The Wolf in the Parlor, Jon Franklin
The Wolf in the Parlor, Jon Franklin
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The Wolf in the Parlor
The Eternal Connection Between Humans and Dogs

Author: Jon Franklin

Narrator: George K. Wilson

Unabridged: 10 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/12/2009


Synopsis

Of all the things hidden in plain sight, dogs are one of the most enigmatic. They are everywhere, but how much do we really know about where they came from and what the implications are of their place in our world? Jon Franklin set out to find out and ended up spending a decade studying the origins and significance of the dog and its peculiar attachment to humans. As the intellectual pursuit of his subject began to take over Franklin's life, he married a dog lover and was quickly introduced to an ancient and powerful law of nature: Love me, love my dog. Soon Franklin was sharing hearth and home with a soulful and clever poodle named Charlie.

And so began one man's journey to the dogs, an odyssey that would take him from a 12,000-year-old grave to a conclusion so remarkable as to change our perception of ourselves. Building on evolutionary science, archaeology, behavioral science, and the firsthand experience of watching his own dog evolve from puppy to family member, Franklin posits that man and dog are more than just inseparable; they are part and parcel of the same creature. Along the way, The Wolf in the Parlor imparts a substantial yet painless education on subjects as far-ranging as psychological evolution and neurochemistry. In this groundbreaking book, master storyteller Franklin shatters the lens through which we see the world and shows us an unexpected, enthralling picture of the human/canine relationship.

About Jon Franklin

Jon Franklin is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism and the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, among numerous other awards. He was a science writer for the Baltimore Evening Sun and is now a journalism professor at the University of Maryland. He is also the author of The Molecules of the Mind, a New York Times Book of the Year.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim

An interesting and even moving book about the author's exploration into the history of dogs and the development of the powerful bond that exists between human and dog. Jon Franklin had been a science writer and, when a poodle named Charlie became a member of his family, realized that he had never g......more

Goodreads review by David

The author is a journalist who is curious about the evolution of the dog. While I am often skeptical about non-fiction books written by non-specialists, this book provides some very interesting speculations about how and why the dog evolved from the wolf. Jon Franklin's hypothesis is that some wolve......more

Goodreads review by Nita

"Just exactly what is a wolf doing in my parlor?" Science journalist Jon Franklin spends nine interesting CDs (I listened to the audiobook) answering this question in the frame of evolution. I would have given The Wolf in the Parlor five stars, but IMHO, the book didn't get personal soon enough. Inst......more