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The Emperor's Embrace: Reflections on Animal Families & Fatherhood
With fascinating insight, impeccable research, and captivating writing, controversial psychoanalyst Jeffrey Masson, a new father himself, showcases the extraordinary behaviour of outstanding fathers in the animal kingdom. From the emperor penguin, who incubates the eggs of his young by carrying them around on his feet for two months, to the sea-horse, the only male animal that gives birth to its young. Mason also examines nature's worst fathers; lions, bears, and humans. It is a book that will forever change our perceptions of parenthood and love.
240 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1999
About the author
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
50 books261 followersHe has written several books books critical of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and psychiatry as well as books on animals, their emotions and their rights.
He currently lives in New Zealand with his wife, two sons, three cats and three rats.
He currently lives in New Zealand with his wife, two sons, three cats and three rats.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 12, 2020
Complessivamente, ho trovato questo libro molto interessante.
Trovo che l'argomento principale, ovvero il concetto di paternità, famiglia e la loro reciproca relazione, sia stato trattato con cura, nonostante a parer mio ci siano alcune mancanze.
Sicuramente la più importante si riferisce al fatto che Masson non sia un etologo, bensì uno psicanalista. Lui stesso ha ammesso di aver scritto questo libro presentandolo come una sorta di collage di scritti, idee e ricerche di altri autori.
Quando Masson riflette sulle ragioni che hanno causato un determinato atteggiamento in un animale, non può far altro che esprimere la sua opinione, in quanto, non essendone uno studioso, non può essere in grado di comprendere le meccaniche di tale comportamento.
Un altro punto a sfavore del libo è il fatto che alcuni capitoli, oltre a essere ripetitivi, siano organizzati in maniera tale da rendere difficile la lettura (o perlomeno questa è stata la mia impressione). Ho quindi preferito di gran lunga i capitoli monotematici, in cui veniva affrontata una famiglia o una singola specie (come quelli sui pinguini, sui pesci o sui megapodidi).
Nonostante questo, il libro presenta notevoli punti di forza.
Il saggio è scorrevole ed è scritto in un linguaggio semplice e facilmente comprensibile. Ho trovato l'epilogo affascinante, in quanto vengono tracciati dei paralleli molto interessanti tra l'evoluzione umana e quella di altri animali: ho sicuramente imparato moltissime cose su un argomento che conoscevo molto poco.
Nonostante sia una tematica piuttosto complessa, l'autore è riuscito molto spesso a incuriosirmi e a stupirmi, impedendomi di staccare gli occhi dalla pagina.
Trovo che l'argomento principale, ovvero il concetto di paternità, famiglia e la loro reciproca relazione, sia stato trattato con cura, nonostante a parer mio ci siano alcune mancanze.
Sicuramente la più importante si riferisce al fatto che Masson non sia un etologo, bensì uno psicanalista. Lui stesso ha ammesso di aver scritto questo libro presentandolo come una sorta di collage di scritti, idee e ricerche di altri autori.
Quando Masson riflette sulle ragioni che hanno causato un determinato atteggiamento in un animale, non può far altro che esprimere la sua opinione, in quanto, non essendone uno studioso, non può essere in grado di comprendere le meccaniche di tale comportamento.
Un altro punto a sfavore del libo è il fatto che alcuni capitoli, oltre a essere ripetitivi, siano organizzati in maniera tale da rendere difficile la lettura (o perlomeno questa è stata la mia impressione). Ho quindi preferito di gran lunga i capitoli monotematici, in cui veniva affrontata una famiglia o una singola specie (come quelli sui pinguini, sui pesci o sui megapodidi).
Nonostante questo, il libro presenta notevoli punti di forza.
Il saggio è scorrevole ed è scritto in un linguaggio semplice e facilmente comprensibile. Ho trovato l'epilogo affascinante, in quanto vengono tracciati dei paralleli molto interessanti tra l'evoluzione umana e quella di altri animali: ho sicuramente imparato moltissime cose su un argomento che conoscevo molto poco.
Nonostante sia una tematica piuttosto complessa, l'autore è riuscito molto spesso a incuriosirmi e a stupirmi, impedendomi di staccare gli occhi dalla pagina.
June 16, 2024
Masson writes engagingly about different forms of parenting and nurture in the nonhuman world, while trying to challenge evolutionary theories. He often speculates on the motives behind fatherhood action, the "nature" of emotions, or free will. One problem is that he looks for these motives in human beings; another is that he evaluates them in categories of good and evil. The transfer of human qualities to nonhuman creatures is, of course, controversial. Among other things, because these qualities are not easy to explain even in humans. Moreover, they may vary from being to being.
There is no lack of controversial points in the literature on biological topics, and here, too, one could find several of them. However, if you can rise above the author's approach, you will find an amount of amazing information in the book about the lives of various animal species.
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Masson pútavo píše o rôznych formách rodičovstva a výchovy v mimoľudskom svete, pričom polemizuje s evolučnými teóriami. Často špekuluje o motívoch otcovského konania, "prirodzenosti" emócií či slobodnej vôli. Jedným z problémov je, že tieto motívy hľadá v ľudskom konaní, ďalším, že ich hodnotí v kategóriách dobra a zla. Prenos ľudských vlastností na mimoľudské tvory samozrejme vyvoláva spory. Okrem iného preto, že tieto vlastnosti nie je jednoduché vysvetliť ani u ľudí. Navyše, u jednotlivých tvorov sa môžu líšiť.
V literatúre venujúcej sa biologickým témam nezvykne bývať núdza o sporné body, aj tu by sa ich dalo nájsť niekoľko. Ak sa však nad autorov prístup dokážete povzniesť, v knihe nájdete množstvo úžasných informácií zo života rôznych živočíšnych druhov.
There is no lack of controversial points in the literature on biological topics, and here, too, one could find several of them. However, if you can rise above the author's approach, you will find an amount of amazing information in the book about the lives of various animal species.
-------------------------
Masson pútavo píše o rôznych formách rodičovstva a výchovy v mimoľudskom svete, pričom polemizuje s evolučnými teóriami. Často špekuluje o motívoch otcovského konania, "prirodzenosti" emócií či slobodnej vôli. Jedným z problémov je, že tieto motívy hľadá v ľudskom konaní, ďalším, že ich hodnotí v kategóriách dobra a zla. Prenos ľudských vlastností na mimoľudské tvory samozrejme vyvoláva spory. Okrem iného preto, že tieto vlastnosti nie je jednoduché vysvetliť ani u ľudí. Navyše, u jednotlivých tvorov sa môžu líšiť.
V literatúre venujúcej sa biologickým témam nezvykne bývať núdza o sporné body, aj tu by sa ich dalo nájsť niekoľko. Ak sa však nad autorov prístup dokážete povzniesť, v knihe nájdete množstvo úžasných informácií zo života rôznych živočíšnych druhov.
April 2, 2008
Fatherhood means different things to different species. I found this book fascinating, especially when the author compared the role fathers play in wild versus domesticated species.
January 5, 2026
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4.5 Stars
Feelings about the book:
- I found this book randomly in my house, and decided to read it. And I'm very glad I did.
Premise/Plot:
- The Emperor's Embrace: Fatherhood In Evolution, Jeffrey Masson is lowkey a beautiful book about parenthood, protection and development in nature.
- Masson cites stories from scientists who study a range of animals. At times, it feels like a David Attenborough documentary. Masson catalogues the lives of numerous animals and the way their genetics, environment and emotions shape their lives. It was pretty amazing to read the lengths that animal parents will go to, to feed their young.
- Masson describes the mating rituals, sexual encounters, and parental structures of numerous animals in this book. He talks to many researchers from around the globe about what humans have been able to gather about animals from observations. What is also wild, is that Masson regularly reminds the reader that there are numerous animals that we don’t know that much about. Mainly because it so hard for humans to venture into where they venture.
Themes:
- Fatherhood, sacrifice, the wonders of the animal kingdom, animal behaviour, human social norms and more
Pros:
- If you’re an animal lover, you’ll absolutely adore this book. I guarantee it. And even if you're not one, like me, you'll still like it.
- At times, I felt like I was a young kid again learning about animals for the first time. To have that feeling as an adult is quite something.
- Masson also touches on some of dark sides of nature. There wasn’t a lot of it in this book, this is a very light hearted, feel good type of book.
- This book shines in so many ways, one chapter I particularly loved was the one about how different fathers in the animal kingdom play with their infants. It was beautifully written chapter and it reminded me of the joy that comes with being a parent. I can’t wait to be on one day, it’ll be great. I’ll be great.
Cons:
- I think there should have been a dedicated commentary on the state of father in humans from around the world too.
- The serious evolutionary aspects of this book were lacking
Quotes:
‘Are we, too, prisoners of our genes? Are we creatures destined to behave in certain ways because we have been programmed to do so?’
‘Does our conscious choice, our will, count for so little? To what extent are we merely a bundle of instincts?’
‘For humans the problem is that every society believes its way of doing things is inevitable and natural.’
‘Yet even a songbird is more than the sum of its instincts… When young male chaffinch birds are raised without hearing the song of an adult male, they cannot reproduce the full song.’
‘There is nothing that feels more remarkably right than being with our children, attending to their small pleasures, observing with satisfaction their joy.’
‘It appears that evolution does not necessarily care for happiness, as many scientists from Charles Darwin to Richard Dawkins frequently remind us.’
4.5 Stars
Feelings about the book:
- I found this book randomly in my house, and decided to read it. And I'm very glad I did.
Premise/Plot:
- The Emperor's Embrace: Fatherhood In Evolution, Jeffrey Masson is lowkey a beautiful book about parenthood, protection and development in nature.
- Masson cites stories from scientists who study a range of animals. At times, it feels like a David Attenborough documentary. Masson catalogues the lives of numerous animals and the way their genetics, environment and emotions shape their lives. It was pretty amazing to read the lengths that animal parents will go to, to feed their young.
- Masson describes the mating rituals, sexual encounters, and parental structures of numerous animals in this book. He talks to many researchers from around the globe about what humans have been able to gather about animals from observations. What is also wild, is that Masson regularly reminds the reader that there are numerous animals that we don’t know that much about. Mainly because it so hard for humans to venture into where they venture.
Themes:
- Fatherhood, sacrifice, the wonders of the animal kingdom, animal behaviour, human social norms and more
Pros:
- If you’re an animal lover, you’ll absolutely adore this book. I guarantee it. And even if you're not one, like me, you'll still like it.
- At times, I felt like I was a young kid again learning about animals for the first time. To have that feeling as an adult is quite something.
- Masson also touches on some of dark sides of nature. There wasn’t a lot of it in this book, this is a very light hearted, feel good type of book.
- This book shines in so many ways, one chapter I particularly loved was the one about how different fathers in the animal kingdom play with their infants. It was beautifully written chapter and it reminded me of the joy that comes with being a parent. I can’t wait to be on one day, it’ll be great. I’ll be great.
Cons:
- I think there should have been a dedicated commentary on the state of father in humans from around the world too.
- The serious evolutionary aspects of this book were lacking
Quotes:
‘Are we, too, prisoners of our genes? Are we creatures destined to behave in certain ways because we have been programmed to do so?’
‘Does our conscious choice, our will, count for so little? To what extent are we merely a bundle of instincts?’
‘For humans the problem is that every society believes its way of doing things is inevitable and natural.’
‘Yet even a songbird is more than the sum of its instincts… When young male chaffinch birds are raised without hearing the song of an adult male, they cannot reproduce the full song.’
‘There is nothing that feels more remarkably right than being with our children, attending to their small pleasures, observing with satisfaction their joy.’
‘It appears that evolution does not necessarily care for happiness, as many scientists from Charles Darwin to Richard Dawkins frequently remind us.’
February 5, 2026
I borrowed this from the "library" at my midwife's office (my wife's midwife? Our midwife I guess). She has soooo many books on pregnancy, birth, child raising and all other related subjects. She handed me this book recently and said "I know you like to read. We just bought this one. There aren't nearly as many good books on fatherhood as there is for motherhood. You will have to let me know what you think." I interpreted this the only way I think anyone could have interpreted it, which is to say, what I heard was "You are the smartest father, male and maybe even human being that I have ever met. I need you to read this book so that we can make better fathers like yourself and further the human race in general." I said I would check it out. I'm pretty selfless like that.
Overall it was pretty interesting. The author anthropomorphized most all the animals, which wasn't surprising because he didn't really hide his agenda of linking male animals of certain species to human dads. None of it was outrageous by any stretch but I feel like he backed his conclusions with single recorded events in the field and then justified that by saying it could be happening a lot more but we just haven't seen it. 'We won't ever know if we don't invest the time to research further.' 'Total research is so limited and they aren't looking for this kind of stuff.' etc. He may be right or he may be romanticizing the idea a bit. Ironically, it is a very human thing to want to know why and prove that these animals actually feel love, pride, grief, etc. Most male animals don't have a lot to do with child rearing. The author doesn't argue that. That is why he selected the handful of species that do play some sort of role. I was interested to read how the fathers of these species behaved, regardless of the why. I took everything with a grain of salt and learned a lot of facts about a lot of different animals. I also read a lot of interesting ethologocal theories, which I am always curious about.
I am not sure if this book with save the human race or if our midwife even remembers she gave it to me. But what I do know is that I now have a tremendous number of animal facts to bother my wife with.
I should also mention that my wife gave birth to our new baby while I was reading this. She wants to talk about that a lot lately so she says things like, "Isn't this baby precious? Can you even imagine out lives before we had her?". Which I know she really means, "tell me about how male prairie dogs play with their pups."
Overall it was pretty interesting. The author anthropomorphized most all the animals, which wasn't surprising because he didn't really hide his agenda of linking male animals of certain species to human dads. None of it was outrageous by any stretch but I feel like he backed his conclusions with single recorded events in the field and then justified that by saying it could be happening a lot more but we just haven't seen it. 'We won't ever know if we don't invest the time to research further.' 'Total research is so limited and they aren't looking for this kind of stuff.' etc. He may be right or he may be romanticizing the idea a bit. Ironically, it is a very human thing to want to know why and prove that these animals actually feel love, pride, grief, etc. Most male animals don't have a lot to do with child rearing. The author doesn't argue that. That is why he selected the handful of species that do play some sort of role. I was interested to read how the fathers of these species behaved, regardless of the why. I took everything with a grain of salt and learned a lot of facts about a lot of different animals. I also read a lot of interesting ethologocal theories, which I am always curious about.
I am not sure if this book with save the human race or if our midwife even remembers she gave it to me. But what I do know is that I now have a tremendous number of animal facts to bother my wife with.
I should also mention that my wife gave birth to our new baby while I was reading this. She wants to talk about that a lot lately so she says things like, "Isn't this baby precious? Can you even imagine out lives before we had her?". Which I know she really means, "tell me about how male prairie dogs play with their pups."
June 13, 2017
Jeffrey Masson provides insite into the parenting styles of many animals, fish etc. Many of his observations are quite facinating and thoughtful though I didn't always agree with his conclusions.. He then uses the understanding he has gleaned from nonhuman animals as a role model for the human animals.
February 10, 2020
An interesting book looking at the various ways male animals interact with their young. It was a fascinating read looking at all sort of different species and seeing how actually they are not all that different than humans in their care for their babies.
June 22, 2017
Poignant
January 7, 2008
animal behavior has been fascinating to me recently, so i was very interested in the premise of this book. i was very disappointed. the book was very poorly organized. unorganized writing usually doesn't bother me too much, but this was such a random collection of stories about animals that i had a hard time understanding what he was getting at. i like what he has to say about the role of human fathers, but nothing he said about non-human fathers did anything to support his ideas about human fathering. he made a lot of statements about animals falling in love, feeling sad, making choices, etc. that i don't necissarily disagree with, but the way he presented them seemed out of place and unconvincing. i'm not sure why i gave the book two stars instead of one. there was some interesting information about animal behavior, and i guess i just appreciate the fact that the author it trying to get a better grasp on fatherhood.
July 28, 2011
I enjoyed this book because it showed just how little we know about animal behavior, and how much we could learn from it -- especially in the area of parenthood. Using information from recent research findings and interviews from experts, the reader is given several examples of behavior we had always thought to be exclusively human: monogamy in 90% of bird species (but only 30% of mammals), animals (like the emperor penguin) that make excellent fathers (and animals that don't), many examples of homosexual unions, the idea that mother bears hibernate in order to avoid their husbands, and so on. Overall, it makes us reconsider the idea that animal parents, like human ones, might actually be capable of complex emotions, compassion, heroism, and even love.
July 11, 2012
I tend to have trouble with non-fiction books, no matter what the topic. Even those books which pertain to ethology (which VERY much interestes me) I can lose interest.
With Mr. Moussaieff Masson's books I haven't had this issue. A big part of this is likely due to the fact we're on the same wavelength when it comes to animals and how they think/act/feel.
I also admire his courage and willingness to question what is considered the norm in the field of animal biology. Even these days people are afraid to postulate that animals do think and feel. Any theories in this area are fraught with careful wording to avoid being thought of as anthropomorphists.
I also admire his ability to look at things from a different angle.
A good read on paternity in the wild.
With Mr. Moussaieff Masson's books I haven't had this issue. A big part of this is likely due to the fact we're on the same wavelength when it comes to animals and how they think/act/feel.
I also admire his courage and willingness to question what is considered the norm in the field of animal biology. Even these days people are afraid to postulate that animals do think and feel. Any theories in this area are fraught with careful wording to avoid being thought of as anthropomorphists.
I also admire his ability to look at things from a different angle.
A good read on paternity in the wild.
May 31, 2013
There were very interesting vignettes on fatherhood in animals. The book as a whole wandered off topic frequently and lacked a coherent organization. It may have been better as a series of focused essays. I don't enjoy books which mix popularizing science with rampant speculation and commentary on science and scientists, of which there was much in this book. To be fair, the word "reflections" is in the title.
April 2, 2010
This book is great! I learned a lot of things about animal fathers that surprised me. My favorite chapter was the one in which the author writes about a tamarin (a kind of monkey that only weighs 3 ounces as an adult!) that was caught on film assisting the birth of his offspring. He actual cut the umbilical cord with his teeth! Something about monkeys acting like humans gives me the chills.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2008
A wonderful, touching look at the animal world and a real show of the arrogance and ignorance of humanity to think we are the only ones to think and feel.
October 18, 2011
Great facts about fathers in various animal species, the only thing I didn't like was the author's interjection of so many opinions.
December 23, 2010
This was a cute book. some science facts but most of it was a mans ideas about the world and how it will help make you a better father.
February 22, 2012
Cute book with some interesting facts about animals. However, the author is a bit too opinionated.
April 13, 2012
I LOVE ANIMALS THERE ALL GOD CREATURE
May 26, 2012
I liked it. When I read I was looking for some validation from biololgy that fatherhood mattered. And this was before Happy Feet so I had not heard of Emperor Penguins mating rituals. RECOMMEND
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews