Rats (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Robert Sullivan
- First Published: 2004
- Type of Work: Nature and history
- Time of Work: 2001-2002
- Setting: New York City
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Nature writing
- Subjects: United States or Americans, Nature, New York City, Food, Environment or environmental health, Diseases, Rats or mice, 2000’s, Pests
- Locales: New York, NY
On the first page of this fascinating study, New York writer Robert Sullivan tackles the question many readers may wonder: Why did he choose to write a book about rats? His explanation illustrates his dispassionate, yet conversational and often humorous tone: “One answer is proximity. Rats live in the world precisely where man lives, which is, needless to say, where I live.” Acknowledging that many people find rats frightening and disgusting, Sullivan asserts, and goes on to demonstrate, that the history of rats is bound up with that of humankind, whose garbage they eat. Sullivan's...
[The entire page is 1888 words long]
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