Home Books Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue An…

Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals

Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals

by Laurie Zaleski

St. Martin's Press ·2022 ·256 pages
Best of 2022
Top of the Pile
Top of the Pile
I Index
90/99
Top of the Pile

88/99

Critics' Rating Index

Top of the Pile

92/99

Readers' Rating Index

n/a

Scholars' Citation Index

51/99

Volume of Reviews

90/99

Volume of Reader Ratings

Sign in to add to your shelf, rate, or review this book.


About This Book

An inspiring and moving memoir of the author's turbulent life with 600 rescue animals. Laurie Zaleski never aspired to run an animal rescue; that was her mother Annie's dream. But from girlhood, Laurie was determined to make the dream come true. Thirty years later as a successful businesswoman, she did it, buying a 15-acre farm deep in the Pinelands of South Jersey. She was planning to relocate Annie and her caravan of ragtag rescues—horses and goats, dogs and cats, chickens and pigs—when Annie died, just two weeks before moving day. In her heartbreak, Laurie resolved to make her mother's dream her own. In 2001, she established the Funny Farm Animal Rescue outside Mays Landing, New Jersey. Today, she carries on Annie's mission to save abused and neglected animals. Funny Farm is Laurie's story: of promises kept, dreams fulfilled, and animals lost and found. It's the story of Annie McNulty, who fled a nightmarish marriage with few skills, no money and no resources, dragging three kids behind her, and accumulating hundreds of cast-off animals on the way. And lastly, it's the story of the brave, incredible, and adorable animals that were rescued.


Reviews

"Although the interspersed anecdotes about the Funny Farm's most famous rescued animals provide welcome moments of levity, they sometimes lack a connection to the main story."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Lovers of the furry and feathery will revel in this feel-good story."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Zaleski alternates the stories of some of the Funny Farm's most colorful animal characters with her own family's turbulent history and escape from domestic violence ..."

Julia Rubin· The Washington Post Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Zaleski's animal stories are immensely relatable and often told with the mix of empathy, outrage, humor, and steady resolve that is familiar to seasoned animal rescuers."

Meagan Storey· Library Journal Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Yes, it covers tough ground, but the women's pluck more than makes up for the sadness."

Laurie Hertzel· The Minneapolis Star Tribune Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

Preview


Reader Reviews

0 reviews

Sign in to write a review.

No reader reviews yet. Be the first!