Call number
Publication
New York, NY : Bloomsbury, USA, c2010.
Pages
ix; 133
Description
Ever since our ancestors first set eyes on a woolly mammoth and agreed that it needed hunting, human beings have been making judgements about animals. The king cobra- That's an A-plus animal. The garden snail? It gets a D-minus. On a good day. In Animal Review, Jacob Lentz and Steve Nash give authoritative listings and ratings of dozens of your favourite (and least-favourite) animals. Expanded from their popular blog, the entries mix fascinating animal facts with hilarious assessments, set off with brilliantly captioned photos and enlightening charts and graphs. It's a perfect gift for animal lovers of any age, with sophisticated but child-friendly humour and tons of interesting information.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2010-05
Physical description
ix, 133 p.; 8.3 inches
ISBN
9781608190256
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User reviews
LibraryThing member taleswapper
I think this might make an interesting idea for a blog. As a book, however, I have to give it an F. The humor either works for you or it doesn't, but it's not the sort that builds for a single reading of the entire book. Even so, if I dip in randomly I got a smile here and there, but never a
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chuckle. As other reviewers have noted, the lack consistency between chapters is annoying: usually it's obvious what's a joke and what's a "fact", but not always. Show Less
LibraryThing member guyalice
A very funny and surprisingly educational book-o-facts on animals. Lentz and Nash have rated a range of animals (by Land, Sky, Water, and "Other"), though their criteria on which creatures get a passing or failing grade seems to be random. Pandas (for their miserable mating habits) and alpacas (for
The book has gotten comparisons to FU Penguin, but I think they're different enough in their irreverent critiques on animals. For starters, The Animal Review is considerably more family friendly. While it lacks FU Penguin's manic energy, there's a lot of knowledge to be found in between their jibes, reminding me a lot of Gary Larson for its nerdy humor and genuine fascination with its subjects.
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sitting around on their fuzzy behinds while the conquistadors annihilated the Incas) get F's, while the blue whale gets an A+ (for being so bleeding HUGE!)The book has gotten comparisons to FU Penguin, but I think they're different enough in their irreverent critiques on animals. For starters, The Animal Review is considerably more family friendly. While it lacks FU Penguin's manic energy, there's a lot of knowledge to be found in between their jibes, reminding me a lot of Gary Larson for its nerdy humor and genuine fascination with its subjects.
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LibraryThing member Jenson_AKA_DL
"The Animal Review" is a tongue-in-cheek pseudo-scientific look at the animals of our world using a outlandishly biased method of grading. It was cute in parts and even though I can't say as I agreed with much of the scale criteria, I still found it an amusing read.
I think that the manner of
Although this is not a book I'm inclined to hang on to I certainly didn't find it any hardship to read once through and ultimately thought it was an enjoyable little farce in its own slightly bent way.
I think that the manner of
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publication, the glossy pages and color photographs definitely added to the publication's overall desirability and the book is well put together. I enjoyed the chapter on the King Cobra the most and shared a few bits I found funny with my family.Although this is not a book I'm inclined to hang on to I certainly didn't find it any hardship to read once through and ultimately thought it was an enjoyable little farce in its own slightly bent way.
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LibraryThing member skullfaced
A caveat: I'm one of the objective-type people dissed in the introduction of this book. I actually hold a bachelor's in wildlife biology.
I understand what this book was trying to do, and it held a lot of potential. A subjective view and review of various species, cool. Unfortunately, the book
Overall the book lacked the ability to amuse or entertain. Maybe it's just a result of several years of indoctrination into the cult of objectivity, I don't know. But I thought the book's humor fell flat.
I'm rating it a D.
I understand what this book was trying to do, and it held a lot of potential. A subjective view and review of various species, cool. Unfortunately, the book
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doesn't address whether or not an animal is "any good" and merely seems to try to rationalize a mostly random score based on how well the author likes the animal. That's fine and all, but make that clear up front. Mentioning you'd be reviewing animals on whether or not they are "any good" makes me think that you'll be reviewing them based on their success in various areas. Only rarely was that ever discussed. Overall the book lacked the ability to amuse or entertain. Maybe it's just a result of several years of indoctrination into the cult of objectivity, I don't know. But I thought the book's humor fell flat.
I'm rating it a D.
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LibraryThing member harahel
I was expecting a lot of comedy and some great animal facts in this quick read. While there was a lot to giggle over, there wasn't much in the way of information. I was a little confused as to it's purpose.
LibraryThing member norabelle414
I am all for finding humor in the world around us (especially in science), but this is ridiculous. The jokes are juvenile, and actual facts are few and far between. Each chapter on a different animal contains (almost consistently) one or two interesting facts that would be excellent for discussion.
The authors also seem to get some amusement from peppering the text with large words that won't be understood by anyone who thinks their jokes are funny. For example: myrmecologist, polypeptide, congenital alopecia, and morphophonemic variation.
Another thing I really didn't like was their explanations of the binomial nomenclature. Some are accurate (Ophiophagus hannah means "snake eater"), some are partly accurate (Ailuropoda melanoleuca means "black and white cat foot", not "black and white black cat foot bear who suffers depression") and some are completely inaccurate (Salmonidae does NOT mean "the rest of you are adopted")
My instinct is to tell the authors to cut out the jokes about alcohol consumption and market this book for children. However, that would only serve to perpetuate the idea that evolution can be "genius", "mediocre" or "stupid". It cannot be any of those things, because it is not human; to say such things about evolution is the same as saying them about gravity. The understanding of evolution begins with realizing that it is a force of nature that strictly adheres to logical rules, and this book completely misses the point. It would be one thing to just point out and talk about funny looking animals, but this book perpetually refers to nature and evolution in a "what were they thinking?!" sense, thus ruining its only chance of being either entertaining or educational.
I do not recommend this.
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However, they are always followed by more stupid jokes. The authors also seem to get some amusement from peppering the text with large words that won't be understood by anyone who thinks their jokes are funny. For example: myrmecologist, polypeptide, congenital alopecia, and morphophonemic variation.
Another thing I really didn't like was their explanations of the binomial nomenclature. Some are accurate (Ophiophagus hannah means "snake eater"), some are partly accurate (Ailuropoda melanoleuca means "black and white cat foot", not "black and white black cat foot bear who suffers depression") and some are completely inaccurate (Salmonidae does NOT mean "the rest of you are adopted")
My instinct is to tell the authors to cut out the jokes about alcohol consumption and market this book for children. However, that would only serve to perpetuate the idea that evolution can be "genius", "mediocre" or "stupid". It cannot be any of those things, because it is not human; to say such things about evolution is the same as saying them about gravity. The understanding of evolution begins with realizing that it is a force of nature that strictly adheres to logical rules, and this book completely misses the point. It would be one thing to just point out and talk about funny looking animals, but this book perpetually refers to nature and evolution in a "what were they thinking?!" sense, thus ruining its only chance of being either entertaining or educational.
I do not recommend this.
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LibraryThing member glitrbug
Looking at the cover you might think this is a children's picture book. Reading the write-up on the back might lead you to expect something humorous. It's neither. There are some good stock photos you might recognize from somewhere else but the humor is lacking and the "science" is bad. Did no one
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fact check? Really, is that too much to ask? Show Less
LibraryThing member stypulkoski
Often educational and always entertaining, 'The Animal Review' by Jacob Lentz and Steve Nash is a delightful read. Receiving my copy from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, I admit that while I was intrigued enough to request the book, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Lentz (a
I would compare 'The Animal Review' with '1066 and All That', the well-known satirical look at English history. If you want a light-hearted science text, this may or may not be for you. If, however, you want a humorous book which focuses on science as a means to deliver its jokes, this just might be right up your alley.
All in all, a very pleasant surprise. The cover price on my copy is twelve dollars, which for an attractive hardcover book is quite fair.
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Harvard-educated comedy writer) teams with Nash (a writer with a professional background in advertising and an educational background in science) to "grade" the animal kingdom; that is, the two pick animals at random (well, maybe not exactly t random, as I'm sure they picked those that gave them the best material) and assign to them grades based on how each specie has evolved. The grades are subjective and the organization is a bit haphazard, but that's part of the fun. The goal of the book is to entertain, and this it does with aplomb.I would compare 'The Animal Review' with '1066 and All That', the well-known satirical look at English history. If you want a light-hearted science text, this may or may not be for you. If, however, you want a humorous book which focuses on science as a means to deliver its jokes, this just might be right up your alley.
All in all, a very pleasant surprise. The cover price on my copy is twelve dollars, which for an attractive hardcover book is quite fair.
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LibraryThing member hlselz
I dont really understand this book. Are the authors trying to be funny? Sarcastic? If so, they failed. Their attempt at satire was boring and pedestrian. I love humorous and witty books, but thought this one was stupid. The authors seem to write whatever nonsense and "comical" idea comes to their
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heads. The only good thing about this book was the pictures. Show Less
LibraryThing member SunnySD
Funny, offensive, fictitious and often unflattering "reviews" of a variety of natures most common (and uncommon) critters. Whether they walk, crawl, slither or swim the information on the lifeforms featured needs to be taken with not just a grain, but a whole salt-shaker of sodium chloride.
Would I
Overall, it's a bit irritating to have so many patently untrue "facts" tossed in willy-nilly with real ones. I found myself hunting up encyclopedia entries on various animals as I read in a somewhat fruitless effort to separate fact from fiction. Still, I think my 10 year-old son is going to love it, it's mostly entertaining, and if tongue-in-cheek humor is your thing, it might just be your cup of tea.
Would I
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buy this book - ever? Well, maybe if I was looking for a relatively expensive gag-gift for the animal science person in my life. But probably not. (Although as I regaled my biochemist husband with a few - I thought - hysterical passages likening locusts to teenage girls - not as much of a stretch as you'd think - he rolled his eyes at me and went back to grading papers. But then again, he did ask to borrow the book so he could show the - directions for avoiding - birding section to a colleague.) Overall, it's a bit irritating to have so many patently untrue "facts" tossed in willy-nilly with real ones. I found myself hunting up encyclopedia entries on various animals as I read in a somewhat fruitless effort to separate fact from fiction. Still, I think my 10 year-old son is going to love it, it's mostly entertaining, and if tongue-in-cheek humor is your thing, it might just be your cup of tea.
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LibraryThing member Morphidae
I found this to be a delightful book. I've read some other reviews, and I believe that reviewers didn't understand that this was strictly a humorous book for adults and very little should be taken seriously. I loved the snide comments and laughed out loud through out the book. Even the picture
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captions were funny. One of my favorite sections was the Spotlight on Birding. As a birder, I totally got it. Show Less
LibraryThing member goodinthestacks
Apparently, librarything thinks I would love this book. I thought I would too, but I was underwhelmed by it, especially since it is based on a website. Interesting concept, but I found it lackluster.
LibraryThing member masterdeski
Well, it would certainly be up to the individual as to whether these authors' humour is to your taste. I'd suggest checking out their website before buying this book to see if you like it. My take was about 50/50. Some of the irreverent and crass comments were borderline offensive, and I certainly
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didn't agree with all the grades given, but hey, to each his own. I did love the review on Wildebeest (Nature's punching bag; look, a picture of a wildebeest not being disemboweled) and Owls (perhaps it's best to stick to what the owl can't do ...). Overall funny, but extremely sensitive animal lovers beware. Show Less
LibraryThing member MelindaLibrary
This is an enjoyable, informative, and occasionally hilarious book. The only drawback is the use of sexist language, which lost the book a star. Other than that, I truly enjoyed this book, which is both educational and humorous (the authors interpretations of Latin words is great). Reading this
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book inspired me to look up more in-depth information about some of the animals covered. I recommend this book and have shared it with others. Show Less
LibraryThing member 06nwingert
The Animal Review is a cute, neat little book filled with great photographs of animals, along with write-ups and grades of each animal. The write-ups are a mixture of educational and informative and humorous. Although I didn't agree with every grade, I enjoyed the book.
LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
I enjoyed reading this book, it wasn't great, but it did have a few moments (Stoichiometric calculations anyone?) It started slow, but as I continued on, it became much more enjoyable to read. My big issue with this is that the animal reviews are so subjective... Yes, I know, this is satire, meant
The random trivia is pretty cool and I liked that they didn't match the animal on the page. The animals that were explained heavily with science (Golden Dart Frog and why the poison is so bad) is awesome, absolutely loved the whole segment, but the section on the King Cobra (its just awesome, no other explanation) was rather annoying, and left me thinking "is that all?".
I think this is a great book for someone who has seen a bit too much of Discovery Channels 'Life'.
And last, did anyone actual click "the click here" link in the authors bio? I plead "Not enough sleep" for doing it :)
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to poke fun at those animal guides that try to impress, but even a simple report card categories that match critter, (Gets an A for trying, but F on camouflage, C+ at keeping away predator, etc) would have made the reviews feel less subjective, more scientific, even if they weren't. The random trivia is pretty cool and I liked that they didn't match the animal on the page. The animals that were explained heavily with science (Golden Dart Frog and why the poison is so bad) is awesome, absolutely loved the whole segment, but the section on the King Cobra (its just awesome, no other explanation) was rather annoying, and left me thinking "is that all?".
I think this is a great book for someone who has seen a bit too much of Discovery Channels 'Life'.
And last, did anyone actual click "the click here" link in the authors bio? I plead "Not enough sleep" for doing it :)
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LibraryThing member jayde1599
Jacob Lentz and Steve Nash put together a humorous collection of animal facts, each with their own rating and grade. They classified the animals into 4 categories: land, sky, water, and other. In addition to facts, graphs, charts, and color photos are included. The book is more satire than
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informative and the ratings are highly subjective (animals that are cute and fuzzy seemed to get F's, while big, powerful, and poisonous animals got A's). The Animal Review is entertaining and would make a great gift book or a book just to make you laugh. Grade: B+ Show Less
LibraryThing member JNSelko
This will be short, sweet, and to the point- despite myself (I thought it was a Natural History book!), I found myself laughing frequently as I read this, the more so as it slowly dawned on me that "The Animal Review" was a book of Humor (yes, I am freakishly slow on the uptake). In fact, by the
Get the book, and, as long as you don’t expect to be illuminated on animal behavior, you might “get” it- and if you do, prepare to yock, guffaw and snort your way through it.
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time I neared the end, I was laughing so frequently and uncontrollably that my Wife feared for my health- seriously. (Especially the piece about the Great White Shark- I can’t explain it, it just struck me as so absurdly ridiculous [kinda like some Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast episodes] that I though my head was going to explode). Get the book, and, as long as you don’t expect to be illuminated on animal behavior, you might “get” it- and if you do, prepare to yock, guffaw and snort your way through it.
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LibraryThing member jenevolves
This book was a fun, quick read. The authors assign grades to all sorts of animals from around the world. I was worried it would become one-note like other humor books based on a blog (I'm looking at you FU Penguin), but the tone is light enough and there are plenty of funny and surprising grades
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given. This book will definitely help give you fodder for your next vulture versus peacock debate, and teach you why you should not love koalas or alpacas. Show Less
LibraryThing member wademlee
As with most humor, whether you like this book or not is a matter of taste. The 'reviews' of animals are varied enough that the joke never becomes completely repetitious, though in most cases the deadlier the animal, the higher the grade. Some metaphors are strained to the breaking point
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(locusts=teenage girls) which causes a review or two to devolve into non sequiturs. The actual facts that are camouflaged within the reviews keep it interesting, but of course, you would need an outside source to let you know fact from fiction in many cases. The book strongly reminded me of another book, and when I saw another review mentioning _1066 and All That_, I thought that might be it... In fact, I was reminded of Will Cuppy's _How to Attract the Wombat_, which covers some of the same ground in the same light style in its short essays. (Overlap includes the koala, the frog, the octopus, the snail, and the ladybug.) Show Less
LibraryThing member Phantasma
I really, really liked this! I'd never heard of this blog before, but since I've read the book, I've gone and looked at some of the articles on the site.
The book was not only funny, but, you actually could learn things, even if that wasn't precisely the intent. A reader has to be careful that they
It was fun and entertaining, and that's really all I asked of it...
The book was not only funny, but, you actually could learn things, even if that wasn't precisely the intent. A reader has to be careful that they
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don't fall for the silly, made up "facts" but there *are* truths within the satire.It was fun and entertaining, and that's really all I asked of it...
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LibraryThing member meggyweg
People who liked F. U. Penguin (the book or the blog) will like this book. The authors take on the fauna of the world in a humorous, often derisive tone, giving each animal a letter grade. The King Cobra gets an A-plus, for example, because they're afraid to give it a less than perfect grade since
This book has very good photos and includes a surprising number of real and interesting facts about the animals featured. It wasn't as funny as I hoped it would be, though. I only chuckled a few times.
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it's gigantic and deadly poisonous. The wimpy, dorky-looking llama gets an F.This book has very good photos and includes a surprising number of real and interesting facts about the animals featured. It wasn't as funny as I hoped it would be, though. I only chuckled a few times.
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LibraryThing member Merryann
Well, I like it. I understand the book not being everyone's cup of tea, but for me it works. It's certainly not a 'sit down and read it all in a day' kind of book. I find it more the kind of book that you pick up every now and then, read a couple of sections, then put down while it's still fresh
At any rate, I'm learning some interesting things about animals. I'm laughing. And every now and then I get pricked with a bit of uncomfortable self-awareness as I wonder if some of MY preconceived notions about animals might need re-examining. After all, why DOES the panda rate saving but the dung beetle gets squished amid cries of 'Ewww'?
I'm glad I bought this book.
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and funny. The photographs are wonderful. The facts are intriguing. I'm a little worried by the reviewers who pointed out that there are some factually incorrect parts to the book, so I'll be sure to double-check anything I think is a fact before counting on it, but right now I'm thinking the 'non-facts' are in the absurd humor bits, and those are pretty obvious to me. At any rate, I'm learning some interesting things about animals. I'm laughing. And every now and then I get pricked with a bit of uncomfortable self-awareness as I wonder if some of MY preconceived notions about animals might need re-examining. After all, why DOES the panda rate saving but the dung beetle gets squished amid cries of 'Ewww'?
I'm glad I bought this book.
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LibraryThing member KatyPhoenix
This book is amazing. Although I do not agree with all the grades given to the animals, they present their case in a manner that proves that not only that they were given alot of thought, but some science was applied. Then you add the fact that it's incredibly hilarious= amazing.
LibraryThing member the_bibliophibian
Throughout history, humans have been studying their fellow animals and judging them in various ways- these are good to eat, we kill those, this one makes a good pet. But Jacob Lentz and Steve Nash, operators of the Animal Review blog, had another question- are these animals even any good?
The
The Animal Review is especially perfect for reluctant readers who might need a little help in biology, or anyone who is bored on a rainy day. It’s a brief read packed with laughs that also manages to educate- and a surprising number of the jokes turn out to be scientifically accurate. If you’re still not sure, check out the blog link above for a free taste of what these two biology wizards can do.
The
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answers are in in this 144-page gem that serves as a report card for some of Earth’s most beloved and reviled species. It mixes hilarity with fact to provide a learning experience you’ll never forget- personally, I think that their analogy between sea cucumbers and people will remain burned into my brain until the day I day. This book will make you reexamine your opinions on every animal it lists- yes, pandas are going extinct, but have you ever considered that they might deserve it? And are hippos, which make adorable stuffed animals, really the serial kilers of the animal kingdom?The Animal Review is especially perfect for reluctant readers who might need a little help in biology, or anyone who is bored on a rainy day. It’s a brief read packed with laughs that also manages to educate- and a surprising number of the jokes turn out to be scientifically accurate. If you’re still not sure, check out the blog link above for a free taste of what these two biology wizards can do.
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