Thanking the Monkey

I heard about Karen Dawn's Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals from Alicia Silverstone's book, The Kind Diet (which I absolutely loved).I saw Thanking the Monkey at a used book sale last year and bought it, but didn't pick it up until recently. It's not exactly light reading--it delves into the abuse of animals in  the entertainment, food, and medical testing industries. Yet the book's format is almost fun, with cartoons and photos of celebrities with quotes about why they care about different animal rights issues. And it did make me rethink things. I've never considered myself as someone who cares about animal rights, but this book made me reexamine issues I had previously dismissed as not mattering much. It's not the kind of book that would appeal to everyone, but if you are interested in reading about animal welfare issues, this book covers everything and does so without giving a lot of dry information. I did enjoy it, especially since it helped reshape the way I see the world. (I love books that do that.)