Being a Beast: Adventures Across the Species Divide

I heard this author interviewed in KPR and knew I wanted to read his book. It is simply wonderful. I am a Master Naturalist and took this book to one of our meetings and read some portions to our members. They all loved it as well. This is well written and most certainly presents a different way of viewing the animal world. A great read! Gave me lots to think about and that is always a good thing.

I usually don’t buy books or stories with animals because some animal always gets hurt or killed. And I think there’s something like that in the section on red deer (haven’t gotten that far) so I may have to skip that part. But what I have read so far is the most extraordinary book I’ve ever read. It’s intelligent and witty and LOL. Try it.

It becomes quickly clear that man is man and beast is beast, but there are many interesting insights and the author doesn't take himself too seriously, there is much wry humour. I enjoyed the book.

This exploration of what it is to 'be a beast' is a poetic masterpiece of reflection. For anyone who wants a guide to becoming intimate with one's fellows, this is the book. While there is 'heart' in every page, there's a full dose of reality as well. It was an incredible experience to witness these adventures and thoughts about the adventures as told by Foster.

This book is pretty much rubbish. The book is fairly well written and has an interesting concept, but Charles Foster shines through for who he is--quite out of touch with the rest of humanity. He is just another arrogant, academic twit who thinks he is authentic. He thinks he knows these animals better than other people because he has pretended to be these animals (before he heads off to the pub, or someone calls the police on this weirdo for crapping himself in public or digging through trash bags). He seems to think that spending months pretending to be an animal (and suffering) equates to somehow understanding the world from their perspective. Despite all his truly gruesome efforts to identify with these creatures, his experiment is a colossal failure. His writing is at times lyrical and his observations are interesting, but his arrogance and self-satisfaction completely ruin this book. A more humble man would admit he has completely no idea what it is like to be a badger, otter, fox, deer, or swift, but not this expert.

This book is quite strange, which I expected and sought out. Many of the descriptions of Foster's experiences and his thoughts on those experiences are nimbly written and very interesting. On the other hand, Foster spends substantial chunks of the book wallowing around inside his own head. Sometimes this feels relevant and worthwhile, but more often it just seems self-indulgent. I found it a chore to read many of these parts. Maybe I should have accepted the book as a traditional memoir with a running theme of "being a beast," rather than a more focused exploration of that topic. But I don't think that's what the book sells itself as, and I don't think it's as interesting or novel a project as really focusing on the relationship between human and animal experience. I was torn on whether to give this book three or four stars. I usually purely enjoy reading, and I can't honestly say I enjoyed reading most of this book. But it made me think, and there were enough bits that were funny or profound or lovely that I feel glad I read it in retrospect, and have therefore rounded up.

If this author wasn't tenured at Oxford and Cambridge, he'd be considered a nutcase. But the worst thing that happens to him is being ordered to stop lying on the sidewalk when he was watching London foxes but trying to keep out of their way. Reading this is a fun and fabulous learning experience, and you don't have to live in a badger set or swim with newts or eat a diet of earthworms to have the reading experience!

I heard this was a fascinating and different approach to nature writing, and it truly is fun and interesting to read. It falls right between natural science and fiction. The author is attempting and often succeeding to give a reader the experience of being one of these animals in its natural elements. If you like the idea of that, you will likely enjoy this book.

Foster t’emmène en forêt avec lui et t’apprends beaucoup sur les animaux et aussi sur nous. Ce livre est truffé de faits intéressants mais te fait aussi rêver et philosopher.... je recommande !

Fantastic read and super engaging..really makes you see and think differently..

Charles Foster is an academic and a brillant writer. He combines facts (about the animal world) with storytellig (about his experiences trying to live like different animals, badger, fox, otter, deer...) in a genuine way that is both informative and entertaining and also very personal. To everybody who is wondering what makes living beings being alive (and humans human) the book is highly recommended.

This book took my breath away. The author's approach to dealing with the beasts described in the book was startling to say the least. At first l thought he was a touch crazy, but l

Mit dem Lesen der Rezension in der "WELT" wurde das Interesse für dieses Buch geweckt. Der Autor versucht herauszufinden wie es ist als Dachs, Otter, ... zu leben. Als Dachs lebte er sechs Wochen, schlief wie einer und vertilgte Würmer. ... mehr wird noch nicht verraten - für Natur Interessierte lesenswert!