On Tuesday, Square Books hosted a virtual panel with acclaimed author Susan Orlean, where she discussed her latest book, titled “On Animals” — a collection of widely varying and captivating stories, drawing on real-life profiles and musings to chronicle the intrinsic relationship between humankind and animal kind.
The conversation, co-hosted by novelist and science writer Nathaniel Rich, delved into specific details within the individual stories and expressed Orlean’s overall thematic goals and interests.
At the mere age of five, Orlean wrote and illustrated a book titled “Herbert the Near-Sighted Pigeon,” beginning, unbeknownst to her, a long-standing career interest in the natural world, specifically the animal kingdom.
“People can be figured out,” Orlean said. “But animals are enigmatic.”
Whereas her 1998 book “The Orchid Thief” — loosely adapted into the 2002 Academy Award-winning film, “Adaptation” — explored the underlying relationship between human life and plant life, “On Animals” seeks to explore the tie between human life and animal life, something many have simply taken for granted.
To examine this topic in great detail, Orlean draws from numerous eras and parts of the world, as well as numerous kinds of relationships to animals, from those we raise as household pets, to those who wind up on our dinner plates.
Although Orlean had toiled with these thematic ideas before, with the earliest piece in the book conceived back in 1995, the pandemic is what truly shifted her focus back to project, and, in turn, back to the natural world. As Orlean migrated to Los Angeles amidst the worldwide frenzy, she was forced to sell her farm and the animals she owned..
“[The pandemic] was a period of time when I was very reflective,” Orlean said. “The book served as a solace and reflection on those animals lost.”
While the impetus for the book was deeply rooted in our current, panicked times and within Orlean’s personal state, “On Animals,” like all her work, remains generous. Orlean explores various real-life animal-human relationships in an utterly humane and understanding manner, and encourages the reader to do the same.
These relationships include stories as heartfelt as Orlean’s interactions with the killer whale Keiko, who portrayed the titular whale in 1993’s “Free Willy,” to stories as bombastic as a New Jersey woman who owned twenty-three pet tigers in 1999, something none of her neighbors knew about until one of the tigers escaped.
Despite these respective pieces functioning as journalism, a medium inherently rooted in objectivity, they all still remain deeply personal to Orlean.
“That’s the thrill — learning about something I know nothing about,” Orlean said. “I’m good at being curious and that’s sufficient for me.”
Whether it be the world of a pigeon or the world of a killer whale, Orlean remains curious, with “On Animals” serving as a vital culmination in her literary canon, as well as playfully introducing new thematic ideas and avenues to explore.
“There is a moral imperative to learn about the world,” Orlean said, and few authors express this sentiment as eloquently.
“On Animals” is now available in hardcover. Signed bookplate editions are available at Square Books in Oxford and on their website.
