Beauty in the Beasts: True Stories of Animals Who Choose to Do Good (reprint) (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: cleaner fish, prairie voles, service dog, Van Dyk, New York, New Jersey (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As the author of more than 200 articles about animals for publications such as Woman's Day, Parade, Glamour, and the Los Angeles Times, Kristin von Kreisler has become a well-known advocate for animals in the United States. In Beauty in the Beasts, she presents her belief that animals are capable of virtuousness. To prove her point, von Kreisler supplies hundreds of true stories of animals' doing good, each divided according to the virtue demonstrated: compassion, loyalty, courage, fortitude, resourcefulness, cooperation, generosity, sensitivity.

Anyone who has ever shared space with a dog or cat will be familiar with the story of the dog who licks away his owner's tears and provides comfort. But what about the story of Vintage, the feral cat who'd bonded with a dog to such a degree that she provided milk for puppies when her own kittens had not survived birth? Dog lovers may get teary when reading of Maui, the Newfoundland who rescued two surfers in Corsica before drowning while trying to reach a third. Less common and less domesticated animals are no less noble. There is "a sensitive chicken named Sonya" who clucked and whirred while nuzzling a sad human friend, and Petunia, a pampered 400-pound pig who bravely chased an intruder away from her back door. While science may scoff at von Kreisler's insistence on the reality of emotions in these animals, most readers will simply giggle, cry, and ultimately come away with a deeper appreciation for animals of all sorts. --Jill Lightner --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Despite the lack of scientific evidence to support her claim, Von Kreisler (The Compassion of Animals), whom Masson (When Elephants Weep) describes as "among the leaders in a growing field of scholarship," argues that animals do not only act instinctively, they are also capable of making conscious even moral choices. To prove her point, she offers scores of extraordinary anecdotes in which animals from dogs to elephants to chimpanzees to fish demonstrate eight clearly identifiable virtues that are usually only ascribed to humans, arguing that these traits sensitivity, compassion, courage, loyalty, fortitude, cooperation, resourcefulness and generosity are actually "extensions of the same life force" that extends throughout the animal kingdom. One of the most touching tales is about a pair of Canadian geese crossing a busy highway. The female had been hit by a car, and the male "spread his wings around her so protectively that Frisch [the national coordinator for the Coalition to Protect Canadian Geese who came upon them] could scarcely see her." As cars continued to speed past, the gander risked his life by choosing to stay with his companion. According to Frisch, he was absolutely unyielding. Although some readers might wish for fewer and more in-depth stories (we never learn, for example, if the geese survive), this is a feel-good overview of animals' heroic deeds. Animal lovers of all ages, particularly those who have not read other books of this sort, will eagerly welcome this charming study. Photos. Agent, Sally Wofford-Girand.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (May 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585421588
• ISBN-13: 978-1585421589
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,273,848 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A BOOK OF MAGIC, BEAUTY AND WONDER!, June 1, 2001

By	Sandra D. Peters "Seagull Books" (Prince Edward Island, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Beauty in the Beasts: True Stories of Animals Who Choose to Do Good (Hardcover)

This book is one of my absolutely, all-time favourites books. I loved each and every page and to me the book will forever remain one of life's greatest treasures. It is one of the most sensitive and touching books ever written. For animal lovers around the world, "Beauty in the Beasts" will evoke wonder, awe, saddness, compassion, love and a bundle of other emotions all merged into one. Bring out the tissues before you begin; for all that it is a beautiful book, the tears will silently flow. The stories of each of these beautiful, magnificent animals will touch you to the centre of your soul and remain with you forever. Stories of courage, compassion, love, devotion and faith will leave you with the feeling that these intelligent beings are really no different from us. They love, feed, protect and nurture their families, they feel all the emotions that humans are capable of feeling, and they ask for so little in return. There is no price that could ever be too high for this memorable, extremely sensitive and deeply moving book. Buy one for every animal lover you know, and if you have a special animal companion of your own, love himher with all your heart....while he or she is still here to enjoy.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartfelt and Inspiring, June 8, 2001

By	Elizabeth Morrison (Pacifica, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beauty in the Beasts: True Stories of Animals Who Choose to Do Good (Hardcover)

I loved reading this intelligent, beautifully written book. Kristin von Kreisler takes the reader through eight important virtues: sensitivity, compassion, courage, loyalty, fortitude, cooperation, resourcefulness and generosity, all the while drawing on extensive research to demonstrate that animals are totally capable of choosing to act in ways that exemplify these virtues. She backs up her case with interviews with an astounding number of scientists, most of whom supported her ideas about "the beauty in the beasts" with their own research. Von Kreisler also describes meetings with other, less enlightened scientists who disparage animals, stating that what appears to be virtue on the part of animals is only self-interest in disguise. I can almost hear her standing up to these scientists with her own research and personal experience and making a very effective case. I would like to make one addition to the discussion. Yes, very often there is some possible advantage to the animal for acting in a virtuous way. In my opinion, that does not make the animal less virtuous! It simply demonstrates the wise and good provision of Mother Nature that when we do something for others, we also help ourselves. All life is, after all, ultimately one. Virtue, far from being only its own reward, rebounds to the benefit of all life. If animals realize this as much or more than we do, so much the better! Thank you, Kristin, for this lovely book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterful Storytelling, May 9, 2001

By	William C. Bryant (Katonah, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beauty in the Beasts: True Stories of Animals Who Choose to Do Good (Hardcover)

This book is for everyone, especially animal lovers and anyone who has ever cared for a pet. The author brings masterful storytelling and wide-ranging research to her case that animals are fully capable of actually choosing to be courageous, resourceful, compassionate-traits that scientific convention has ascribed to humans alone. The reader meets a cast of admirable beasts, such as Beauty, a chestnut mare who fights back her own fear to save both her master and foal in a flooding river, and Misty a six-month-old spaniel who runs back into a burning house to rescue the family's two-year-old toddler. Their stories are extraordinary, but readers who have owned pets will also find echoes of their own experiences, illuminated by a larger context-and will never look at animals in quite the same way again. Passionately argued, vividly told, and rich and varied in its stories, this book catches a wave of human empathy for animals and contributes enormously (and entertainingly) to our enlightenment.