Wolfish

"A prize-winning journalist, Berry lets no one off the hook—not man nor beast nor woman. What do we fear, and when, and why? This book should be required reading."—Los Angeles Times

“Berry’s braided approach renders Wolfish both a vulnerable self-investigation and a wide-ranging exploration of fear—and, ultimately, an antidote to it. She makes a stirring case for walking alongside the symbolic wolf.” —The Atlantic

“Richly discursive…Berry draws on a huge, rich depository of lupine literature…The book’s most obvious ancestor is Helen Macdonald’s megahit of 2014, H Is for Hawk; it has that same intellectual range”—The Sunday Times

“Far more than a book about an animal, this is a book about how fear shapes the world...The prose itself in Wolfish is brisk and essayistic, and makes for a compelling read . . . Wolfish is a fascinating document.”—The New Republic

“The type of nonfiction book that any can read regardless of their interests as long as they like damn good writing… Berry smashes expectations for what a book can do.”—Debutiful


“Wolfish's explorations of predators and prey in the natural world and in the man-made world defies easy categorization . . . asks readers to reconsider their relationships with fear and the creatures who cause it.”—Harper’s Bazaar

“A sensitive, satisfying read.”—Reader’s Digest

“Wolfish delivers a portrait of the American cultural unconscious—and its intersections with sex, race, and the environment… As Berry masterfully shows, a wolf…is never just a wolf.”—The Millions

“Captivating.”—Bustle

“Richly layered and complex . . . Berry’s vulnerability and strength is displayed in poignant detail.” —The Star Tribune

"[A] wise and arresting debut about the wolves—real and symbolic—that haunt American life. Blending science writing with memoir and cultural criticism, Wolfish is a powerful exploration of predators and their prey delivered with an unflinching and vulnerable honesty . . . a necessary environmental memoir: that which acknowledges fear in its ongoing pursuit of hope."—Vulture

"An exhilarating book—intricate, thoughtful, and thick with connections."—Megha Majumdar, New York Times bestselling author of A Burning

“I devoured every startling, lyrical, haunting, yet all-too-familiar page of Wolfish. Such a stunning achievement, it left me feeling like one of the pack.”—Elizabeth Rush, author of Rising: Dispatches from The New American Shore, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize

"I can't stop talking about Erica Berry's debut Wolfish, a passionate and personal portrayal of the wildness in the world and ourselves. With compelling and lyrical prose that reveals a depth of knowledge and research, Berry looks not just at wolves but the wolf nature in all of us and around us, asking important questions about fear, identity, and our relationship to the natural world. The connections she spins out between world and self are both critical investigations and insightful revelations. Wolfish is a triumph of a debut, cementing Berry as an important new voice.”—Lyz Lenz, author of Belabored and God Land

"Insightful and gorgeously written, Wolfish shows us that the stories we tell about predators and prey are always about more than they seem. This exploration of violence and vulnerability is a book that never stopped surprising me."—Rachel Monroe, author of Savage Appetites: True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession

"Wolfish starts with a single wolf and spirals through nuanced investigations of fear, gender, violence, and story. A gorgeous achievement."—Blair Braverman, author of Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North

“Elegant and elegiac, Wolfish asks how we live alongside, and honor, both the wilds we do such harm to and the fears that run wild within us. Erica Berry beautifully weaves literature, science, philosophy, history, and her own memories to deconstruct millenia of myth-making around wolves, urging a return to something even more powerful than the tales we've spun: untangling the creature from our fear, to better understand both it and ourselves. This is a book composed of what humanity has made, yes, but above all it's a gorgeous reminder that we, too, are part of nature.”—Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, author of The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir

"Erica Berry's Wolfish is a marvel: a beautiful piece of work as wide-ranging as it is precise. Berry's keen eye and fresh, startling prose are not only an excellent guide to nature and the world around us, but also to what our reactions to the landscape tell us about ourselves—what we fear and who we might become. You won't want to miss this."—V. V. Ganeshananthan, author of Love Marriage, longlisted for the Women’s Prize

“The space between humans and wolves is filled with stories, from fairy tales to family histories to our own fears and desires. With courage and insight, Erica Berry illuminates this tangled territory, inviting us to explore it for ourselves.”—Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts: Fighting For Life in an Age of Extinction

"[A] worthy addition to the literature surrounding wolves."—Kirkus Reviews

"This blend of memoir and nature writing will call to those who delve deeply into themselves and into our relationship with the wild."—Booklist

"A fascinating read, perfect for fans of Mary Roach’s Fuzz, or anyone who enjoys learning about wolves and what they can teach about human nature."—Library Journal