Nature, United States History - Northeastern & Middle Atlantic Region, Agricultural Sciences, Mammals, General & Miscellaneous World History, Natural History, Agricultural Management
Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants
Robert Sullivan
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Overview
The New York Times bestseller, now available in paperback with an all-new afterword by the author.
Love them or loathe them, rats are here to stay-they are city dwellers as much as (or more than) we are, surviving on the effluvia of our society. In Rats, the critically acclaimed bestseller, Robert Sullivan spends a year investigating a rat-infested alley just a few blocks away from Wall Street. Sullivan gets to know not just the beast but its friends and foes: the exterminators, the sanitation workers, the agitators and activists who have played their part in the centuries-old war between human city dweller and wild city rat. Sullivan looks deep into the largely unrecorded history of the city and its masses-its herds-of-rats-like mob. Funny, wise, sometimes disgusting but always compulsively readable, Rats earns its unlikely place alongside the great classics of nature writing.
Synopsis
Behold the rat, dirty and disgusting! Robert Sullivan turns the lowly rat into the star of the most perversely intriguing, remarkable, and unexpectedly elegant book of the season.
The Washington Post - Phillip Lopate
Few subjects would seem less immediately appealing to the general reader than rats. So all the more credit must go to Robert Sullivan, who has written an immensely lively, enjoyable, learned, witty and, yes, appealing book on these damnable creatures. Readers acquainted with Sullivan's previous triumph, The Meadowlands, about a New Jersey dump-swamp-wilderness, will anticipate this author's ability to take an unprepossessing terrain and expose its hidden dimensions, through ever-widening circles of expertise, paradox and wonderment. He has set up his shop at the intersection of science and belles-lettres, nature reporting and urbanism, and manages it all beautifully.
Editorials
Boston Globe
"… a rollicking, richly drawn history…[he] offers up a parade of eccentric characters who deserve to be in the movies."
New York Times
Engaging…a lively, informative compendium of facts, theories, and musings."— Michiko Kakutani
Vanity Fair
"Fascinating."
Washington Post
Immensely lively, enjoyable, learned, witty and yes, appealing."— Philip Lopate
Village Voice
"Hugely entertaining."
New York magazine
"[Approaches] his fleet-footed, fast-food-loving quarry with a naturalist's curiosity and a storyteller's fluency."
Newsday
"Improbably enchanting... a funny, rodent-centered mélange of natural and urban history."
New York Post
"The author excels at fluid and witty prose."
New York Times Book Review
"An urban Thoreau…"
New York Observer
"Sullivan persuasively associates the 'truth' he learns about rats with a deeper understanding of both the history of New York City and the essence of mankind."
Entertainment Weekly
"Eloquent."
Chicago Sun-Times
"Rats will both entertain and edify you about a part of the world you never thought much about."
Playboy
"Sullivan beguiles us with remarkable tales about an inexhaustible topic."
Booksense
"Who knew a book about one of nature's most reviled creatures could make such great bedside reading?"
New York Times
"Engaging…a lively, informative compendium of facts, theories, and musings."
Washington Post
"Immensely lively, enjoyable, learned, witty and yes, appealing."
Newsday
"Improbably enchanting... a funny, rodent-centered melange of natural and urban history."Playboy
"Sullivan beguiles us with remarkable tales about an inexhaustible topic."Entertainment Weekly
"Eloquent."New York Times
"Engaging. A lively, informative compendium of facts, theories, and musings."— Michiko Kakutani
Washington Post
"Immensely lively, enjoyable, learned, witty and yes, appealing."— Philip Lopate
Chicago Sun-Times
"Rats will both entertain and edify you about a part of the world you never thought much about."Village Voice
"Hugely entertaining."Boston Globe
"... a rollicking, richly drawn history. [he] offers up a parade of eccentric characters who deserve to be in the movies."New York Times Book Review
"An urban Thoreau."Vanity Fair
"Fascinating."New York Post
"The author excels at fluid and witty prose."New York Observer
"Sullivan persuasively associates the 'truth' he learns about rats with a deeper understanding of both the history of New York City and the essence of mankind."New York magazine
"[Approaches] his fleet-footed, fast-food-loving quarry with a naturalist's curiosity and a storyteller's fluency."Booksense
"Who knew a book about one of nature's most reviled creatures could make such great bedside reading?"Phillip Lopate
Few subjects would seem less immediately appealing to the general reader than rats. So all the more credit must go to Robert Sullivan, who has written an immensely lively, enjoyable, learned, witty and, yes, appealing book on these damnable creatures. Readers acquainted with Sullivan's previous triumph, The Meadowlands, about a New Jersey dump-swamp-wilderness, will anticipate this author's ability to take an unprepossessing terrain and expose its hidden dimensions, through ever-widening circles of expertise, paradox and wonderment. He has set up his shop at the intersection of science and belles-lettres, nature reporting and urbanism, and manages it all beautifully.— The Washington Post
The New York Times
Robert Sullivan sees the rat as much more than a pest. For him, the rat is the New Yorker par excellence, the plucky immigrant who set foot in Manhattan just about the time of the American Revolution and, by guile and persistence, put down roots and prospered. The rat is also, for those who care to look closely enough, a living map of the city, so tightly integrated into the local environment that to know one is to know the other. Early on, Sullivan goes so far as to call the rat ''our mirror species,'' a faithful follower that turns up wherever humans pitch their tents and toss out their garbage. — William GrimesThe New Yorker
For a year, Sullivan made pilgrimages to a “filth-slicked little alley” near City Hall to observe rats in their natural habitat. He also trolled libraries for rat lore and interviewed exterminators, biologists, politicians, and ordinary citizens about the timeless struggle against New York’s “most unwanted inhabitants.” The logic behind his peregrinations is often elusive, but the result is a wealth of satisfying information: rats like raw beef, but they like macaroni-and-cheese even more; bringing a rat to court is an effective way to make a point about poor housing conditions; there are more plague-infected rodents in North America today than there were in Europe at the time of the Black Death. Sullivan never falls in love with his subject the way he did in his book on the Meadowlands—rats are rats, after all—but he does persuade us that rats are “our mirror species, reversed but similar, thriving or suffering in the very cities where we do the same.”Publishers Weekly
In this excellent narrative, Sullivan uses the brown rat as the vehicle for a labyrinthine history of the Big Apple. After pointing out a host of facts about rats that are sure to make you start itching ("if you are in New York... you are within close proximity to one or more rats having sex"), Sullivan quickly focuses in on the rat's seemingly inexhaustible number of connections to mankind. Observing a group of rats in a New York City alley, just blocks from a pre-September 11 World Trade Center, leads Sullivan into a timeless world that has more twists than Manhattan's rat-friendly underbelly. Conversations and field studies with "pest control technicians" spirit him back to 1960s Harlem, when rat infestations played a part in the Civil Rights movement and the creation of tenants' organizations. Researching the names of the streets and landmarks near the rats' homes, Sullivan is led even deeper into the city's history till he is back to the 19th century, when the real gangs of New York were the packs of rats that overran the city's bustling docks. Like any true New Yorker, Sullivan is able to convey simultaneously the feelings of disgust and awe that most city dwellers have for the scurrying masses that live among them. These feelings, coupled with his ability to literally and figuratively insert himself into the company of his hairy neighbors, help to personalize the myriad of topics-urban renewal, labor strikes, congressional bills, disease control, September 11-that rats have nosed their way into over the years. This book is a must pickup for every city dweller, even if you'll feel like you need to wash your hands when you put it down. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.VOYA
There is a tiny crooked alley in downtown Manhattan that is never lit by the sun. The cobblestones shimmer with the slime of grease, the air is perfumed by urine, and the main adornments are the bags of trash that line the unforgiving walls. Yet after finishing this book, the reader is likely to feel a curious fondness for the place. It is here that author Sullivan spent his nights during his one-year intensive study of rat behavior. Sullivan has an excellent sense of narrative, blending interesting anecdotes and snippets of history in such an engaging way that it really is hard to put down the book. The result is a fascinating account that is much bigger than the title implies, taking the reader from the days of the Black Death in Europe to the weeks following the destruction of the World Trade Center. Consider, for example, that after the explosion of the WTC, the immediate evacuation of the area resulted in unattended lunch buffets, delis, and fast-food restaurants. By the time pest control workers were allowed in the area, the rats had spent weeks feasting and multiplying. While volunteer firefighters received their well-earned share of media attention, few heard about the hundreds of volunteers who worked to combat the subsequent rat problem. By the end of the book, the reader will probably not have lost any sense of revulsion for the rat species but will certainly feel that the literary excursion was well worth the effort. Sullivan's narrative would be excellent supplemental reading for high school biology, history, or English classes. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P S A/YA (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12;Adult-marketed book recommended for Young Adults). 2004, Bloomsbury, 242p., Ages 15 to Adult.—Diane Emge
Library Journal
Though the title may give readers pause, this unusual book is highly enjoyable. Sullivan, a New Yorker and author of another fascinating urban natural history, The Meadowlands, became interested in rats when he saw an Audubon painting featuring a rodent and learned that the artist was a New Yorker in his final years. After spending a year (spring 2001 to spring 2002) observing some rats in one Manhattan alley, mostly at night, he reports his observations here. These are augmented by conversations with exterminators, health officers, and scientists, as well as material on the origin of rats and how they spread to Europe and the United States. Sullivan also throws in juicy tidbits on garbage, extermination, the plague, and what rats eat. Students of New York social history will also enjoy Sullivan's inclusions of pertinent sections on rent strikes, the founding of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the battle to outlaw rat fights, and more. Well written and fun to read, this book has only one drawback: a lack of more detailed information on rat biology. Recommended for all natural history and large urban collections.-Michael D. Cramer, Schwarz BioSciences, RTP, NC Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.School Library Journal
Adult/High School-Sullivan's narration reads like a monologue by a charming and witty party guest, albeit his topic is the city rat. No fact is too minute or detail too obscure. In his research, the author consulted many "rat experts," including a New York exterminator who shared the lower Manhattan alley that became the location for his observations. Tales of rats' run-ins with humans include a particularly disturbing one about a woman who was "attacked" by the rodents near his observation place. One chapter is dedicated to the Irish immigrant who hosted rat fights in his bar in the 1840s. Each of these tales is filled with digressions-the history of some of the buildings in the alley, the founding of the SPCA. The greatest digression occurs with regard to the World Trade Center catastrophe. Because Sullivan's alley was so close to the scene, his observations were necessarily interrupted, and when he returned, of course things had changed. But so singular is his vision that even this disaster is put into a rat context-how exterminators were on the job, how the subject of rats was unmentionable in discussions about disaster cleanup, even though his observations showed that rats were plentiful. This creative writer has taken on a seemingly unappealing subject and turned it into a top-notch page-turner.-Jamie Watson, Harford County Public Library, MD Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.Kirkus Reviews
A skillful nature writer goes on rat patrol and records a year with vermin. In his journal of a rat year, Sullivan (A Whale Hunt, 2000, etc.) deduces that the rat is a permanent companion to humans, living where mankind lives, eating what mankind eats. (He provides a menu of Rodentia's favorite and least liked foods). Alley rats, sewer rats, toilet rats-all those urban Norway rats-live in every big city in America. And, right now, if they're not eating, they're copulating. Often a foot long before the tail, these nasty city slickers dig their nests with separate bolt-holes for quick escapes. Contemplating such rat lore nightly in an alley not far from the World Trade Center, Sullivan finds much to chew on. Inevitably, there's the Black Death and how it ravaged medieval Europe, but there was also plague in California a century ago. That leads to some history of germ warfare, a garbage strike, rat-baiting in Old New York, and a story of the colonial Liberty Boys. Sullivan studies publications like Pest Control Technology as well as historical texts. He salutes famous rat-catchers while he hangs out with the rodent's natural predators: exterminators. He travels out of town to consort with the foremost minds of pest control. He follows the Sisyphean pros with the enthusiasm of a cub police reporter as they wrestle to draw rat blood from their prey. Eventually, he traps a rat himself. He comes to recognize one old rodent, and he surely cut a curious figure running beside a dashing rat to clock its speed. After September 11, Sullivan returned to his alley to find that the vermin fared well. Taken with the wisdom of the exterminators, absorbed in ratological study, our writer seems to believe,finally, we are like rats, rats are like us. Sullivan tells all, writing, in prose worthy of Joseph Mitchell, a sort of "Up in the Old Rat Hole": skittering, scurrying, terrific natural history. First serial to the New York Times MagazineFrom the Publisher
Praise for Robert Sullivan:
"A troubadour of urban borders, Robert Sullivan explores territory where no one wants to go."
-Village Voice
Praise for The Meadowlands:
"Provocative, audacious...by looking observantly, without trite moralizing, at the natural world...this book suggests a challenging new model for how we ought to pay attention."
-New York Times Book Review
"A fine, intrepid work of reporting that finds revelations...The Meadowlands is funny, interesting, surprising and bizarre."-Ian Frazier
"A different kind of search for the diverting sublime...what a tremendous feat of the imagination! To celebrate the natural (and unnatural) beauties of a wasteland!"
- San Francisco Chronicle
Praise for A Whale Hunt:
"A rich story, at turns ironic and bemusing, sad and funny."-USA Today
"A book that is at once enthralling, fair-minded, and very funny."-New York Review of Books
"Marvelous...Sullivan has a very Ishmael-like talent for being both funny and generous."
- New York Times Book Review
Book Details
Published
April 1, 2005
Publisher
Bloomsbury USA
Pages
256
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781582344775