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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
I haven't the slightest interest in taxidermy, but I read a review of this book somewhere and thought it would be an interesting read. The book didn't disappoint. This is a fascinating look at something that many people find a little strange, perhaps a bit repulsive, but definitely a practice and hobby that is part of our cultural fabric. Very absorbing.
Who could have guessed? a fascinating non-fiction book about taxidermy. Beautiful creative non-fiction. Thanks for the recommendation, Mr Rickert!
Madden writes an interesting, balanced perspective on animal rights with the intricacies of the taxidermy hobby.
Also a interesting protrayal of early 20th century game hunting and its excesses.
Also a interesting protrayal of early 20th century game hunting and its excesses.
I appreciated the exploration of taxidermy, and how it was paralleled against the story of Carl Akerley. It was interesting to learn about the many layers taxidermy has across our human culture. I felt like we were given insight into parts of humans morbid interests that most of us are unlikely to explore ourselves. This was well written, funny in places and insightful. It was also really great to get Madden's relationship with taxidermy as a means of grounding the writing and understand his experiences and bias - which in the end don't seem to change much after the research.
I love animals and choose to see taxidermy displays as a monument of killing and our ability to disregard animal lives for our needs for creativity. But can also recognise the other perspectives here - as some pieces really do take your breath away and offer opportunities to look closer at animals that I'll never meet in my lifetime - but they're dead. That doesn't sit well with me. My disappointment with this was the very limited exploration into the anti-taxidermy opinion, and that after it all - the final sentence is simply an opinion that has an extremely negative impact on our treatment of animals "We are not animals" - is this a fact? I thought we all knew by now that we are....? "We are given them".... I cannot imagine what treatment animals receive because of this opinion. Shame.
I love animals and choose to see taxidermy displays as a monument of killing and our ability to disregard animal lives for our needs for creativity. But can also recognise the other perspectives here - as some pieces really do take your breath away and offer opportunities to look closer at animals that I'll never meet in my lifetime - but they're dead. That doesn't sit well with me. My disappointment with this was the very limited exploration into the anti-taxidermy opinion, and that after it all - the final sentence is simply an opinion that has an extremely negative impact on our treatment of animals "We are not animals" - is this a fact? I thought we all knew by now that we are....? "We are given them".... I cannot imagine what treatment animals receive because of this opinion. Shame.
This would have been a much better book were pictures included. Plan to read it near a computer so you can google for visuals as you read.
Random library pick.
I read this book due to my fascination with human/animal relationships and taxidermy is one that I haven't experienced/researched.
Dave Madden promises the reader a foray into the secret life and history surrounding taxidermy and some of its more prominent figures. However, in spite of Madden's attempts to not make this a biography of Carl Ackley, he does, much to my disappointment. He started off strongly by using figures like Ackley to detail taxidermy's social and commercial presence and relevance over the years which slowly devolves into Ackley's life through chapter after chapter of anecdotes.
As an anthropologist, who would have loved to study this as an MA thesis, I would have pursued contemporary interviews further in order to gain insight and perspective on the topic. Madden attempts to do this, and attempts to get a feel for the subject by attending taxidermy workshops, conferences, etc,. yet, he does not successfully answer questions like: what is the appeal of the art? what classifies it as an art generally; is there something in common to all taxidermists, what or what isn't common, for example, what really makes a taxidermist; is this the true way to capture and pay tribute to the life of an animal, like Madden asserts many times (with no explanation of where this came from, really) or is there something inspired by man's dominion over animal? Is it predominantly a westernized practice? Are there any indigenous practices recorded; indigenous opinions on the practice....etc,.
Madden lost me further after his brief discussion of animal rights activists and their take on taxidermy, which, in my opinion, was a very rushed discussion that could have occupied a larger discussion of the book instead of Ackley's first wife's monkey love.
Additionally, it is VERY, VERY clear that Madden is impartial or indifferent to animals. He clearly sees a distinction that is "us vs. them" and this colours his writing negatively. This is seen in his personal comments here and there about animals but most notably about Mrs Ackely's love for JT. Maybe his research would have revealed more if there was a passion for animals rather than just a general fascination for taxidermy in general. I felt like he was looking at the topic from a clouded, or dirty window... almost like a window shopper; someone not invested in the topic. Maybe I will pursue this as an MA topic just to cite him and professionally counter some of his assertions and opinions with a more comprehensive, academic study of taxidermy.
I read this book due to my fascination with human/animal relationships and taxidermy is one that I haven't experienced/researched.
Dave Madden promises the reader a foray into the secret life and history surrounding taxidermy and some of its more prominent figures. However, in spite of Madden's attempts to not make this a biography of Carl Ackley, he does, much to my disappointment. He started off strongly by using figures like Ackley to detail taxidermy's social and commercial presence and relevance over the years which slowly devolves into Ackley's life through chapter after chapter of anecdotes.
As an anthropologist, who would have loved to study this as an MA thesis, I would have pursued contemporary interviews further in order to gain insight and perspective on the topic. Madden attempts to do this, and attempts to get a feel for the subject by attending taxidermy workshops, conferences, etc,. yet, he does not successfully answer questions like: what is the appeal of the art? what classifies it as an art generally; is there something in common to all taxidermists, what or what isn't common, for example, what really makes a taxidermist; is this the true way to capture and pay tribute to the life of an animal, like Madden asserts many times (with no explanation of where this came from, really) or is there something inspired by man's dominion over animal? Is it predominantly a westernized practice? Are there any indigenous practices recorded; indigenous opinions on the practice....etc,.
Madden lost me further after his brief discussion of animal rights activists and their take on taxidermy, which, in my opinion, was a very rushed discussion that could have occupied a larger discussion of the book instead of Ackley's first wife's monkey love.
Additionally, it is VERY, VERY clear that Madden is impartial or indifferent to animals. He clearly sees a distinction that is "us vs. them" and this colours his writing negatively. This is seen in his personal comments here and there about animals but most notably about Mrs Ackely's love for JT. Maybe his research would have revealed more if there was a passion for animals rather than just a general fascination for taxidermy in general. I felt like he was looking at the topic from a clouded, or dirty window... almost like a window shopper; someone not invested in the topic. Maybe I will pursue this as an MA topic just to cite him and professionally counter some of his assertions and opinions with a more comprehensive, academic study of taxidermy.
“Taxidermy is something we can enjoy only at a great cost–some animal’s death and dismemberment–we all want to believe that cost is worth it.”
Dave Madden's look into taxidermy is one of an observer. He glosses over the lives of taxidermists, such as Carl Akeley, gazes at animals frozen in time behind glass. Madden is not the hunter, it seems, of animals nor of information that appears to be readily available. He is a storyteller, though his sense of humor is exactly what you'd expect of a man who seems not to take his own work too seriously. He raises questions that he cannot seem to answer--even wondering why he joined a taxidermy class if he was never going to participate in the first place.
Participating in some way beyond a commentary would lend a hand to his words and make them more genuine. But participating would mean to have a hand in death, and he does not yet seem ready to make that leap. He is drawn, instead, to the spectacle of death, to see something frozen in time. He is drawn to the growth of such spectacles, from the historic and amateur processes of preserving a body to the cutthroat World Taxidermy Competition.
I do understand his fascination, however. It is strange and eccentric and a little off-beat. In such a fast-paced world in which obsolescence is planned and trends shift seemingly every week, the eternity that taxidermy offers is an entrancing one.
Dave Madden's look into taxidermy is one of an observer. He glosses over the lives of taxidermists, such as Carl Akeley, gazes at animals frozen in time behind glass. Madden is not the hunter, it seems, of animals nor of information that appears to be readily available. He is a storyteller, though his sense of humor is exactly what you'd expect of a man who seems not to take his own work too seriously. He raises questions that he cannot seem to answer--even wondering why he joined a taxidermy class if he was never going to participate in the first place.
Participating in some way beyond a commentary would lend a hand to his words and make them more genuine. But participating would mean to have a hand in death, and he does not yet seem ready to make that leap. He is drawn, instead, to the spectacle of death, to see something frozen in time. He is drawn to the growth of such spectacles, from the historic and amateur processes of preserving a body to the cutthroat World Taxidermy Competition.
I do understand his fascination, however. It is strange and eccentric and a little off-beat. In such a fast-paced world in which obsolescence is planned and trends shift seemingly every week, the eternity that taxidermy offers is an entrancing one.
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
If you like Mary Roach's books, you'll probably like this one by Dave Madden. Covers history of, current competitive aspects of, major players in, and influences of taxidermy, particularly in natural history museums.