Build Me an Ark: A Life with Animals

by Brenda Peterson

"Peterson writes of nature with an intimacy that tugs at the reader's deep memory."― Orion This is the story of a life and spirit guided by animals. Brenda Peterson was raised in the High Sierras on a national forest lookout station, and wildlife had a daily, defining influence on her life. Peterson explores her deep connection with animals, from watching grizzlies in Montana's Rockies, to keeping Siberian huskies as pets in New York City, to her work for the restoration of wild wolves. Her lively storytelling bridges the worlds of human and animal, as she fascinates us with intimate stories of her studies of wild dolphins, whales, and orcas. Peterson reveals how animal bonds have enriched her life and led her toward a wider epiphany: As a species we cannot live without other animals. "[A] wealth of fascinating anecdotes and insights...[an] engaging memoir."― Publishers Weekly

Genres: Memoir, Animals, Nonfiction, Nature, Biography

318 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2001

About the author

Brenda Peterson is the author of over 20 books, including the recently released murder mystery, Stiletto. Her first memoir Build Me an Ark: A Life with Animals, chosen as a “Best Spiritual Book of 2001,” to three novels, one of which, Duck and Cover, was chosen by New York Times as a Notable Book of the Year. Her second memoir, a dark comedy of family and faith, is I Want To Be Left Behind: Finding Rapture Here on Earth; it was selected by The Christian Science Monitor among the Top Ten Best Non-Fiction Books and chosen by independent bookstores as an Indie Next and a Great Read.
Her non-fiction has appeared in numerous national newspapers, journals, and magazines, including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, Reader’s Digest, Christian Science Monitor, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Utne Reader. Oprah.com featured her Your Life is a Book: How to Craft and Publish Your Memoir. Her new kid’s are Wild Orca and Lobo: A Wolf Family Returns Home.

Reviews

[Shomeret · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading Brenda Peterson's memoir Build Me An Ark, I have to admit that my enthusiasm for Brenda Peterson is limitless. I read this book in great gulps because I loved her thinking about animals and her experiences with them.

This isn't a recent book. Peterson describes situations for some wild animals in the late 20th century. Their habitat and human relations with wild species have increasingly deteriorated since. Readers should consider this book a historical account rather than a contemporary one.

The book contains inspiring stories of interspecies cooperation and sad stories of human exploitation and abuse of animals.

Just know that if you love animals and believe in animal rights advocacy, you will want to know about Brenda Peterson.

For the blog version of this review see http://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/20...

[Julene Bair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Brenda Peterson has led a charmed life among animals. But her book Build Me an Ark: A Life with Animals, makes clear that her life is charmed only because she has always gone out of her way to meet the animals more than halfway. The experiences she comes back to report–among dolphins, whales, dogs, cats, bears–startled and often moved me to tears. Who knew that a whale in deep mourning over the loss of her calf would take a woman’s arm in her mouth and gently “sound” the woman? Who knew that dolphins are so emotionally telepathic that they will hone in on a woman in constant pain or choose to dance her through the water in the grip of their fins and their deep wells of compassion? I put this book down thinking, I must pay more attention. I must be present and notice the incredible intelligence that shares this planet with me and open my heart wide to its messages and its plight, which is my own. (Who knew that a dolphin’s or whale’s milk is often so laden with heavy metals and other toxins that it can and often does kill nursing young–or that the same is true of Inuit women who depend on a diet of whale blubber?) Peterson demonstrates again and again that we share a soul with animals and that their future and ours are inextricably linked.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book as a biography pick for a book club meeting. The author has written many books about different animals and is also a journalist based out of Seattle WA. Her thoughts and experiences with different animals throughout her life were very interesting to me.

[andreea molocea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book!

Brenda made me feel I am not alone in my love and awe for the animals. I highly recommend reading this book if you are an animals lover looking for a tribe.

[Sree Padikkal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was very well written with a lot of interesting animal stories.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memoir:
You share deeply, and experience with the author, her love and kinship with animals and nature. On the day of the author's sister,Paula's first swim with "the girls", she was 9 months pregnant, and the "dolphins had forced all the other swimmers out of the lagoon to focus..full attention on Paula. "Practiced in echolocation, the dolphins listened to the fetal heartbeat and found it fascinating. But on this particular day..something different, an agitation in the dolphins that prompted the researcher to ask Paula hesitantly, "Is everything all right with your baby?"....

[g-na · Rating 5 out of 5]

An informative, but sobering, read on the plight of animals and wilderness areas in the U.S. The author spent her formative years growing up in national forests where her park ranger father lived, and as a result developed a close relationship with the animals around her. This book contains both childhood remembrances as well as tales of her later work to preserve wild places and creatures. Highly recommended.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite quote: "Dolphins are obviously your aumakua, the animal that you belong to, whether you know it or not. Fortuately, you found out who you are and the animal you're meant to be with. Whom you must protect as a relative and who protects you."

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

She is a local author in the Seattle area. Really identified with her connection to animals.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. Very touching.

[Ary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was very well written with a lot of interesting animal stories. It was a little boring at times.

[Angela]

So far, this book has made me laugh, ponder, reflect, and cry.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Occasionally overwrought, but interesting, none-the-less.

[Tina Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

She has a strong voice and a unique perspective that interlaces modern living with the natural world. This is actually the second time I've read the memoir and I expect I'll be reading it again.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this. The author bugged the hell out of me.