Why would someone want to create or own the mounted skin of a dead animal? That’s the question Dave Madden explores in The Authentic Animal. Madden starts his journey with the life story of Carl Akeley, the father of modern taxidermy. Akeley started small by stuffing a canary, but by the end of his life he had created the astonishing Akeley Hall of African Mammals at The American Museum of Natural History. What Akeley strove for and what fascinates Madden is the attempt by the taxidermist to replicate the authentic animal, looking as though it’s still alive. To get a first-hand glimpse at this world, Madden travels to the World Taxidermy Championships, the garage workplaces of people who mount freeze-dried pets for bereaved owners, and the classrooms of a taxidermy academy where students stretch deer pelts over foam bases. On his travels, he looks at the many forms taxidermy takes—hunting trophies, museum dioramas, roadside novelties, pet memorials—and considers what taxidermy has to tell us about human-animal relationships. The Authentic Animal is an entertaining and thought-provoking blend of history, biology, and philosophy that will make readers think twice the next time they scoff at a moose head hung lovingly on a wall.
The Authentic Animal
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“Don't let the gory subject matter repel you from this charming account of the cast of kings, artists, biologists, circus performers, and ordinary folks who populate the world of taxidermy. Madden's investigation is marked by appealing candor, literary references, and atmospheric descriptions of (and fondness for) the subculture and its adherents…this book muses with verve and wit on the relationships between human and animal, art and artifact, as well as on the collector's obsession.”– Publishers Weekly
Madden…investigates the subculture of taxidermy…[and] can be a bit tongue in cheek…when he wonders “what would happen if the tables were turned?” and the animals put the humans on display… [A] sometimes chilling tour of an intriguing subculture. – Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
DAVE MADDEN is a professor at The University of Alabama. He lives in Tuscaloosa and co-edits The Cupboard, a quarterly pamphlet.
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Dave Madden is the author of The Authentic Animal, forthcoming from St. Martin's Press. His shorter work has appeared in Indiana Review, Tampa Review, Mid-American Review, Third Coast, Hobart, and elsewhere, and he's the recipient of the Sherwood Anderson Award in fiction, an AWP Intro Journals Award in nonfiction, and a Tennessee Williams Scholarship at the Sewanee Writers' Conference. Currently, he teaches in the MFA program at the University of Alabama and co-edits The Cupboard, a quarterly pamphlet.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I'm not a hunter and don't have an interest in taxidermy, but the great thing about this book is the way the writer makes you care, the way he uses his subject as a way of analyzing human behavior. I had the same experience reading The Authentic Animal as I had when I read John McPhee's Oranges. Who cares about oranges? Well, McPhee makes you care. And Madden makes you care about taxidermy in this offbeat and wry commentary on what it means to be a human animal. Moving, memorable, and funny.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Benny D
Format:Hardcover
I found Madden's book to be an elegantly written book. After reading Mary Roach's STIFF: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers, I crave books like this. I would place this book within the same medical/scientific non-fiction sub-genre. While Roach's voice is more personable, I find Madden's research to prove more thorough and authoritative. While it is nice to have a friend along when reading books like this, I'd much rather have a well-researched guide to lead me through the excavated exhibits of his research.
The insight into the history of taxidermy allows you to see the evolution of the art, but Madden also garnishes the book with an ethnographic exploration of this art's culture. While you get a glimpse into the techniques and media used to preserve everything from animals and humans, you also get a glimpse into the lives of those who preserve them.
I am giving this book 5 stars.
The insight into the history of taxidermy allows you to see the evolution of the art, but Madden also garnishes the book with an ethnographic exploration of this art's culture. While you get a glimpse into the techniques and media used to preserve everything from animals and humans, you also get a glimpse into the lives of those who preserve them.
I am giving this book 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Bozter
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I stumbled upon this delightful book while researching for my undergraduate thesis. Now just because I'm an Fine Art Photography major, do not think that this book has been of little use! oh no! This book was so inspirational and pivotal in my research that it truly changed the direction of my entire point of view towards animal preservation and how to make art work about it. I was once blindly disgusted by taxidermy's existence, but Dave Madden showed me a new world in his book, telling me the history of taxidermy and his own experiences with the world of taxidermy from a spectator's standpoint. The book is written in such a friendly and unusual (for the subject) manner that has the feeling of going to a cafe with a friend and engaging in a unexpectedly profound conversation.
This book is for those who know hardly anything about taxidermy to discover a world they thought they had an opinion of who seek a stepping off point for learning. This book is probably not for those who work in the taxidermy business as much as those who do not.
This book is for those who know hardly anything about taxidermy to discover a world they thought they had an opinion of who seek a stepping off point for learning. This book is probably not for those who work in the taxidermy business as much as those who do not.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
You will be addicted.
I couldn't put this book down! I had no idea how fascinating the history of taxidermy and natural history museums would be. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Laurie Danforth
4.0 out of 5 stars
Food for thought (not literally)
Good book, enjoyable read. I got it because I was semi-interested in taking a class in taxidermy and wanted a peek into this strange and slightly gruesome world before taking the... Read more
Published 12 months ago by KiwisGirl
2.0 out of 5 stars
Mildly interesting, mostly off-topic
As someone who has done a considerable amount of taxidermy and preparation/curation of museum specimens, I looked forward to this book as a treatment of the subject from a... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Biotexts2
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Read This Year
I read Dan Madden's book in only a few days, despite the fact that school projects were looming, Thanksgiving was coming, there was grading to do, and all that. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Skoticus
2.0 out of 5 stars
Rehashed and Lacking
I bought this book hoping it would captivate and interest me. Instead, I found myself annoyed at the writing style, the ideas that were rehashed over and over, the stolen concept,... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Chris Bacavis
