One With the Tiger

September 5, 2016
In this engaging volume, essayist Church (The Guinness Book of Me) uses the story of David Villalobos’s 2012 jump into the Bronx Zoo’s tiger cage to launch a broader discussion on the connections people try to forge with animals—and the blurry line between humans and beasts. What compelled the man to risk injury or death and criminal prosecution? What thrill had Villalobos been seeking? As Church attempts to make sense of the event, he studies human interest in the behavior of beasts as well as human tendencies toward anger and violence. For example, Church was captivated in the 1970s by television series such as Grizzly Adams—about a mountaineer and his bear, Ben—and The Incredible Hulk, which he watched religiously. Church finds the dichotomy between “gentle soul, scientist” David Banner (Bruce Banner in the original comic) and the “damaged and dangerous” Hulk intensely fascinating. Another section on boxer Mike Tyson,
who in a 1997 fight bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear, is also remarkable, speaking to the sport’s inherent savagery and human attraction to the spectacle. Readers expecting a narrow examination of Villalobos’s tiger encounter at the zoo will be rewarded instead with Church’s insightful exploration of human infatuation with nonhuman animals.

An exploration of the fascination with the "savage and the wild inside" us, which fuels the human desire "to get intimately close to apex predators."Church (Creative Writing/Fresno State Univ.; Ultrasonic, 2014, etc.), who admits to having an obsession with tales of "survival in the face of animal savagery," begins with the story of David Villalobos, a 25-year-old man who, in 2012, jumped into a tiger cage at the Bronx Zoo. The author attributes the rekindling of his own adolescent preoccupation with violence and his fascination with Villalobos' leap to his agreement to help out a fellow faculty member by "play-act[ing] the role of a bear attack victim for his beginning reporting class." The students would then submit an eyewitness report of the incident. In order to play the role convincingly, Church researched the 1967 death of a young woman camping in Glacier National Park, which was the subject of a 2010 documentary film. Despite the brutality of such an event from the point of view of the victim, the author deplores the wide-scale killing of bears in the neighborhood of such an incident in the hope of killing the attacker. As he probed the subject in more detail, Church recognized his own morbid attraction to the thrill evoked by the possibility of such an encounter. At first, he attributes this to the "quiet vigilance and hyper-awareness required to hike in bear country," but further self-examination led him into deeper territory, including his attraction to the violence of Mike Tyson's boxing matches and his own potentially violent response to provocation. The author's large frame makes him a formidable opponent, and while he reassures us that he makes every effort to keep his temper in check even when provoked, he admits the appeal of potentially violent encounters: those "fleeting moments where immortality exists, where you are most fully and completely and terrifyingly alive." A powerfully written attention-grabber with a questionable message. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2016

The idea of being attacked by wild animals has long been an area for exploration in popular culture. Church (Ultrasonic; The Guinness Book of Me) begins his latest book by introducing the story of David Villalobos, who in 2012 jumped into a Siberian tiger enclosure at the Bronx Zoo. Villalobos later called the event a "spiritual thing." There is a powerful experience that many humans seek out in placing themselves in situations that get them closer to apex predators. Documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog calls it the "gaze at moral indifference," in which the animal is merely one choice away from "making you into a meal." The author examines his own animal instincts and curiosity, purposely placing himself in bear country and discussing circumstances in which he has become "animal like" in his response to perceived physical threats. Church does well in connecting the human fascination with apex predator behavior and its potential relation to our own animal instincts. A thought-provoking argument is made as to why people seek contact with these creatures. VERDICT Those with a general interest in this topic would benefit the most from reading this captivating study.--Gary Medina, El Camino Coll., Torrance, CA

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2016
What is it that we see when we look into the eyes of something wild? Where some find a sense of deep connection, others see hostility or, perhaps even worse, thoughtless indifference. It is these wildly differing interpretations of animal encounters that essayist Church (The Day after The Day After, 2010) explores in his new collection. Church begins with the story of David Villalobos, a young man who jumped into a tiger pen at the Bronx Zoo, saying only that he wanted to be at one with the tiger. Though understanding Villalobos' true motivation ultimately eludes Church, the story obsesses him and leads into larger questions of how we relate to wildness, both in animals and within ourselves. With a style that is both friendly and penetrating, Church takes his exploration of animal nature beyond animal encounters; his essays weave together everything from Mike Tyson to 1970s pop culture. At his best, Church combines the thoughtfulness of Rebecca Solnit with the sharpness of Chuck Klosterman, producing a collection of essays that is as insightful as it is entertaining.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)