Book Review: Lost Animals, Disappearing Worlds - Stories of Extinction

I spotted this book, quite by chance, on the shelf of the local library and paged through it.  It looked fairly intriguing - a series of vignettes about a few dozen modern, human-driven extinctions, from the aurochs in the 1600s to the very-near present.  I was especially interested because, in addition to some very well-known species, such as the dodo, great auk, passenger pigeon, and thylacine - it also covered many more obscure species, including a handful of invertebrates.  I checked it out.

The writer, Barbara Allen, definitely made an interesting choice when she opted to write each chapter from the perspective of the extinct animal in question, like a ghost reaching back from beyond the veil.  Unique perspective.  But it didn't really work, and was more of an awkward distraction that anything else.  I don't care how good a writer is, I'm not going to be able to suspend my disbelief and take you seriously if you pretend to be a St. Helena's earwig.  Also, there were 30-odd chapters, so keeping that melodramatic tone over and over for each animal made them all feel like they were blurring together.

And, yes, I'll be honest, I found the several digs at zoos ("prisons," as she repeatedly calls them) to be grating.  How this animal or that animal died of despair.  It's like, look, lady, the only reason your book doesn't also have chapters on the Arabian oryx and California condor is because of zoos, so maybe a slightly more even-handed approach to a nuanced topic, okay?

I did enjoy the fine collection of photos and illustrations, and, as I mentioned earlier, appreciated the spotlight being shone on species that are often overlooked, including the most recent - and therefore most avoidable - extinctions.  The execution of the book was lacking, though.  For those interested in a similar take on this project - minus the first-person perspective - I recommend A Gap in Nature by Tim Flannery, with excellent illustrations by Peter Schouten.

Lost Animals, Disappearing Worlds: Stories of Extinction at Good Reads