The Book of Pet Love and Loss by Sara Bader

The Book of Pet Love and Loss by Sara Bader

A powerful collection of quotations by writers, leaders, and legends on the pain of losing a pet and overcoming grief.

An animal's love is deep, uncomplicated, unconditional, and forgiving. "Affection without ambivalence" is how Sigmund Freud described the connection. "No matter how awful the day, or how awful I am behaving at any given moment, George doesn't care," writes journalist John Dickerson. "He finds me smoldering in my chair and dashes to my lap." Our lives are intricately intertwined with our pets, and together, over time, we establish rituals that are as steady as a metronome. It's no wonder the grief is crushing when they depart--even those who've had time to prepare describe feeling stunned, devastated, and cracked in two.

"We were a bit broken up over the death of our black Persian cat," crime novelist Raymond Chandler confessed. "When I say a bit broken up, I am being conventional. For us it was a tragedy." Nobel Prize-winning author V. S. Naipaul described the experience as "calamitous," and writer May Sarton called it a "volcanic eruption of woe." Poet Emily Dickinson was so bereft she asked for help: "Carlo died," she announced in a letter to her friend Thomas Wentworth Higginson in 1866. "Would you instruct me now?"

The Book of Pet Love and Loss is a collection of quotations--poignant thoughts and memories discovered in letters, journals, diaries, memoirs, and other original sources--from beloved cultural figures who understood this singular experience so deeply, they felt compelled to write about it. This book dignifies the profound connection we share with our animal companions, but it also provides solace as mourners document their heartache over the loss of their cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, and other animals--even, in the case of Pablo Neruda, a mongoose. Their comforting and wise words are what every animal lover needs on this journey of heartbreak and healing.

Sara Bader is a researcher, writer, and editor. Weird Red Cow: and Other Odd Classified Advertisement from the Past, a look at U.S. classified ads, is her first book. Throughout the last three centuries, history has been written in the form of classified adverts. The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune, among other publications, highlighted Weird Red Cow. Quotenik.com, a growing archive of verified quotations, is founded and edited by Bader.

Journalists, authors, speechwriters, playwrights, and others will find the online archive useful. She works for Princeton Architectural Press, where she edits and purchases visual culture books.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781982134310
ISBN 10	1982134313
Title	The Book of Pet Love and Loss
Author	Sara Bader
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Simon & Schuster
Year published	2023-06-13
Number of pages	240
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.