Today, the first trade reviews of “Talking To Animals” came in. They are good, with some squawks.

Booklist is enthusiastic, it says “Katz tells illuminating stories about why he chose each animal and what the animal taught him…his honest, straightforward and sometimes searing prose will speak to those who love animals, and might well convert some who do not.” Kirkus said I am a “soft-hearted, warm advocate for animals of all kinds,” and that the book “chronicles many affecting encounters with animals.” They also said I was, at times, “cloying” and “woo-woo,” two adjectives never before attached to me. I think, in all honestly, I have become a bit woo-woo as I ripen.

Publishers Weekly says “Bestseller Katz fills his latest book with moving essays on what he has learned from different animals…Katz is most successful when relating the sometimes heartbreaking stories of animals or urging readers to consider how animals perceive the world.” The reviewer said I was less successful detailing precisely how I communicate with animals.

All told, good stuff, the book looks to be both warm-hearted and provocative to reviewers, and that is a good place for a book of mine to be. There are many fewer reviews of books than there used to be, and sadly, they don’t count for as much.

Trade reviews are for the industry – bookstores, libraries. Mainstream reviews come later, when the book is published. The worst thing is to not get reviewed.

You win if you are  reviewed at all these days, and if you get at least one blurb  out of every review that is very good. You also want there to be talking points for media, and it looks like my writing on the New York Carriage Horses and challenging the animal rights movement to broaden it’s approach to animal’s and their future is creating some.

A reviewer for the Bark Magazine in San Francisco – an interesting and lively magazine,  they are very close to the animal rights movement –  was so outraged by the book that the magazine refused to review it all.  “Absolutely not!” To me, that would make a great blurb for the jacket.

They do not traffic in differing points of view there.

I actually expected more of that, I have never seen myself as a controversial figure, but it seems I am. I’m okay with it.  If you poke the bear, you should expect the bear to poke back.

And it’s very good for a book, especially these days, when many authors and their books have been drowned out, their books disappearing amidst the furor over  Trump. It is very difficult to get noticed. Trump is a media-sucking machine, you can’t imagine how many books die that way.

The book is due out May 5, if you pre-order it from Battenkill Books, my local bookstore, you can win a very classy-tote bag (see above). I believe the book offers some strong anecdotes but also argues for a new and wiser way to understand animals. I think that is the core of it, and I don’t know if people will get that or not. But I’m proud to have written it.

You can also pre-order the book by phoning Battenkill at 518 677-2515.

If you do pre-order the book – there are 500 tote-bags left, I will also sign and personalize them for you. Connie Brooks takes Paypal and major credit cards.

Thanks for your support. Someone at the Mansion asked me if it was exciting to have a book published. Yes, it is.