If you are an animal lover, Elizabeth Hess is an author you should get to know. However, be forewarned: Hers are not the sentimental “Marley and Me” type books. She writes about some of the challenges that animals face and that doesn’t always make for pretty writing.
New Yorkers will remember her as the author of a lengthy and excellent investigative piece written for New York Magazine in 1998 on the state of the city’s animal shelters (which were deplorable at that time – but happily have much improved since.)
Hess went on to write “Lost and Found: Dogs, Cats, and Everyday Heroes at a Country Animal Shelter.” It’s a nonfiction look at the day-to-day experiences at a no-kill animal shelter in a rural enclave of New York state.
Again, not everything here is pretty to read but for those who love animals she touches on some essential issues and does so with a deft hand. When it comes to the struggles of homeless pets, information can only help. And readable books like Hess’s have the power to do much good.
Hess’s latest book takes a different kind of look at an animal issue. She writes about the true story of Nim Chimpsky, the chimp who was raised as a human as part of a language experiment in the 1970s. For those interested in the human-animal bond, this makes for a fascinating and moving read. To see the Monitor’s full review of “Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human” by Elizabeth Hess, click here.
