EP 054
November 15, 2022
Susan Orlean on living with animals and following her curiosity.
Show Notes:
This week, Angela talks to New Yorker staff writer Susan Orlean, the New York Times-bestselling author of Rin Tin Tin, Saturday Night, and The Orchid Thief (the basis for the Academy Award–winning film, Adaptation), among other books. The conversation begins with On Animals—Susan’s collection of favorites pieces exploring animal-human relationships—and her own experiences of living alongside various creatures. They also talk about honing your instincts as a writer and letting your curiosity lead you to unexpected places. Read Susan’s latest piece for the New Yorker about Dillie, a whitetail deer from Ohio.
Follow Susan Orlean:
On Animals
by Susan Orlean
$16.73
BUY NOW"Magnificent." --The New York Times * "Beguiling, observant, and howlingly funny." --San Francisco Chronicle * "Spectacular." --Star Tribune (Minneapolis) * "Full of astonishments." --The Boston Globe
Susan Orlean--the beloved New Yorker staff writer hailed as "a national treasure" by The Washington Post and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Library Book--gathers a lifetime of musings, meditations, and in-depth profiles about animals.
"How we interact with animals has preoccupied philosophers, poets, and naturalists for ages," writes Susan Orlean. Since the age of six, when Orlean wrote and illustrated a book called Herbert the Near-Sighted Pigeon, she's been drawn to stories about how we live with animals, and how they abide by us. Now, in On Animals, she examines animal-human relationships through the compelling tales she has written over the course of her celebrated career.
"Magnificent." --The New York Times * "Beguiling, observant, and howlingly funny." --San Francisco Chronicle * "Spectacular." --Star Tribune (Minneapolis) * "Full of astonishments." --The Boston Globe
Susan Orlean--the beloved New Yorker staff writer hailed as "a national treasure" by The Washington Post and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Library Book--gathers a lifetime of musings, meditations, and in-depth profiles about animals.
"How we interact with animals has preoccupied philosophers, poets, and naturalists for ages," writes Susan Orlean. Since the age of six, when Orlean wrote and illustrated a book called Herbert the Near-Sighted Pigeon, she's been drawn to stories about how we live with animals, and how they abide by us. Now, in On Animals, she examines animal-human relationships through the compelling tales she has written over the course of her celebrated career.