Raising the Peaceable Kingdom

Can a rat become a cat's friend, rather than an entrée? Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson didn't just ask that question; he brought a dog, a cat, two rats, two chickens, and a rabbit into his Auckland, New Zealand, home to see how they would relate in hopes of shedding light on human relationships. Tim Jerome reads Masson's first-person work with a suitably professorial tone, although he sometimes sounds too didactic or astonished. Other times, he has a good handle on the wry humor and thoughtful insights that arise from dealing with house chickens making a mess or seeing a dog protect a rabbit friend from another dog. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

July 18, 2005
Masson (When Elephants Weep
) records his attempt to "raise together a kitten, a puppy, a bunny, a chick, and a baby rat" in hopes that this "might offer some lessons to us humans" on how to avoid bigotry and war. The result hovers between science and cute animal stories, with not enough of either to succeed. Masson tells us a great deal about handpicking the animals, choosing a cat bred not to hunt and a nonaggressive dog, but not much about how he introduces them to one another and their changeable living situations. His discoveries about the animals seldom rise above the banal (rats have delicate ears; chickens eat insects). More of his attention goes to agonizing about reading the animals' emotions and fretting over—but not grappling with—the conflict inherent in wanting to provide the animals with as natural a life as possible while impatiently expecting them to overcome hardwired reactions to predators and prey. In the end, some of the animals become buddies, but one rat dies under mysterious circumstances, and the "peaceable kingdom" proves stressful for the dog. Masson's peaceable kingdom seems unattainable fantasy. B&w photos. Agent, Elaine Markson.