Pig (Animal) Paperback – October 15, 2011

About the time when Brett Mizelle relates that the actor George Clonney once declared "his eighteen-year relationship with his pig Max was the longest relationship he ever had," the reader begins to realize there is much more to a pig than a than curly tail. And by the time the entire volume has been read, the pig has emerged in history, literature, and the eating of food as an incredible story that both illuminates the mind and saddens the heart. As part of the fascinating Animal Series edited by Jonathan Burt and published by Reaktion Books, PIG docments the history of the animal from deep prehistoric ancestors to the modern world of the assembly-line production of pork products. Along the way, and particularly in Chapters 6 and 7, the author shows how "pigs have shaped human language and culture, including literature and art that, at its best, urges us to think about the lives of pigs." That well-honed phrasing echoes the words of E.B. White who, in the essay "The Death of the Pig" (1948), tells the story of a pig he raised to put meat on his family's table but who died before that could happen. "The loss we felt," wrote White, "was not the loss of ham but the loss of a pig. He had evidentally become precious to me, not that he represented a distant nourishment in a hungry time, but that he had suffered in a suffering world." The essay appears to have influenced White in his drafting of CHARLOTTE'S WEB, which appeared four years later. Brett Mizelle feels the same way, in my estimate, and this book is a testimony to his own intellectual and heart-felt commitment to making the history of animals central in the broader human drama that continues to unfold around us. For him, the ways humans relate to animals reveals how humans treat each other, sometimes with love and grace, other times brutally and cruelly. Balanced and thoughtful, PIG puts all this in perspective. A terrific read.

Mizelle offers an interesting look at pigs through literature and culture. I appreciated the scholarship. However, he so frequently comments on how intelligent pigs are and why we probably shouldn't be killing and eating them (especially given how much they taste like human flesh -- which must mean we have a lot in common) that I got the feeling that he loves pigs as anything except food. In his conclusion, he states (after talking about the slaughter of pigs for food) "In making this bloodshed possible, we have underestimated the pig, condemned this animal for its supposedly inferior form and talents." (One wonders if "this animal" means he's okay with killing other animals, or if he views all killing of animals for food as "bloodshed" -- a term normally reserved for killing humans.)The author does over-romanticize the pig on occasion. He also assures us that pigs are really clean, without acknowledging that pigs let out in a field will eat excrement and dead animals, and they're almost defined by wallowing in mud (because they have no sweat glands and need to do this to moderate body temperature).It's a fun book with some excellent information. I would not tell anyone to avoid reading it. However, I would advise readers to take into consideration the fact that the book is not as balanced as one might hope.

This volume in a series that covers practically everything that moves, creeps, waddles, swims or flies, is handsomely produced, handbook-sized, and an interesting quick introduction to theprehistoric origins, domestication and spread of the pig, including its many different breeds in Europe, Asia and the Americas. I have no idea if the author is an expert, but the writing is crisp,it seems well-researched, and the illustrations are copious.

Interesting book that I needed for class but the pages were messed up. Page 34-34 and some others were replaced by the reference page that occurs at the end of the book. So that was annoying

Book was sold as new. That was not the case. The cover and first few pages were stained. The book (somewhat ironically, given its subject matter) also reeked of perfume.

A fun and interesting read - thorough research and engaging information! Mizelle proves to be an expert in this area. Buy the hard cover - the images from every corner of the globe are worth it.

This is another volume in my favorite series, Reaktion Book's "Animal Series." As usual in the series, the book follows a general sort of template, but the end result varies a great deal depending on the author's expertise and emphasis. This one has a stronger authorial view in the sense Mizelle is deeply concerned with the pig in industrialized agriculture, seeing the animal almost as a victim of an evil process than gratuitously inflicts pain and causes excessive waste. Mizelle sees pigs as intelligent and individualistic animals, and to observe them reduced to industrial input grates on him. That's my phrasing, but I think it's a fair summary. This view affects a good portion of the book, and might seem overdone to many readers. Personally, I mostly agree with him.That said, this is a lively consideration of pigs and people. There is some natural history of the various species of wild pigs, including the several American species usually called peccaries. All domestic species, he says, are descended from the wild boar, sus scrofa. It's easy to forget that the pork chop on a diner's plate is an artifact of the same animal that in the form of a wild boar can be a large and quite dangerous, as Mizelle reminds us. The more interesting chapters include "What is a pig?", "Hogs in the New World," "Good Pig/ Bad Pig," and "Pigs of the Imagination." There's discussion of pig domestication (rather early), feral hogs (like the razorbacks in the USA) and also about the various wild species.The book has the usual excellent illustrations. I would never have thought that a book could have a hundred graphics about pigs and all of them interesting, but this small book does exactly that.

AwesomeFascinatingHave two pot bellied piggiesHave had piggies for more than twenty yesMy dearest companionMy husband even sleeps with pigs hahaSo much history attached to these adorable creaturesMercedez

Arrived on time. New.

thanks