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Book Synopsis
Aurochs and Auks is a deeply moving and intelligent meditation on the natural processes of death and extinction, renewal and continuity. Prompted by his own near-death in a time of pandemic, John Burnside explores the history of the auroch (Bos primigenius), the wild cattle that has become the source of so much sacred and cultural imagery across Europe, from the Minotaur and the Cretan bull dances to Spanish corrida traditions. He then tells the story of the Great Auk, a curious bird whose extinction in the mid-nineteenth century was caused by human persecution and before stepping into multiple extinctions of the outer and inner world.

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Written with both erudite ire and a longing soul, this is a work of a beautiful mind - Jay Griffiths

Aurochs and Auks: Essays on mortality and

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    A Hardback by John Burnside

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      Publisher: Little Toller Books
      Publication Date: 18/10/2021
      ISBN13: 9781908213891, 978-1908213891
      ISBN10: 1908213892
      Also in:
      Biography Essays Memoirs Natural History Wildlife: general interest

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Aurochs and Auks is a deeply moving and intelligent meditation on the natural processes of death and extinction, renewal and continuity. Prompted by his own near-death in a time of pandemic, John Burnside explores the history of the auroch (Bos primigenius), the wild cattle that has become the source of so much sacred and cultural imagery across Europe, from the Minotaur and the Cretan bull dances to Spanish corrida traditions. He then tells the story of the Great Auk, a curious bird whose extinction in the mid-nineteenth century was caused by human persecution and before stepping into multiple extinctions of the outer and inner world.

      Trade Review
      Written with both erudite ire and a longing soul, this is a work of a beautiful mind - Jay Griffiths

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