This stunning companion to the internationally bestselling Bedside Book of Birds explores the relationship between predators and their prey.

The intricate, complex connection between the hunter and the hunted has defined animal life on Earth throughout time. In The Bedside Book of Beasts, Graeme Gibson gathers from all eras and cultures works of art and literature that capture the power, grace, and inventiveness of both predators and their natural prey. Here are myths, fables, poetry, generous excerpts from nature and travel writing, journals, sacred texts, and works of fiction. There are vivid descriptions of noteworthy predators — including the big cats, bears, wolves — but also the small but voracious praying mantis. Gibson also brings to life the experiences, strategies, and emotions of vulnerable prey, and paints intriguing portraits of such legendary evil beasts as the Minotaur, Grendel, and the Biblical Leviathan. All of this is enhanced by a breathtaking array of art, both traditional and contemporary, as well as scientific, religious, and mythological drawings, paintings, and woodcuts.

In The Bedside Book of Beasts Gibson evokes a profound sense of the eternal, often unsettling, connection between the human animal and the free, untamed beasts of the wilderness.

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Praise for The Bedside Book of Birds:

“The most spectacular bird book of the year…. Astoundingly beautiful…featur[ing] some of the most sublime writings to be found on the subject…. The beauty of the writing and the illustrations contained in The Bedside Book of Birds is matched by the beauty of the physical book itself.”
— The Globe and Mail

“A gorgeous, illustrated collection of bird sightings in literature…. The Bedside Book of Birds is a superb gift, a compulsive must-have, for the bird-lover, the storyteller, and the anthropologist in the family.”
— Calgary Herald

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Visit the Panthera: Partners in Wild Cat Conservation website
Visit the Wildlife Conservation Society website
Visit www.bedsidebookofbeasts.com for more info about the book.

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Introduction

I Echoes of a Working Eden
Language without Words

II Diet of Souls
“Take, eat; this is my body”

III Beauty and the Beast
Folktales and Parables

IV Death’s Golden Eye
The Encounter

V Mighty and Terrible
“I made this monstrous beast”

VI Killing without Eating
The Tablecloth of Civilization

VII What Immortal Hand or Eye
Great Hunters

VIII Ceremony of Innocence
The Heart’s Solace and Delight

Bibliography/Text Acknowledgements
Image Acknowledgements
Index of Contributions

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Graeme Gibson is the acclaimed author of The Bedside Book of Birds, Five Legs, Perpetual Motion, and Gentleman Death. He is a past president of PEN Canada and the recipient of both the Harbourfront Festival Prize and the Toronto Arts Award, and is a member of the Order of Canada. Gibson has been a council member of World Wildlife Fund Canada and is chairman of the Pelee Island Bird Observatory. He is a recipient of the Writers’ Trust Prize for Distinguished Contribution (2008), and is currently Joint Honorary President, with Margaret Atwood, of BirdLife International’s Rare Bird Club. He lives in Toronto.

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