Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?

The Epic Saga of the Bird That Powers Civilization

By: Andrew Lawler

Narrated by: Dennis Holland

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

From ancient empires to modern economics, veteran journalist Andrew Lawler delivers a sweeping history of the animal that has been most crucial to the spread of civilization across the globe: the chicken.

Queen Victoria was obsessed with it. Socrates' last words were about it. Charles Darwin and Louis Pasteur made their scientific breakthroughs using it. Catholic popes, African shamans, Chinese philosophers, and Muslim mystics praised it. Throughout the history of civilization, humans have embraced it in every form imaginable--as a messenger of the gods, a powerful sex symbol, a gambling aid, an emblem of resurrection, an all-purpose medicine, a handy research tool, an inspiration for bravery, the epitome of evil, and, of course, the star of the world's most famous joke.

In Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?, science writer Andrew Lawler takes us on an adventure from prehistory to the modern era with a fascinating account of the partnership between human and chicken (the most successful of all cross-species relationships). Beginning with the recent discovery in Montana that the chicken's unlikely ancestor is T. rex, this audiobook builds on Lawler's popular Smithsonian cover article, "How the Chicken Conquered the World", to track the chicken from its original domestication in the jungles of Southeast Asia some 10,000 years ago to postwar America, where it became the most engineered of animals, to the uncertain future of what is now humanity's single most important source of protein.

In a masterful combination of historical sleuthing and journalistic exploration on four continents, Lawler reframes the way we feel and think about our most important animal partner--and, by extension, all domesticated animals and even nature itself. Lawler's narrative reveals the secrets behind the chicken's transformation from a shy jungle bird into an animal of astonishing versatility, capable of serving our species' changing needs.

©2014 Andrew Lawler (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Valuable and Yet Undervalued

Would you consider the audio edition of Why Did the Chicken Cross the World? to be better than the print version?

I think the print version is better than the audio. There is so much information in the text it is easy to miss some by inattentiveness. In addition, print affords more ease in returning to earlier parts of the book to review earlier data. At the same time, Mr Holland's delivery is clear and well-modulated, so he is easy to listen to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Why Did the Chicken Cross the World??

The discussion of American naturalists' efforts to secure, breed, and raise truly wild red jungle fowl. Lawyer's text documented the frustration, anxiety, and concern of the very few scientist-farmers of the early twentieth century who, unsupported by the federal government, took it upon themselves and their own wallets to protect the wild genome.

Have you listened to any of Dennis Holland’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not, so I cannot comment concerning this question.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

There are so many! But I never knew any chicken could fly. Having heard this, I Googled "red jungle fowl" and found YouTubes showing the same.

Any additional comments?

Who'd have thought a book about chickens could be interesting to a non-farmer? Yet as a consumer of eggs and lots of chicken, I am concerned about the deplorable conditions in which many chickens are raised in the US, and the loss of flavour caused by breeding for size.

Very interesting sets of stories

I liked the book because it gave all aspects from historic to scientific knowledge of the significance of the bird.

Lots of interesting details and facts

Enjoyed the history both natural and anthropological, very interesting.
Amazing how this little bird is a staple on everyday day life without many of us acknowledging it.

Interesting, but a bit dry

A livelier narration would have helped, but as it is it wasn't riveting. Still, the author is right about the chicken being woefully overlooked, and offers some interesting insights on our avian companion

Brave as a... Chicken?

Andrew Lawler spins a yarn interleaving obscure facts, popular misconceptions, and futuristic possibilities. The role of chickens in the economic liberation of women and American blacks is featured here as an unsung ode to the versatility of this closest of man's barnyard companions. Chickens help us to roll back the mists of time letting us glimpse into the influences which shaped humanity's spread across the globe. To the uninitiated the chickens herein are a wonderful mishmash of the natural worlds contribution to our quality of life. By juxtaposing anthropomorphic traits with characteristics of the truly wild which only the heritage of the Tyrannosaurus rex can bestow. The significance of the chicken to religion, medicine, and science have deep roots in the past, and maybe the key to a humane tomorrow where man lives side by side in dignity with the livestock he relies upon for sustenance.

Never imagined the volume of bird trivia

This is a book about chicken. One would think that it is hard to write a book entirely about chicken. And one would think it is impossible to write such a book that is also interesting. Wrong, and wrong again. This book takes you on an unexpected, occasionally thrilling journey.

The reader will learn about:
- The number of chicken in the world: More than twice as many chickens as humans.
- The ancestry of chicken: They are related to dinosaurs and have been a part of our diet since at least 1500bc.
- The use of chicken in medicine: Squeezing it and drinking the resulting fluids cures a fewer (or so people thought.
- The morphology of chickens penises (or lack thereof).
- The role of chicken in ancient Greece: Socrates last words were about penises.
- Cockfighting: Still a very big sport in some countries.
- The intelligence of chicken (they are smarter than you think).
- And how much chicken we eat (crazy amounts).

If you are at all into chicken then this book is certain to be a smash hit. If you eat chicken occasionally and think chickens are ‘fine’, then this book will still be a hit. Even the reader who has never thought about this bird is likely to enjoy this book.

five stars all the way

I love the narrator's voice and diction. I love the book itself FAR more than I anticipated. I'm listening to it for the second time now, and am just as enthralled as the first time--it helps in that regard that I have the basic memory loss of an adult American, but it's also so full of novel information that it would have been impossible to store it all in one go.

Fascinating, delightfully educating, well-rounded, humorous without being too goofy, well narrated...if you're into nonfiction and/or oddball history and facts, stop reading the reviews and invest in this one, already!

informative while enjoyable.

I love it when I can learn while enjoying the process. First rate from start to finish.

Entertaining and Easy to Digest

Very informative and casts a wide net on a big topic. I wish there was more historical information included. Narrator was very good if a little deadpan on some of the more humorous material.

Loved the book

Great listen and information across such a wide range of chicken-related topics. Highly recommend