Book description
Longlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection, Aspen Words Literary Prize, and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction. Finalist for the 2023 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.
A Ms. Magazine, Bustle, Publishers Weekly, Chicago Review of Books, Debutiful, and ALTA Journal Best Book of Septemberā¦
Why read it?
3 authors picked What We Fed to the Manticore as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Most of the books I read with my kids have animals as the main characters, but few books aimed at adults do, so I was thrilled to find these stories where wolves, vultures, and tigers provide nuanced, complex perspectives on a threatened world. I learned about love and deep ocean noise from a young whale and felt the loneliness of a polar bear who is parted from his mother, his twin, and others of his kind.
Through these mythic stories, I realized the deep strangeness that comes from losing my connection to other animals and the true pleasure of returningā¦
From Cameron's list on explore the surreal side of parenting.
An original, shatteringly beautiful book of stories told from the perspective of animals, all of which are dealing with climate disaster, war, the threat of extinction, or some other existential pain.
To put it simply, this book changed me, and pushed me to consider, in a different light, the mess humankind has made of our planet, that we share with all living beings. It made me think, cry, smile, and feel the greatest tenderness and compassion for the animalsāa donkey, a white bear, a dog that tried to protect his friend the rhino from a poacher.
The soft, empathetic writingā¦
I live and breathe nonfiction about animals. Every now and then, I get smacked in the face by a book like this, a book that reminds me just how powerful fiction can be.
In these short stories, Kolluri takes on the perspective of animals from real-life news items, like when a zookeeper painted his donkey to look like a zebra, or when the zoo in Gaza was destroyed by Israeli bombs in 2014, and embodies their minds and spirits.
In nonfiction about animals, writers work hard to avoid anthropomorphizing the creatures they write about, but in fiction, Kolluri embraces it,ā¦
If you love What We Fed to the Manticore...
These Blue Mountains
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancĆ©, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Heddaā¦
Want books like What We Fed to the Manticore?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like What We Fed to the Manticore.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,340
readers submitted
so far, will you?
š If you like What We Fed to the Manticore, you might also like...
Foxfire in the Snow
It's a time of change, between magic and alchemy.
Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin canāt quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with theā¦
The Main Gate
Dr. Elise Marquette has spent years burying the pastāuntil the past refuses to stay buried.
Hired to join Earthās first interstellar contact team, she hopes the vastness of space will finally offer distance from the ghosts of war and the wounds left by a mother who never let her beā¦
