By Paul Carrier
I bought this handsome little volume after reading a Boston Globe interview with poet Billy Collins in which he discussed what he’s been reading lately.
"What I really like these days is this series by Reaktion Books, these beautifully illustrated books devoted to one animal, say pigs, lobsters, or owls," Collins told the newspaper. "I have 15 of them. You can fit them in a purse or a trench coat pocket. I’m reading Bear now, and it covers everything I want to know about bears."
There are more than 60 books in this paperback series, running the gamut from Albatross, Ant, and Ape to Walrus, Whale, and Wolf. On its web site (reaktionbooks.co.uk), the publisher describes this collection as "a pioneering series" that explores "the historical significance and impact on humans of a wide range of animals." Mythology, religion and science are examined, as well as food, trade, products and the animals' roles in "the artistic and literary imagination."
Chicken measures a mere 7.5 inches by just over 5 inches, which explains Collins’ claim that these books are compact. Author Annie Potts brings a cool analytical eye to this 216-page exercise, although she writes from experience and it’s clear that she loves chickens.
Humans have lived with chickens for thousands of years and used them to make "everything from myths to movies to McNuggets," according to Potts, but "we still have a great deal to learn from them."
Potts is associate professor of English and Cultural Studies and co-director of the New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. She told Radio New Zealand in an interview three years ago that she grew up with chickens and has a flock of her own (or did in 2011, anyway).
Potts has refused to eat chicken since she was a child, and she dedicated Chicken to "all chickens born to and killed for agribusiness, scientific research and entertainment," as well as to those people who "educate, advocate and provide refuge for these birds."
In keeping with the purpose of the series, Chicken does not purport to be a compendium of tips for backyard aficionados. There already are plenty of books on the market that do just that. Chicken promises (and delivers) something more, and something entirely different. Potts examines the world of the chicken, certainly, but also how that world relates to our own, today as well as over the centuries.
Potts says chickens have not always been "trivialized," as they are now, and she disputes the conventional wisdom that they lack intelligence. Historically, chickens were valued for their "vigilance, courage and loyalty to family or flock," but contemporary consumers rarely see chickens, and we undervalue them. Chickens have become "the least respected and most manipulated beings on the planet," Potts says.
The scope here is broad. As someone who has kept chickens for close to two years now, I own my fair share of books that explain the ins and outs of the hobby. But I doubt that any of the other chicken-related books in my library include index entries, as Chicken does, on Ray Bradbury, the Buddhist Wheel of Life, Charlie Chaplin, Pliny the Elder, Jonathan Swift, or the Yoruban creation myth.
Potts’ tone is academic and a bit dry, but her approach is comprehensive and her voice authoritative. The pictures that dot Chicken deserve a mention of their own. They are numerous and varied, often glorious but sometimes graphic. This compact volume boasts 103 illustrations, 72 of which are in color. They celebrate the beauty of these birds and their cultural importance, while also exposing the deplorable cruelty of modern farming techniques, and the sometimes disturbing artistic representations of chickens.
Chicken offers an innovative, multifaceted and empathetic overview of Gallus gallus domesticus, but be forewarned. The final chapter deals with the emergence of factory farming to produce both meat birds and egg layers, and the operation of slaughterhouses. It makes for important but painful reading and is not for the faint of heart. Fortunately, an epilogue entitled "Appreciating Chickens" focuses on their role as companions and therapy animals, and highlights advocacy on behalf of these marvelous birds.
"What I really like these days is this series by Reaktion Books, these beautifully illustrated books devoted to one animal, say pigs, lobsters, or owls," Collins told the newspaper. "I have 15 of them. You can fit them in a purse or a trench coat pocket. I’m reading Bear now, and it covers everything I want to know about bears."
There are more than 60 books in this paperback series, running the gamut from Albatross, Ant, and Ape to Walrus, Whale, and Wolf. On its web site (reaktionbooks.co.uk), the publisher describes this collection as "a pioneering series" that explores "the historical significance and impact on humans of a wide range of animals." Mythology, religion and science are examined, as well as food, trade, products and the animals' roles in "the artistic and literary imagination."
Chicken measures a mere 7.5 inches by just over 5 inches, which explains Collins’ claim that these books are compact. Author Annie Potts brings a cool analytical eye to this 216-page exercise, although she writes from experience and it’s clear that she loves chickens.
Humans have lived with chickens for thousands of years and used them to make "everything from myths to movies to McNuggets," according to Potts, but "we still have a great deal to learn from them."
Potts is associate professor of English and Cultural Studies and co-director of the New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. She told Radio New Zealand in an interview three years ago that she grew up with chickens and has a flock of her own (or did in 2011, anyway).
Potts has refused to eat chicken since she was a child, and she dedicated Chicken to "all chickens born to and killed for agribusiness, scientific research and entertainment," as well as to those people who "educate, advocate and provide refuge for these birds."
In keeping with the purpose of the series, Chicken does not purport to be a compendium of tips for backyard aficionados. There already are plenty of books on the market that do just that. Chicken promises (and delivers) something more, and something entirely different. Potts examines the world of the chicken, certainly, but also how that world relates to our own, today as well as over the centuries.
Potts says chickens have not always been "trivialized," as they are now, and she disputes the conventional wisdom that they lack intelligence. Historically, chickens were valued for their "vigilance, courage and loyalty to family or flock," but contemporary consumers rarely see chickens, and we undervalue them. Chickens have become "the least respected and most manipulated beings on the planet," Potts says.
The scope here is broad. As someone who has kept chickens for close to two years now, I own my fair share of books that explain the ins and outs of the hobby. But I doubt that any of the other chicken-related books in my library include index entries, as Chicken does, on Ray Bradbury, the Buddhist Wheel of Life, Charlie Chaplin, Pliny the Elder, Jonathan Swift, or the Yoruban creation myth.
Potts’ tone is academic and a bit dry, but her approach is comprehensive and her voice authoritative. The pictures that dot Chicken deserve a mention of their own. They are numerous and varied, often glorious but sometimes graphic. This compact volume boasts 103 illustrations, 72 of which are in color. They celebrate the beauty of these birds and their cultural importance, while also exposing the deplorable cruelty of modern farming techniques, and the sometimes disturbing artistic representations of chickens.
Chicken offers an innovative, multifaceted and empathetic overview of Gallus gallus domesticus, but be forewarned. The final chapter deals with the emergence of factory farming to produce both meat birds and egg layers, and the operation of slaughterhouses. It makes for important but painful reading and is not for the faint of heart. Fortunately, an epilogue entitled "Appreciating Chickens" focuses on their role as companions and therapy animals, and highlights advocacy on behalf of these marvelous birds.
