Saved: Rescued Animals and the Lives They Transform [Hardcover]

Karin Winegar (Author), Judy Olausen (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2008

Phil, ailing and unemployed, took an orphaned fawn into his trailer and now walks the woods with the devoted stag. “I don’t know what I’d do without Li’l Buck,” Phil declares simply. “I guess I’d be crazy.”

Walt, a retired pipe fitter, says, “Animals...take your heartache away. I lost my boy to drugs and my horse saved my life—just through the therapy of riding.”

Don and Lillian devote their time advocating for animal rights and bringing home lost animals. According to Don, “Emotionally, it’s an endorphin rush to be with [the animals]. On the metaphysical level, they give us meaning in life.”

With these and many other compelling, heartfelt stories, Saved, in the words of Rita Mae Brown, “proves once again that love rescues us all.”

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The world is full of starving, abused animals. It is also full of people who need a loving friend. How these two worlds come together and the positive changes rescued animals have made to the people who open their hearts to them are the focus of this genuinely heart-warming collection of stories. As Jane Goodall states in her introduction, around the world, the therapeutic power of animals is being recognized, and this truism is borne out by uplifting testimonies. As the author says, what rescued animals do best is forgive and provide love. Cimmaron, a Thoroughbred who survived a horrific accident in a horse trailer, is now one of the prized therapy horses at a stable for handicapped riders. Randy Grim and his canine pal Quentin, who survived a euthanasia attempt in a gas chamber, cruise the streets of East St. Louis rescuing dogs and cats amid urban decay. Parrots, perpetual three-year-olds armed with a sharp object—and living up to 80 years—are expensive and routinely abandoned pets, 1,400 of whom have been rescued and re-homed by Eileen McCarthy. Beautifully illustrated with Judy Olausen’s photographs. --Nancy Bent

Review

Booklist, 10/15/08
“Beautifully illustrated.”

St. Paul Pioneer Press
“Karin Winegar and Judy Olausen teamed up to produce one of the most heartfelt and worthy books of the season.”

MinnPost.com
“Absolutely riveting.”

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“This book is inspiring, and at the same time joyful and tearful.”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Keep the hankies handy while reading this moving collection of stories.”

Tucson Citizen
“The 28 essays in this collection are inspirational, compelling and poignant.”

Tampa Tribune
“Grab a tissue! You’ll be crying--and laughing--as you read about the powers pets have to heal people.”

Sierra Club’s “The Green Life,” 2/4/09
“This moving collection of true stories highlights the bonds formed between orphaned, abused, and abandoned animals and the people who rescue them.”

Modern Dog, Spring 2009
“This collection of compelling stories about rescued animals, the people who saved them, and the extraordinary relationships that are forged as a result will bring a tear to your eye.”

Alaska Airlines, March 2009
“These real-life stories of people who have adopted abandoned animals will warm your heart, and may even inspire you to bring home a new pet of your own.”

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; 1st Da Capo Press Ed edition (October 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738212768
• ISBN-13: 978-0738212760
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Furry and Feathered Feast, November 14, 2008

By 

WordGirl (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saved: Rescued Animals and the Lives They Transform (Hardcover)

Saved: Rescued Animals and the Lives They Transform is a feast--for animal lovers or for anyone who believes in the healing power of love, whether between, among, or within species. In crisp, spare, but evocative prose, animal lover and healer Karin Winegar brings her no-nonsense reporter's eye, her clear, strong voice, her quiet courage, and her wide-open heart to the noble task of telling the stories of people rescued by the pets they rescue.

Judy Olausen's wonderful photos both complement the narrative and reveal their own truths, and the effect of the collaboration is stunning. The interwoven stories and images shine with a generosity of spirit that is not only healing but also fully reciprocal--both between the subjects of the stories (human and nonhuman), and between the book's creators and their readers.

The animals are the stars of the book, but the people are far more than bit players. They're us--mostly ordinary people whose lives have been touched and changed by the creatures that have limped, crawled, and fluttered into their lives and their hearts. All are richly realized characters whose stories make you want to retrace the steps of the cross-country journey that this remarkable creative collaboration has brought to eloquent life.

I challenge anyone to read this book without crying. But even with all of the happy endings, this is not your garden-variety sappy, feel-good holiday book. The stories are elegantly crafted gems--literary journalism at its finest. They're sometimes searing, sometimes funny. And they're always deeply moving. But they're never cutesy or mawkish. These animals are real--no bassetts wearing antlers, cats in ruffles, or horses in bowlers; no animals frolicking and dancing, talking, or singing. Winegar and Olausen have far too much respect for these creatures to approach them with anything but reverence, as equals with us (and more) in dignity and moral standing on this fragile and perilous earth.

If you love animals, or even if you don't, read this book, and buy it for your friends. If everyone who's ever bonded with an animal companion reads this book, and then pledges to adopt (and spay or neuter) at least one abandoned or abused animal, we'll give Karin Winegar and Judy Olausen material and publishing cred for sequel after sequel. And we just might make a sizable dent in the population of homeless animals.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent and Sensuous, November 1, 2008

By 

J. Flanders (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Saved: Rescued Animals and the Lives They Transform (Hardcover)

Many books have been written about special relationships between humankind and their companion animals, but none as intelligent, yet heart-filled, as "Saved". It is a sensuous read. The author's talent for description allows the reader to live in each chapter through tasting, smelling, hearing, seeing, and feeling the unique story.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genuine, December 16, 2008

By 

Cheryl O'Leary (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Saved: Rescued Animals and the Lives They Transform (Hardcover)

A genuine compilation of stories about people that matter. If "Saved" were on the required reading list of secondary schools, our animals would need far less rescuing. Karin's writing is a flawless dance between storyteller and author. The pictures, both animal and human, capture the essence of the personalities portrayed. All are simply beautiful portraits of inspiring people and the animals that have been fortunate to enter their lives. Honest, informative... make that required reading for all.


Cheryl O'Leary
Founder
Rescue Me Dog
[e-mail]