Lost companions Reflections on the death of pets

J. Moussaieff Masson, 1941-

Book - 2020

"A heartfelt exploration of human grief after the loss of a pet by the New York Times bestselling author of Dogs Never Lie About Love. Over 84 million Americans-almost 3/4 of the US population-own a pet, and our society is still learning how to recognize and dignify that relationship with proper mourning rituals. We have only recently allowed the conversation of how to grieve for our non-human family members to come front and center. Lost Companions fills a specific, important demand, a massive need in the market for an accessible, meaningful book on pet loss. Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson takes a very personal, heartfelt approach to this difficult subject, allowing readers to explore their own responses and reactions, suggesting ways thro...ugh and out of grief, as well as meaningful ways to memorialize our best friends. Lost Companions is full of moving, thought-provoking and poignant stories about dogs, cats, horses, birds, wombats and other animals that beautifully illustrate the strong bond humans form with them"--

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2nd Floor 155.937/Masson Due Jan 12, 2025
Subjects
Genres
Self-help publications
Published
New York : St. Martin's Press 2020.
Language
English
Main Author
J. Moussaieff Masson, 1941- (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
xxi, 247 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN
9781250202239
  • Acknowledgments
  • Preface: My Encounter with the Angel of Death
  • Introduction: Grieving for an Animal Is What Makes Us Human Animals
  • 1. Are You and Your Dog One?
  • 2. Their Only Fault: Dying Before We Are Ready
  • 3. All Things Bright and Beautiful Must Have an End: Dying Dogs
  • 4. Cats Know More About Death Than We Suspect
  • 5. The Time of Death
  • 6. Grieving the Wild Friend
  • 7. Heartbreak: Children and the Death of Pets
  • 8. Should We Eat Our Friends?
  • 9. Dogs in the Rest of the World
  • 10. Rage Against the Dying of the Light: The Psychology of Grieving for an Animal
  • 11. I Will Not Get Another Dog or Cat, or Will I?
  • 12. Healing Rituals That Memorialize Lost Animals
  • Conclusion: The Never-ending Grief of Saying Good-bye
  • Postscript
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Masson (The Secret World of Farm Animals) discusses people's close relationships with their pets through the lens of mortality in this moving and intimate study. Now 79, he reflects on a lifetime of pets, including his current one, yellow Labrador Benjy, who at 13 is already a year beyond the breed's average life expectancy, a realization Masson finds "unbearable." He also elicits stories from friends, which are moving and occasionally heartbreaking, dealing with cats and dogs, as well as less traditional pets, including turkeys and wombats. "Grief is grief," Masson writes, and though he's decidedly "not a great fan of psychology," he covers the stages of grief. Masson also tracks how humans' relationships with animals have changed over time (a "coevolution," he terms it) and suggests that dogs have "developed something unique in their ability to intuit our emotional states and to show empathy." Anyone who's found it difficult to deal with the fact that pets' "lives are so much shorter" than humans' will appreciate this compassionate work. (June)

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Review by Library Journal Review

From Masson (What Animals Can Teach Us About the Origin of Good & Evil; Dogs Never Lie About Love) comes a heartfelt book about grieving for one's nonhuman family members. He affirms the need to mourn our pets as well as ways to help them in their final moments by offering stories that allow readers to explore their own responses and reactions to death and find ways to memorialize loved animals. After all, as the author says, "Grieving for an animal is what makes us human animals." VERDICT Highly recommended for all animal lovers who inevitably must deal with the death of their pets. [See Prepub Alert, 12/9/20.]

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

The acclaimed author of numerous books about the emotional lives of animals now turns to the experience of losing a pet. "I believe it is a deep and ancient longing, to bond with a member of a different species," writes Masson near the beginning of this heart-rending foray into the challenge of "facing the death of…the animal you have come to love like any other member of the family." Nothing brings home the depth of that relationship like death, upon which we "are confronted with mortality in general, writ large in these animals who have become family, but in some sense even more than family--maybe part of ourselves." The author investigates the psychology of this loss through testimonies from their human companions as well as conversations with friends and veterinarians. Masson's tone is sympathetic, for he is a firm believer in the sentience of animals and the dignity with which they should be treated in life and death. He argues that animals have a sense of impending death and that death could be as relevant to them as it is to us. Dogs, in particular, bring an unalloyed state of pure happiness when they are in our presence, an elemental love free of all the baggage that accompanies human relationships. In many ways, that is why their loss is so heartbreaking. Occasionally, Masson's associations go too far--"losing [a pet] is very much like losing a child"--but readers can skip parts that seem over the edge. The author has many wise things to impart about a child's grief--e.g., "it is important to recognize the genuineness of the emotions of the child, to honor them by taking them seriously." A touching, sensitive journey that will, like Masson's previous books, find a wide audience. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.