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The Unexpected Truth About Animals

Brilliant natural history, starring lovesick hippos, stoned sloths, exploding bats and frogs in taffeta trousers...

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The Unexpected Truth About Animals

By: Lucy Cooke
Narrated by: Lucy Cooke
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About this listen

Random House presents the audiobook edition of The Unexpected Truth About Animals, written and read by Lucy Cooke.

History is full of strange animal stories, invented by the brightest and most influential, from Aristotle to Disney, and they reveal as much about us and the things we believe as they do about the animals they misrepresent. We once thought that eels were born from sand, that swallows hibernated under water, and that bears gave birth to formless lumps that were licked into shape by their mothers.

Zoologist Lucy Cooke unravels many such myths, revealing the facts she’s uncovered while sniffing out vultures, snooping on sloths and stalking drunk moose.

The Unexpected Truth About Animals is in equal parts astonishing, illuminating and laugh-out-loud funny. Starring: feminist hyenas; perverted penguins, exploding bats and frogs in taffeta trousers...

'Eye-opening, informative and very funny!' - Chris Packham

 Animals Biological Sciences Earth Sciences Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Funny Natural History

Critic reviews

A bloody fabulous read. Thoroughly recommend. (Sue Perkins (Twitter))
A riot of facts....Cooke scores a series of goals with style and panache.
Beautifully written, meticulously researched, with the science often couched in outrageous asides, this is a splendid read. In fact, I cannot remember when I last enjoyed a non-fiction work so much.

Best science pick.
Sigmund Freud's first paper involved the dissection of eels in an attempt to locate their testes. To his frustration, Freud failed to find any. The eel's life cycle remains slippery, notes natural-history broadcaster Lucy Cooke in her deeply researched, sassily written history of "the biggest misconceptions, mistakes and myths we've concocted about the animal kingdom", spread by figures from Aristotle to Walt Disney. Other chapters spotlight the sloth, vulture, hippopotamus, panda, chimpanzee and others, and dismantle anthropocentric clichés with scientific,
global evidence.
Lucy Cooke's The Unexpected Truth About Animals was a joy from beginning to end. Who could resist a writer who argues that penguins have been pulling the wool over our eyes for years, and that, far from being cute and gregarious, they are actually pathologically unpleasant necrophiliacs?
Packed with knowledge and eye-opening animal history . . . almost every page contains something startling. In bringing us all this information, Cooke has clearly done her homework - travelling the world to see the animals for herself, and consulting many obscure books . . . a winning combination of thorough knowledge, lots of good jokes and a passionate love of animals that means Cooke can even mount convincing defences of such despised creatures as vultures. An often eye-popping, occasionally hair-raising, but ultimately joyous reminder of just how strange our world is.
Lucy Cooke unravels myths that will make you laugh out loud. Her knowledge of all things, furry, slimy and scaly is jaw-dropping.
Each of Cooke's thirteen breezy yet fact-stuffed chapters traces the origins of a long-standing myth about a species or class of animal.
Best of the year's Natural History. Best for Fun Facts. Fascinating.
TOP AUTUMN BOOK PICKS: Lucy Cooke’s fascinating book is full of mind-boggling stuff. Cooke takes much pleasure in throwing in all manner of amazing facts.
All stars
Most relevant
It is great to listen to and start to understand the behaviour of animals.

Loved this

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Hd
Just one of the best books I’ve listened to you must read it important!

Amazing

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I'm studying Zoology at University and this has taught me so much! A big thank you to the author for this wonderful book!

Loved it!

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This book was enlightening and hilarious. It also had the benefit of being marvellously written. Lucy Cooke has a wonderfully poetic turn of phrase, and she uses it to turn an unjudgemental eye to the animal kingdom, revealing the many misguided misconceptions we have harboured (and sometimes still do) about our fellow creatures.

Fantastic stories, beautifully told

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This is my second book by this author, try Bitch which is also hers and highly entertaining and factual.

Lucy is a fabulous author who makes the animal kingdom so fascinating, enchanting and leaving you with so many facts it’s stupendous.

Not only is she a great author , but her skills as a narrator leave many at the first furlong. She could be a stand up comedian with her dry humour and delivery.

Buy her books you will not be disappointed,

Lucy Cooke is brilliant

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