Susan Orlean is a gifted and well-read writer. I enjoyed reading The Library Book and therefore approached On Animals with eager anticipation. Less than a quarter of the way through it, my eager anticipation changed to bewilderment. How could a person who describes herself as “always a little animalish” and who states, “animals have always been my style” be so clueless and seemingly lacking in empathy with respect to the creatures with whom she claims such affinity?