I skimmed parts. I was mostly reading for the sweet and fascinating stories and anecdotes.I've read or skimmed other books in this vein, and they seemed really obvious. (duh, we've all witnessed family pets exhibiting joy, grief, fear, jealousy.)This book wasn't "obvious," and it was an easy and pleasant read. The implications of 'yes, pigs are smart,' 'yes, cows play games and act vain,' and 'yes, the creatures you eat feel pain and fear,' were pretty clear and thought-provoking, so I skipped t...

The premise of this book is to call for a reassessment of how we view animals and how their emotional lives at least to some point drive their behavior. The author puts forth the belief that animals are thinking, feeling sentient beings as we are. And because they are we need to reassess and change the way we study them,care for them and use them. The book is short and readable in that I didn't have to have a dictionary beside me to understand it. Having been written for lay people, there were

Bekoff makes his case for the existence of feelings in animals -- I hope scientists soon accept this idea, quit railing about anthropomorphism, and recognize the similarities of our systems. The issue seems so obvious that no book of this sort would be needed but the issue remains.The author gave interesting examples of animals displaying emotions. Many of these I had read elsewhere but the set of examples enjoyable. There was some cellular explanations to support his thesis -- mirror cells.In g...

The first half he tries to convince you that animals have feelings. (I think if you're reading this book, you probably already believe that.) The second half he segues into arguments for improved treatment of animals across the board. This book is not at all scientifically rigorous, if that's what you're looking for. Having said that, it's a very quick read, with many cute animal anecdotes, so why not.

I wouldn't criticize this book for over-reliance on anecdotes, because Bekoff never contends that he is scientifically rigorous in a traditional sense - in fact, he partially rejected accepted scientific method in refusing to perform dissections while still a student. His arguments that animals need to be observed and studied in their natural habitats is a cogent one, supported by other modern scientists and naturalists - including Renee Askins, whose Shadow Mountain is another terrific recent r...

Amazing!!!!

Nice

This was an excellent book that gives many valuable insights. Don't believe the negative reviews. These are made mostly by non-scientists caught up in the new religion that Science has become. By its very nature, the findings recorded in this book are observational, i.e. of the animals in their normal environment. Hence, you cannot run the same test identically 1000 times as you can do determine the boiling point of water. I am a PhD in Nuclear Physics. I know what Science can and cannot do. In

I love this writer, and his style, and his journey in the field of animal research. But I need to stop reading books like this because the stories of animal testing and cruelty stay with me. Suffice to say I also believe animals have emotions. They are clearly superior beings to humans.

As a neurobiologist investigating the neural substrates of behavior, I was initially very interested in this book. Despite years of education in neuroscience, I have never satisfactorily been able to discuss animal emotion and have worried that I've approached the issue with an anthropocentric arrogance. This book has unintentionally convinced me that we can never fully understand or valuate the emotional lives of animals and that the case for human-like (i.e., complex) emotions in animals is ex...

I really like the *idea* of this book, but I feel like it could have been a third as long (or the same length with better/more data). There was **a lot** of repetition of "it's obvious that animals have emotions" and "there is scientific data to back it up" but not as many actual impressive anecdotes recounting intelligence/sentience/emotion or hard data from studies of neurotransmitters/lab experiments/etc.Overall I think he basically made his point that animals are more self aware, socially aw...

I love this book! Marc Bekoff is a leading scientist in the area of cognitive ethology (the observation of animals under natural conditions). As an animal lover, I found myself nodding along to all of his statements. Even though Marc Bekoff presents scientific content, his writing style is simple and straight-forward. He thoroughly explains the scientific terms he uses. I walked away from the book having learned several new terms. My favorite is anthropomorphism, which is the attribution of uniq...

I had high hopes for this book but I've been disappointed by the frame the author chose for the book. Bekoff is trying to teach people who don't necessarily agree that animals have "emotional lives" about the behaviors and signs that speak for animal emotions. However, he argues for the relevance of the work he and other scientists have done by asserting that the emotional lives of animals are important to humans because we need animals. In other words, the reasons for writing this book come acr...

Animals and emotions. It’s a touchy subject. Most people can readily admit that most animals have primary (fight or flight) type reactions. However, opinions begin to change when researchers start discussing secondary emotions, like love, compassion, sadness, etc. Anyone who has ever had a pet knows for a fact that their cat, dog, snake, etc has such emotions. We know for a fact that they have very distinct personalities and preferences. Yet, somehow the same people, find it difficult to believe...

While I agree with many of the reviewers that this book preaches to the choir and doesn't make arguments that move beyond justifying a humane and ethical approach to animals based on what they can offer and provide us, I think the book is worth reading if only to point out not only that animals have a significant range of emotions that may be equal to or even surpass what humans feel, but that we shouldn't judge animals based on their pet-friendliness or their cutesy qualities. Rather, an import...

Most people who read this book probably already have the inclination to respect animals and believe that they experience a myriad of emotions so the author is unfortunately, preaching to the choir. If only the people who really needed to be made aware of the topic of this book would actually pick it up. Most moving/memorable story was that of Jasper, the moon bear - held captive in a rusting "crush cage" at a bear bile farm in China (good old China!) for 15 years! The book did feel a bit abbrevi...

This was a remarkable and important overview of the emotional lives of animals, what they mean for our worldview and human society. It included some wonderful, touching stories, and some very interesting points. The book was hampered by the lack of a defined structure, but was readable and enjoyable for all that. The occasional spate of weak writing crept in (and there was some abuse of exclamation points). The main flaw is that the author seems to suffer from black-and-white vision and an super...

I started reading Marc Bekoff's THE EMOTIONAL LIVES OF ANIMALS several weeks ago. I was moving through it at my usual snail's pace, reading every word and hoping that my interest in the material would soon equal my interest in the book BEFORE I began reading it. Then I found myself skimming pages, then skipping pages. Still, I resisted conceding the possibility that a book entitled THE EMOTIONAL LIVES OF ANIMALS might be dull. Eventually I got tired of being bored. Not even the joy of discoverin...

Marc Bekoff takes his scientific research, that he has accumulated for over thirty years, and turns it into a charming book proving that animals do in fact have emotions. It is clear that he is trying to prove to his readers that animals have feelings and these feelings need to be respected. Bekoff proves his findings through several anecdotes and first hand experiences he’s had over the years. His lighthearted humor and touching stories is what gave this book life. It wasn’t a boring essay fill...

The most important practical takeaway from this book is that "well-being centers on what animals feel, not what they know" (knowledge, intelligence, and emotions aren't necessarily correlated, and the ability to suffer depends on emotions, so we shouldn't base our moral judgments on knowledge or intelligence the way a lot of people do when they say things like "it's okay to eat a fish but not a cow").Bekoff is more focused on practical considerations than a lot of people. He's aware that the res...