The Menagerie, A Zoo Story

Many American zoos were founded just before the turn of the 20th century when people were looking to get outdoors and escape their increasingly industrialized, urban environments. Today zoos are stronger than ever, as communities invest millions of dollars in their development and upkeep. With 181 million visitors every year, zoos and aquariums clearly resonate with the American people. But zoos are also polarizing influences on contemporary American life, crying out for new forms of understanding as animal rights groups call for their abolition. 

Though a work of fiction, the Dotson Park Zoo could be a typical American zoo—a zoo that has long prided itself on being at the cutting edge of zoo technology. Its history includes a wrestling bear that kills a man in a bar-fight, a cobra in a baby carriage, and chimpanzees and elephants living together in the same space. It is a story replete with shady dealmaking, backstabbing and even murder. At the Dotson Park Zoo, the only thing more dangerous than the animals is the politics.

A wonderfully written story. Symbiosis, the Journal of the Association of Zoo and Aquarium Docents

One of the most original pieces that I have read. [It] changed how I view zoos and has given me a newfound respect for the work that goes on to keep them afloat.        Online Book Club

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