Enslaved by Ducks: How One Man Went from Head of the Household to Bottom of the Pecking Order | 
| Author: Bob Tarte
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
Buy Used: $2.39
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Avg. Customer Rating:  57 reviews
Sales Rank: 181404
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 308
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.4
ISBN: 1565123514
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.08870977455
EAN: 9781565123519
ASIN: 1565123514
Publication Date: January 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: no DJ
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
When Bob Tarte left the Michigan suburbs for the country, he was thinking peace and quiet. He'd write his music reviews in the solitude of his rural home on the outskirts of everything. Then he married Linda. She wanted a rabbit. How much trouble, he thought, could a bunny be?
Well, after the bunny chewed its way through their electrical wires and then hid inside the wall, Bob realized that he'd been outwitted. But that was just the beginning. There were parrots, more rabbits, then ducks and African geese. The turkeys, stranded on a nearby road, fighting for their lives. The starlings. The sad, ugly duck for sale for 25 cents.
One day Bob looked around and saw he was not only outnumbered, but that he'd become a servant to an extremely demanding family: Stanley Sue, a gender-switching African grey parrot; Hector, a cantankerous shoulder-sitting Muscovy duck; Howard, an amorous ring-necked dove; Chloe, a mallard who learned to limp; and a host of others. And, against every instinct in him, Bob became their slave.
He read all the classic animal books--The Parrot Who Owns Me, The Dog Who Rescues Cats, Arnie the Darling Starling, That Quail Robert, The Cat Who Came for Christmas--about the joys of animals, the touching moments. But none revealed what it was really like to live with an unruly menagerie. This hilarious memoir gives us the other side--about a man who, against all bets, was converted to a doting and proud animal lover.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 52 more reviews...
 Liked it, but enough with the birds April 14, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The first third of the book, I laughed out loud several times. A very engaging writer. I love animals, but am not much on birds. So about halfway through the book, I pretty much had my fill of our feathered friends.
 Didnt really like this one.. March 28, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I didn't care much for this book. After a few chapters of reading about the many pets this man had in his house it got very boring. I gave up on it.
 Just as good as I hoped it would be, March 20, 2008
Heard about Bob Tarte's latest book, "Fowl Weather" during an NPR review. When I checked it out at Amazon, I came across the rave reviews for "Enslaved by Duck" and decided to get both. I started with "Enslaved by Ducks" because I couldn't resist the title and it didn't disappoint. Bob and his wife are two people that you enjoy spending time with. You only wish your friends were as funny and warm-hearted as these two. I have to confess that I feel the story did sag a bit toward the end and became somewhat repetitious, but you're free to stop any time you want and don't have to slog toward the credits like I did. Am looking forward to reading "Fowl Weather".
Outstanding March 15, 2008
Definite reading material for anyone who's loved and adopted an animal. I can't wait to read the author's second book.
Perfect for anyone who's ever loved an animal! March 8, 2008
I loved this book! It made me laugh many times over and made me cry, too. I even learned some things about animals!
The book spans 10 years of the author's (Bob's) life-events related to animals. Each chapter is devoted to a certain animal, or an animal event. It's fun to see Bob's changing attitude towards animals. He starts out as a begrudging pet owner (though it's quite obvious that deep down he adores his rabbit!), and ends up gloating about his numerous pets to innocent bystanders at pet marts. While there is always a tad of the begrudging-act in Bob, it's so transparent that it's quite easy to tell how enamored he is by his pets. He gives a very honest telling of this, too, poking fun of himself quite often (almost always) throughout the book, and repeats numerous times how much his wife, Linda, handled most of the really hard stuff when it came to caretaking.
It took me a few chapters to really get into the book, but once you learn who Bob is, and understand his writing wit and humor, the book is excellent! Even the acknowledgements are hilarious! I felt that I really knew Bob and Linda, and frankly their pets, too! There are great descriptions of the animals, their characters, and expressions! I can actually vouch for his description of rehabbing baby birds - and if the rest of his stories are as accurate as that, then it must be a very honest book! And I could completely sympathize with many of his emotions.
So long as you don't mind a few (very few) cuss words, or a few insights in the animal "facts of life," or the fact that (at least, as I surmise) the Tartes' are vegetarians and make a couple of references to the carnivorous folk of the world, then I highly recommend this book!
We also get a glimpse into Bob's visits to his psychologist and his dealings with Zoloft - but somehow he manages to always tie it back in with his animals.
I'd be the last person to say that a cat doesn't have a soul, or that a dog can't love you, but I'd probably be lying if I didn't say that I was hesitant to believe such things about birds. Bob's totally changed my mind. I love the ending of the title chapter and the book itself - I think those are the two places where we really see what animals mean to Bob, and how much they can impact our lives.
I highly recommend reading this book - and I highly suggest you read it with your pet nearby!:D
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