Animal attraction: Bear, the controversial story of one womanâs sexual awakening
First published in the 70s, Marian Engelâs novel about a lonely librarianâs relationship with a bear interrogates boundaries between men and women, humans and animals
âHis bigness ⦠excited her.â A grizzly bear. Photograph: Fuse/Getty Images
âHis bigness ⦠excited her.â A grizzly bear. Photograph: Fuse/Getty Images
Fri 9 Apr 2021 02.00 EDT
What do you think of when you think of a bear? A large, lumbering creature, unpredictably violent? Perhaps you think of
Grizzly Man, Werner Herzogâs jaw-dropping film about a man killed by one of the creatures he so adored? Do you think of the bearded, heavy-set man contrasted, in the informal typology among gay men, with the skinnier, more feminine twink? Or perhaps you think of a cuddly toy?