Its subtle logic and frank and tender mischief have somehow left me with the feeling of having witnessed a wake and christening combined-and I’m so very glad I attended.When “An Expensive Education”, a novel by Nick McDonell ’06-’07 came out this summer, Harvard was, once again, fictionalized and seen anew through the eyes of a recent graduate.īut while McDonell explained that his focus was on writing an engaging spy novel rather than on representing the setting where so much of the novel unfolds, a number of young authors who choose to write about Harvard instead decide to incorporate the institution into their own stories. 'This tale’s ratio of wit to wildness is positively golden. Simon Rich, author of New Teeth and Ant Farm

The result is a timelessly entertaining tale that readers will find inspiring and irresistible.' McDonell has the rare ability to combine irony with empathy and deliver satire with grace. Nick McDonell has dreamed up an ingenious mythology for his animals and he portrays them with the charm of Milne or Carroll. “ The Council of Animals is a delightful fable full of wit and wisdom. Thought-provoking, captivating, funny, instructive: this is a book for readers who have ever yearned for a little extrahuman wisdom and cheer.” The Council of Animals has the feel of a fable, both a romp with sweetly goofy animal characters and a serious and clear-eyed story about the real world and its dangers. “McDonell's clever, lively prose and snappy pacing propels readers onward. Tabbutt’s drawings of the animals add to the whimsy and interest of the tale by McDonell (An Expensive Education The Bodies in Person), which readers of all ages will enjoy.

As an anthropomorphic folktale, The Council of Animals is concise, clever, and wonderfully conceived.'īoth wildly imaginative and surprisingly funny, with (mostly) endearing characters, this thinly veiled metaphor offers what feels like an appropriate outcome. The echoes of Animal Farm are many, but here, the main target of social critique is far larger than totalitarianism.

An Expensive Education by Nick McDonell