Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants (Alex Awards (Awards))
by Robert Sullivan

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Book Reviews of Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants (Alex Awards (Awards))

Book Review: A Most Fascinating Creature
Summary: 5 Stars

A lot has been made of the multitude of facts about rats that Sullivan communicates in this book and does do that but he also does much more. He gives us a history lesson of rat migrations through history along with quite a few interesting anecdotes about the history of New York City from the days of the Revolution through the fall of the World Trade Center. Despite his obvious respect for the rat, he blows away numerous myths about the rat (like one rat per person in NYC) and tells a lot about how to "control" rats, as they can never really be exterminated. However, the real engagement in this book comes from everything being couched in the author's one year field study of the rat in a small alley in downtown New York. Without this, all of Sullivan's informative research wouldn't be quite so interesting.

What we end up with is a very readable book. I don't consider myself to be afraid of rats though I'm sure if I would put myself in some of the positions Sullivan did, I would feel every bit of a chill running up and down my spine. Fortunately, we don't have to put ourselves face to face with rats. Sullivan has done the job for us and written a wonderful account of the experience. Anyone whose ever had even an inkling of wonder about these tenacious creature wouldn't want to miss this book.

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