Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson is certainly an interesting book. Temple Grandin is an autistic woman who found a way to apply her specific autistic sensitivity toward the solution of real-world problems, specifically in the interaction and management of animals. She works as a consultant for the slaughterhouse and other places where animals are raised, treated, and killed. She draws parallels between her experience with autism and her understanding of how animals think, and experience and feels the world.
The book is written in non-fluid English: each sentence sounds as completely independent from the previous and the next ones. But after a while, I got used to that. What I didn’t like was mostly her way of mixing scientific statement with her intuitions, hypothesis, and some anecdotal evidence. A more rigorous distinction between facts and non-facts could help to increase her professional credibility without affecting the value and the appeal of her writings.
Despite all the explanations and justifications she provided, I’m still having problems understanding how an animal lover can work for a slaughterhouse.
Franco Folini 