Most Rita Mae Brown fans have probably long since read her 1999 memoir Rita Will which discussed her life to date, largely in terms of her family and friends, her widely reported affairs with Martina Navratilova and Fannie Flagg and her career as a writer both for books and Hollywood. Ten years later, Brown’s 2009 release Animal Magnetism focuses on her relationships with animals throughout her life. From her first dog, Chaps– a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, to the foxes, hounds an horses that are her constant companions in fox-hunting Ms. Brown has lived a life surrounded by animals. And these are their stories.
I was particularly taken with a story from her early childhood in which she and her maternal grandfather (“PopPop”) rescue a pair of badly mistreated hounds from a neighbor. I also quite enjoyed the story of Brown teaching her grandmother’s parrot a variety of curse words. If you enjoy reading stories about human-animal interactions or if you are a Rita Mae Brown fan, Animal Magnetism is Recommended.
