Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat | A

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a spider or why "female chimpanzees will readily exchange meat for sex?" If so, you've probably read Hal Herzog's Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat,(Or you might have a creepy animal fetish, to each his own.) Nonetheless, Herzog's latest work provides an intelligent discussion of the human-animal relationship that will surely leave readers looking at Fido in a new light.

Cover-browsers might scan the title and think, "Eh, I already have PETA's Vegan College Cookbook." However, Herzog's treatment of the complex and contradictory ways in which we view animals is an important primer for an in-depth discussion about animal rights. The book's central theme is well-stated in the title of its introduction: "Why Is It So Hard to Think Straight about Animals?" While Herzog avoids an abstruse, philosophical analysis of the problem, he presents a comprehensive approach that is not only accessible to the layman but informative even for the professional. His purpose here is to reveal just how silly and inconsistent our views about our place in the animal kingdom tend to be and to force the readers to confront themselves and their assumptions.

Just ask yourself: Would you sacrifice a chicken to save a dying human? How about 10 million chickens? How about sacrificing a million mice to prevent dengue fever? Or a thousand chimpanzees to try to develop a vaccine for influenza, which may or may not work? Some look at a piece of raw meat as a simple fait accompli, with nothing else left to do but eat it. Others wouldn't be caught dead wearing fur.

Herzog's examination focuses primarily upon the conflict within at least some of us who experience it and are looking for answers. Though the author does not provide conclusive answers, he sets out to inform the reader about these dilemmas rather than to form the reader's moral constitution. To be sure, we know that different people will respond to each of these situations with different answers, but what is interesting is how a single person may change his or her answer in response to a slight variation of the circumstances.

So whether you wear a fur coat or leather boots, have a dozen pets or just look up LOLcats pictures online, Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat will have you looking at animals a little differently.