Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series

Anatole France once said, “Until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” Susan Orlean’s soul has been awake for a very long time, indeed. The award-winning author brings forth On Animals, a collection of writings about our relationship with animals, done throughout her illustrious career. Orlean brought a keen eye and a warm sensibility to the animals that we eat, tame, and make our pets; animals that are wild and wondrous, and animals that could very well eat us. Orlean was 6-years-old when she wrote a book called Herbert the Near-Sighted Pigeon. She hasn’t stopped writing about animals since. The collection includes pieces on backyard chickens (of which she has a clutch), backyard tigers (one woman had twenty-three of them), famous whales, and hard-working donkeys. Delightful and profound, On Animals celebrates our collective existence in this soulful world. Susan Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1982. She is the New York Times bestselling author of seven boo