“Enjoy the tongue-twisting discourse Twain engages in with his two daughters about cats and much more.”
“Handsomely illustrated by Barry Moser, this collection pulls together all of the key animal tales, ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime.”
“Among those items near and dear to me are books, animals, Mark Twain and engravings - a short, snappy list that (gee, golly) can all be found in the new UC Press book "Mark Twain's Book of Animals," edited by Shelley Fisher Fishkin, with illustrations by master engraver Barry Moser. It's one of the most attractive books I've come across recently.”
“Brings together full stories, sketches, and brief passages that demonstrate Twain’s unique voice, skill as a writer, compassion, and humor. To enliven the proceedings, master engraver Barry Moser has created 30 images—portraits really—of the lead characters in crisp and detailed black and white. The engravings bring home the directness to Twain’s prose and add a special sense of wonder to this charming yet sobering book.”
"For those unaware—as I was until I read this book—that Mark Twain was one of America's early animal advocates, Shelley Fisher Fishkin's collection of his writings on animals will come as a revelation. Many of these pieces are as fresh and lively as when they were first written, and it's wonderful to have them gathered in one place." —Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation and The Life You Can Save
“A truly exhilarating work. Mark Twain's animal-friendly views would not be out of place today, and indeed, in certain respects, Twain is still ahead of us: claiming, correctly, that there are certain degraded practices that only humans inflict on one another and upon other animals. Fishkin has done a splendid job: I cannot remember reading something so consistently excellent."—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of When Elephants Weep and The Face on Your Plate
"Shelley Fisher Fishkin has given us the lifelong arc of the great man's antic, hilarious, and subtly profound explorations of the animal world, and she's guided us through it with her own trademark wit and acumen. Dogged if she hasn't." —Ron Powers, author of Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain and Mark Twain: A Life
