially the males can be more than a nuisance – oh, I so agree with that, for just last night, in this ostensibly exclusive gated community, they were again throwing firecrackers and had all animals, my macaws, others agitated and in a frantic panic over their idiotic, repeated exploits…when they do not get into that, they scream, then they piss around…what a pain and a future – and since these are girls and come with gentleness, they are allowed to touch and caress…



Nonetheless, an older woman comes with agitated anxiety and shouts that they must not touch the dogs, ‘they are dangerous and dirty’, to which the superior dog walker retorts that they are ‘cleaner than you are’ and then they ‘do not bite girls, only old witches’ which might show us his profile and character as well…this reader would subscribe to that too, knowing perhaps the opprobrium and contempt that this attracts…he too is quite skeptical and reluctant to find merits in so many humans – take the neighbors…I mean my god, what a ferocious bunch of hypocrites, gangsters, state employees that would need millenniums to justify the opulence surrounding them, on the paychecks they officially have, pop band members than deny the pandemic and reject the vaccine…I mean you need to read my upcoming book on this Blue Ship of Fools, where you have characters enough for two hundred short stories, with a very well-populated Animal Farm, in which the pigs and the vicious dogs of George Orwell have managed to exterminate much of the rest of the animal population, in this case, many have just had to move and for the rest, there is a metaphorical death, if not a biological euthanasia…

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has been on to read list so long I forgot what it was about and who referred to me. When I did remember, I understand why I didn't like it. It was recommended by an ex-employee that I didn't really get along with. I have no idea why she thought I would like this book. It is my fault for starting to read it without checking the back cover. From there, I would have known it wasn't really my speed. The book is a selection of short stories about celebrities and animals. The stories are inspired by small anecdotes found in new stories or gossip magazines. Tesla's fascination with pigeons, Edison killing an elephant, and Madonna hunting pheasant to name a few. The anecdotes are too small to add any substance. I wasn't sure the point of most of the stories. Nothing really happened in any of them. Or maybe I didn't get the allegory.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange, wild and risky stories. Lots and lots of magic in the white spaces between sentences. I loved “Tesla and Wife.” And the last story, my God; it is strange, gleaming, terrible, and full of a kind of quivering holiness. But I did occasionally feel (Chomsky? Madonna?) that the conceits of these stories overwhelmed their beauty.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw a brief essay about writing in this era of non-writers by Lydia Millet on Salon recently, and it was so good, I grabbed a bunch of her books. This is a collection are very insightful, and at times bitingly sharp, essays. Millet is like a modern Swift, taking on the coldness of humanity by exposing the creepy, yet sad, side of its clichéd heroes.

[Joan Winnek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peculiar little book. The cover illustration is so realistic I wondered who had left a banana on my bedside table.

[Charles Finch · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the funniest, best books out there. Takes a day to read.

[JARROD WARD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original. Brilliant.