A good book should cause one to find a continuous string of further questions arising in the mind while and after reading it. A great one should cause the mind to positively fizz with them. And after only yet reading Elizabeth Marshall Thomas’ forward and Marcus Baynes-Rock’s introduction to his Among the Bone Eaters; Encounters with Hyenas in Harar, I have every reason to believe that my brain will be bubbling like a shaken soda bottle by the time my reading of the book is completed.
One of the most recent additions to Penn State University Press’ Animalibus series, a multi-disciplinary project which seeks to examine not only “the importance of animals in human life, but also […] how thinking about animals can give us insights into human cultures, in different temporal and geographical contexts,” Among the Bone Eaters presents the experiences and discoveries of Baynes-Rock during his study of the people and hyenas of Harar, Ethiopia.
Needless to note, it’s unlikely that there’s ever before been a book quite like this and I am very eager to learn what Baynes-Rock has written.
