Jon Katz

In 2007, a few years after purchasing Bedlam Farm in upstate New York, Jon Katz met Maria Wulf, a quiet, sensitive artist hoping to rekindle her creative spark. Jon, like her, was introspective yet restless, a writer struggling to find his purpose. He felt a connection with her immediately, but a formidable obstacle stood in the way. Maria's dog, Frieda, roared and charged at almost anyone who came near. But to Maria, Frieda was sweet and loyal, her...

The author continues his odyssey from suburban New Jersey dog lover to owner of Bedlam Farm in rural, upstate New York, profiling the four dogs and other animals who share his life, and capturing the experience of life with animals.

From the very beginning, Orson was a misfit. Like all border collies, he needed to work. But since there weren't any sheep available for herding in the New Jersey suburbs, Orson instead tried to corral school buses, garbage trucks, and skateboarding kidns. So Katz pulled up stakes and moved to a farm in upstate New York. There, Orson improved dramatically--until the day he started nipping people. The nips soon turned into bites, forcing Katz to face...

The true story of Lenore, a dog who made friends with a ram named Brutus.

We seem to need animals in our disconnected lives more and more, yet we understand them less and less. In Talking to Animals, New York Times bestselling author Jon Katz—who left his Manhattan life behind two decades ago for life on a farm where he is surrounded by dogs, cats, sheep, horses, cows, goats, and chickens—marshals his experience to offer us a deeper insight into animals and the tools needed for effectively communicating with them. By...