The Beauty of the Beasts: Tales of Hollywood's Wild Animal Stars by Ralph Helfer

The Beauty of the Beasts: Tales of Hollywood's Wild Animal Stars Reviews

• 
  Barbara

  I very much liked this book, though not quite as much as I did the other two of Helfer's books that I've read (Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived, and Zamba: The True Story of the Greatest Lion That Ever Lived.) Still, Helfer is totally likable and his animals are amazing, as are their stories. It's a book that literally gets you laughing out loud on one page and crying on the next.
  
  
  A few notes:
  
  For people who have read the above mentioned book about Zamba, a fair bit of this book will be familiar (there is also a chapter that Helfer also told in Modoc's book.) Not that I don't think those chapters fit here--they certainly do--but those stories are so well-recalled in my mind that I found myself slightly impatient to get to stories that were totally new to me.
  (But if you haven't read Zamba and Modoc's books and read this one, don't hesitate to pick them up as well; they will be a vast majority new material, and even some of the things that are repeated are, I think, more detailed in the books about the individual animals.)
  All in all, I think the three books complete each other.
  
  While this book doesn't have as many editing errors as Modoc (which I still gave five stars because it's wonderful) Helfer still has his ridiculous attachment to the over-use of exclamation points. (You'd think after three books I'd be used to it, but it still makes me a tad exasperated. :P)
  
  Finally, a warning for those who like me are very sensitive to stories of animal cruelty: while there are a fair few mentions of people being inhumane (and the story of how Modoc came into Helfer's life never fails to break my heart and infuriate me) and other awful things happening to animals, only one chapter made me actually almost stop reading the book. YMMV, and perhaps my history with the species in question made it more difficult for me personally...but I am mentioning this because I wish someone had told me to skip the chapter in question--being chapter 14 "Rabbit Man."
  (I do understand why Helfer included this story: it's a harsh depiction of the blithe cruelty towards animals that went on in Hollywood at the time. It is solely that, I think; unlike the other stories of cruelty or death, there is no recovery or bright side or lesson learned. But this is not me being in any way critical of the book over this. It's just that for me it's something I'd rather not have in my head, added on to the endless horror stories one gets from the world of pet and animal people.)
• 
  Barbara

  A wonderful read
  
  Although The Beauty of the Beasts is not the sort of book I might choose for myself, I am delighted that my sister recommended it to me. The author's love for his animals pours out in his stories, and I found it impossible not to be moved. Would that all humans understood and embraced the power of love. I vividly recall Gentle Ben, C.J. and others of Helfer's menagerie with great pleasure. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and read from cover to cover in one day.
  Well written, interesting, exciting, and awe-inspiring, it is one of my favorite books this year.
• 
  Emily Millard

  Very enjoyable
  
  Not a boring book. Anyone interested in animal training will enjoy this book. My dad tried to convince me to read Modoc, but I did not know I was reading a book by the same author. ( I thought my dad would have enjoyed this book before I noticed it was the same author).
• 
  Beckynetc (Clark)

  I picked up this book for free because I thought it would have animal facts and be interesting. It was interesting and was fun to read after I got past the writing style. It doesn’t appear to be chronological and I don’t know why the author doesn’t name his co-workers/ partners- identifying details are sparse. But the anecdotes are from a different world than mine, which I appreciate.
• 
  Nicole

  Loved it
• 
  Kathy Govreau

  If you love exotic animals, this book is for you! Easy & fun read!
• 
  Alex T.

  I disagree with using animals like this but at the same time this IS a very interesting read. And thank God Helfer uses affection training and no cruel punishments.
• 
  Beka

  Though I didn't agree with all of his philosophies concerning animals, I did enjoy the stories of his animal stars.
• 
  Enikő

  This is a nice, easy read and is very interesting to boot. Filled with anecdotes of the author's encounters with both affection trained and fear trained animals during the time when affection training was first being tried out (the author was a pioneer), I like the fact that this is not a how-to guide. In fact, the author repeatedly points out that wild animals do not make good pets. (Ironic, considering the fact that he slept with a full-grown male lion!) As an animal lover, I loved reading this book and also enjoyed the old black-and-white photographs of the animal stars (alongside some human actors such as William Holden and Sonny and Cher).
  
  There were parts that made me giggle and laugh, parts that made me cringe, and parts that made me cry, but I would recommend this for children and adults alike.
• 
  Linda Lipko

  Obtained for a very reasonable price at Bookcloseouts.com, this one was sitting on my shelf for awhile and because I recently ordered many more books from this company, I was prompted to read at least one of the books I previously purchased.
  
  Outrageously funny, witty, and poignant, this is true-life stories written by Ralph Helfer, who spent many years as an animal trainer who supplied elephants, lions, snakes, tigers, ostrich and other exotic animals for Hollywood movies.
  
  His book is sprinkled with wonderful stories of animals and a celebration of their impact on our lives.
  
  Recommended
• 
  Laura

  Awesome anecdotes of Helfer's start in the animal entertainment world. I love stories of the old-school animal business, before regulations and laws got in the way of the clueless and lucky fumbling their way through trial and error to success (however that may be defined in this industry). I especially like the plan of using rented medieval costume armor for bear training. Modoc's story was also a favorite (having read this single chapter rendition long before coming across the separate Modoc book). Read it, love it, laugh out loud.
• 
  Rojna Yvonne

  Flitting between 4-5 on this one.
  
  So different to anything I usually read, but this one really got to me. Affection training is such an amazing topic, and I believe in it full heartedly being a psychology student.
  
  I just hate the idea of animals in cages of any form, but Ralph's point is so valid about us not having the capacity to protect truly wild animals yet, and until such time as we can we need to preserve them in the best way we can.
  
  Lot's to think about and inspiring animal stories.
• 
  Janet Carroll

  This is definitely a book for animal lovers; plus, if you remember the old Daktari series, Gentle Ben, and Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion, this will bring back TV memories. It may not be great literature, but it's definitely entertaining.
• 
  Mary Abraham

  Wonderful insight into the "affection" training methods used to create some of the most memorable animal scenes in Hollywood. Wonderfully written accounts of the various animals and little insights into their way of thinking and behaviors.
• 
  Marilyn

  This is the story of Ralph Helfer, a man raised in Chicago who...through various events of life ended up renting wild/exotic animals to the movies. Fascinating, captivating...interesting!
• 
  Jayme

  Loved this book almost as much as Zamba and Modoc! I love the affection training and the animal trust of the trainers. The story is just so captivating that you almost can't believe it's real life.
• 
  Charlene

  
  I loved this book! Affection training..getting wild animals to do what you want them to do because they love you (and you love them!!)..
• 
  Barbara

  2.5