Raising the Peaceable Kingdom: What Animals Can Teach Us About the Social Origins of Tolerance and Friendship [Hardcover]

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 27, 2005

“I did not want to fail, because the stakes were too high. After all, I was after nothing less than the secret of human harmony.” The challenge that bestselling author Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson set for himself was formidable: to create a true interspecies peaceable kingdom within his own household. He hoped to learn if several different species–some, natural enemies–raised together from an early age could live peacefully side by side. So he took into his home seven young animals–a kitten, a rabbit, two rats, two chickens, and a puppy–and set about observing the whole process of socialization (or non-socialization) from the very beginning.

The initial results were mixed. Tamaiti, the kitten, made herself instantly comfortable, but Hohepa, the Flemish giant rabbit, remained inscrutably reserved. Kia and Ora, the rats, slept all day and became active at night. Moa and Moana, the Polish frizzle chickens, bonded with each other but to no one else. Mika, the stray pup, barked much too much. But as the hours and days passed in this never-before-attempted environment, the animals began to change in startling ways, as Masson wondered which animals would bond, and which would recoil from one another? Can animals, including humans, truly change when direct experience tells them it’s safe to do so? Would the experiment end in triumph, or in tragedy?

Raising the Peaceable Kingdom poses universal questions we’ve all had about relationships, social strife, and peaceful coexistence. In its intimations of the potential for planetary harmony, this elegantly written book is a work of major significance. As a unique account of life in an interspecies community, it offers unmitigated enchantment, joy, and delight.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Masson (When Elephants Weep) records his attempt to "raise together a kitten, a puppy, a bunny, a chick, and a baby rat" in hopes that this "might offer some lessons to us humans" on how to avoid bigotry and war. The result hovers between science and cute animal stories, with not enough of either to succeed. Masson tells us a great deal about handpicking the animals, choosing a cat bred not to hunt and a nonaggressive dog, but not much about how he introduces them to one another and their changeable living situations. His discoveries about the animals seldom rise above the banal (rats have delicate ears; chickens eat insects). More of his attention goes to agonizing about reading the animals' emotions and fretting over—but not grappling with—the conflict inherent in wanting to provide the animals with as natural a life as possible while impatiently expecting them to overcome hardwired reactions to predators and prey. In the end, some of the animals become buddies, but one rat dies under mysterious circumstances, and the "peaceable kingdom" proves stressful for the dog. Masson's peaceable kingdom seems unattainable fantasy. B&w photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Masson, best-selling author of books on animal emotions (including When Elephants Weep, 1996, and Dogs Never Lie about Love, 1997), explored the question of whether animals of five different species, raised together, could learn to get along. He hoped that the animals might offer lessons that humans could learn about tolerance and friendship. He obtained a puppy, a kitten, a young rabbit, two young chickens, and two rat pups, and introduced them to his wife and two young children. The story of what Masson learned, both from and about the animals, and what they learned from each other, results in a charming book. Except for the rats (due to their small size), the animals had free range of the house and beach where Masson lived, and often chose each other's company. In a final chapter the author muses on what humans can learn from the animals. This interesting experiment in interspecies friendship is thought-provoking and genially written. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345466136
• ISBN-13: 978-0345466136
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,268,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Masson has had at least four lives: first as a boy raised to become a "spiritual leader" (see his denunciation of such a life in My Father's Guru). While in the middle of his disillusion, he became a professor of Sanskrit at the University of Toronto. At the same time he trained to become a Freudian analyst. Upon graduation he became Projects Director of the Freud Archives, and was scheduled to move into Freud's house in London when fate intervened: Masson found documents which seemed to show that Freud was right in believing that many women had been sexually abused as children, and that he was wrong to give up this belief, perhaps impelled by societal displeasure at his discoveries. Saying this publicly turned Masson into a psychoanalytic pariah, and he gave up both his professorship and his analytic career to delve into the far more fascinating world of animal emotions. Two of his books, WHEN ELEPHANTS WEEP and DOGS NEVER LIE ABOUT LOVE, were New York Times best-sellers. He became vegetarian as a result of his research, and later, when he looked into the feelings of farm animals, he became even stricter, and no longer eats or uses any animal product (vegan). Harpercollins published his most recent book: THE DOG WHO COULDN'T STOP LOVING: HOW DOGS HAVE CAPTURED OUR HEARTS FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. He lives on a beach in New Zealand with his two sons, Ilan and Manu, and his German wife, Leila, a pediatrician who works with children on the autistic spectrum (using the bio-medical approach), Benjy, a golden lab, and three cats. They often travel to the States, Europe, and Australia. He is now fascinated in the "us/them" phenomenon, between humans but also between humans and animals.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but dissapointing, January 9, 2006

By 

L. Ficks (MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raising the Peaceable Kingdom: What Animals Can Teach Us About the Social Origins of Tolerance and Friendship (Hardcover)

As I have read amost all of Masson's books I was looking forward to this one. The premise is interesting, seeing if natural enemies can learn to tolerate each other, and hopefully become friends, if raised together from an early age.

Yet while I found the book easy to read and wanting to know the outcome, I was put off by several things. First, I did not think his writing style compares to his other books. I also felt that Masson was very repetitive in his beliefs of trying to create a natural environment for all. I do not feel differently from him, but I felt he was a bit over the top and could have distanced himself from several readers.

This book also caused me to look at Masson differently. I was upset to learn that many of the animals Masson gets for his research (including "Dog's Never Lie") were given away afterwards. While I am sure all animals went to good homes, I was dissapointed that they were not as much a part of his family as it came off. With the way Masson treated his dog in this book, I was glad the dog was given away.

But overall it was entertaining although it didn't live up to expectations.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting!, September 27, 2005

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raising the Peaceable Kingdom: What Animals Can Teach Us About the Social Origins of Tolerance and Friendship (Hardcover)

Masson, a resident of Auckland, New Zealand, was interested in learning the essential ingredients in interspecies friendship. His idea was to raise a puppy, bunny, chick and a baby rat together to see if they could get along with each other but also grow an authentic friendship. He hoped that there might be, in his experiment, some lessons for human beings to learn about getting along with each other.

Masson ended up with seven animals: one puppy, one bunny, two rats, one kitten and two chicks. The animals were absorbed into the family and observed. Initially the results were mixed with the adjustment being the easiest on the rats. Soon the chickens began their exploration of the Masson home and contact with the author. As in life, there were accidents and scares. Hohepa, the rabbit suffered an injury that easily could have resulted in death -- and the rats disappeared one day. They were eventually found in the bathroom wall but Masson noted that while they seemed to enjoy human contact, they preferred the freedom to wander at will.

As the experiment continued it was interesting to see what happened with the relationships between the animals -- and between the animals and the human beings in their lives.

Armchair Interviews says: Raising the Peaceable Kingdom is an extremely interesting, unique and entertaining look at the world of animals and how they behave. Most readers will ponder the results and wonder, what if?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Idea, Very Poorly Executed, March 17, 2008

By 

KnightSong "knightsong" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raising the Peaceable Kingdom: What Animals Can Teach Us About the Social Origins of Tolerance and Friendship (Hardcover)

This is an interesting concept and idea, but I really had some unhappy feelings about the way the author executed it.

The author wanted to do an "experiment" and see if he could raise animals that are considered to be natural enemies together, and see if they could overcome their differences and co-exist, and ultimately see if it would be possible for them to actually become friends or even "soul-mates." He wanted to compare this to humankind trying to overcome our differences. The animals he chose for this experiment were birds, cats, rats, rabbits, and dogs.

The most disturbing factor is that the author did little to no research on the animals he adopted. His sole information on the care of the animals was based on what he already knew (or thought he knew) and the opinions of the people he got the animals from. Depending on where they came from, the information he got was both good and very bad.

He adopted a dog from a shelter and talked to a dog psychologist there about which one would be best to fit in with this family. He bought a cat from a breeder based on word-of-mouth opinions that he had heard on which breed would be most docile. He adopted two chickens, and on the owner's advice, took two because just one would be unhappy (one of the few good pieces of advice he received). He adopted two rats from a shelter and took both because the shelter recommended that they'd also be lonely without another rat companion. He bought one rabbit from a breeder who misinformed him that rabbits don't have feelings, aren't social and don't need companions, and need nothing but food and a cage to be happy.

(Also interesting to note- the author states that he is only interested in adopting animals that are homeless, but then he buys some animals, including the cat, from breeders.)

I was especially distressed by his admittance that he didn't seek outside advice regarding animal care when he was aware that the people he got his information from did not even like the animals (the rabbit seller, for example). I believe that he made the initial existence of some of these animals very miserable and endangered simply due to his ignorance and unwillingness to do research for his experiment.

The "experiment" was further tainted by the fact that he already had two cats who were a well-established part of his household. None of the animals were able to grow up completely surrounded by other animals that did not know a life without the others. The original pet cats were threatening to the smaller animals for months and eventually did kill one of the rats.

I think the concept of this book was a good idea, but it was very poorly executed and dismal in the lack of research. It's amazing to me that the animals survived as well as they did, and heartening at least that the rabbit eventually was able to bond with the youngest cat in the household. It was upsetting to read about the rabbit's behavior for the first year, as it was obviously very lonely and feeling neglected.

The author feels that this experiment was a beautiful success and can be compared to how humans should overcome their differences and all live peacefully, but I only saw a little of that in his experiment. He likes to ramble about the beautiful beach and yard he provided to the animals, while refusing to acknowledge any mistakes or failures in the experiment (including the death of an animal and several near-fatal events); he only reiterates the successes and brushes off violence and problem behavior as accidents. It is heartening to note that eventually the animals did form some kind of community, but also interesting to note that he didn't keep them, and eventually gave most of them away to better homes. He briefly admits at the end that several of the animals were unhappy or in mortal danger, and he gave them away.

This book is a really intriguing idea, which is very poorly executed.