"My ability to 'talk' with animals is a lot different from most people, and whether it was learned or taught I don't know. It doesn't matter what kind of animal it is--a snake, a dog, a bird . . . we talk to each other."
--Warren Eckstein
Warren Eckstein is an American original, the most renowned animal therapist in America. Long before the term was invented, Eckstein was an animal communicator. In a career that spans more than a quarter century, he has trained guard dogs for the Mob, helped the pets of such celebrities as Al Pacino, Lily Tomlin, Rodney Dangerfield, and Kathie Lee Gifford, and--perhaps most important of all--he has saved countless animals' lives. Now Eckstein shares his unique, wildly offbeat story with us in an irresistible and candid memoir of a life devoted to animals.
Beyond his work with dogs and cats, Eckstein has befriended (and occasionally antagonized) a variety of "clients"--from goats, bears, and alligators to peacocks, tigers, and king cobras. He shares unforgettable encounters in which he was bitten by a python, de-fingered by a mongoose, and found himself locked in a lion's cage. Here, too, are hilarious anecdotes about sleeping with a pig and making a Fifth Avenue matron's dream of dancing with her dog come true.
In these outrageous and touching true stories that comprise an amazing life, Warren Eckstein holds us spellbound. In the end, we love not only his animals, but the man as well--the magician as well as his magic.
--Warren Eckstein
Warren Eckstein is an American original, the most renowned animal therapist in America. Long before the term was invented, Eckstein was an animal communicator. In a career that spans more than a quarter century, he has trained guard dogs for the Mob, helped the pets of such celebrities as Al Pacino, Lily Tomlin, Rodney Dangerfield, and Kathie Lee Gifford, and--perhaps most important of all--he has saved countless animals' lives. Now Eckstein shares his unique, wildly offbeat story with us in an irresistible and candid memoir of a life devoted to animals.
Beyond his work with dogs and cats, Eckstein has befriended (and occasionally antagonized) a variety of "clients"--from goats, bears, and alligators to peacocks, tigers, and king cobras. He shares unforgettable encounters in which he was bitten by a python, de-fingered by a mongoose, and found himself locked in a lion's cage. Here, too, are hilarious anecdotes about sleeping with a pig and making a Fifth Avenue matron's dream of dancing with her dog come true.
In these outrageous and touching true stories that comprise an amazing life, Warren Eckstein holds us spellbound. In the end, we love not only his animals, but the man as well--the magician as well as his magic.
