Featuring over 230 illustrations of a veritable menagerie of fantastical and unreal beasts, Imaginary Animals is a feast for the eyes and the imagination. Their greatest service, Sax concludes, is to continually challenge our imaginations, directing us beyond the limitations of conventional beliefs and expectations. really liked it 4.00 avg rating 4 ratings published 2011 3 editions. Rob Boddice (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Boria Sax (Goodreads Author), Kevin Delapp, Richie Nimmo. Anthropocentrism: Humans, Animals, Environments.

Tracing the history of imaginary animals from Paleolithic art to their roles in stories such as Harry Potter and even the advent of robotic pets, he reveals that these extraordinary figures help us psychologically-as monsters, they give form to our amorphous fears, while as creatures of wonder, they embody our hopes. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. He shows how, despite their liminal role, imaginary animals like griffins, dog-men, yetis, and more are socially constructed creatures, created through the same complex play of sensuality and imagination as real ones. In this book, Boria Sax digs into the stories of these fabulous beasts. Legends tell us that imaginary animals belong to a primordial time, before everything in the world had names, categories, and conceptual frameworks. And in the sections on the apocalypse in the Bible, they proliferate as the end of time approaches, with horses with heads like lions, dragons, and serpents signaling the destruction of the world. Tales from around the world place these beasts in deserts, deep woods, remote islands, ocean depths, and alternate universes-just out of our reach. Medieval authors placed them in the borders of manuscripts as markers of the boundaries of our understanding. An extraordinary menagerie of fantastical and unreal beasts featuring hundreds of illustrations, from griffins to dog-men, mermaids, dragons, unicorns, and yetis.įire-breathing dragons, beautiful mermaids, majestic unicorns, terrifying three-headed dogs-these fantastic creatures have long excited our imagination.

Crow by Boria Sax