Rakuen, I very much appreciate your review and the points you raise. (In fact, a lot of the reviews and comments FN has received have been so enthusiastically thumbs-up I've actually been looking forward to some more critical looks at the book!)
First off, the lack of a global perspective wasn't so much a deliberate exclusion as much as a lack of time to investigate Furry world-wide in enough depth to do it justice (I had a January 1 2017 deadline to submit my manuscript which I barely made) and space. (My manuscript was way overlength; I had to leave out a good deal of already-written material including a chapter on Pony I'm really proud of.)
The American focus was due as much to the fact Furry was (as Bruce Springsteen sang) "Born in the USA" and its primary readership would be here. The best I could do this time around was a one-sentence reference to furry conventions springing up around the world. (Rakuen, thanx much for pointing out that near 50/50 Eurofurence suiter/non-suiter split; wish I'd known!)
As for the sex, yes, I definitely and deliberately downplayed that aspect of the fandom; if I went too far in doing so it was to counteract the "Furry=kinky sex fetish" stereotype. You might have noticed the "voice" I wrote in was one explaining Furry to non-furs; I mistakenly assumed the furry audience would be secondary to fur-curious mainstream readers, and it looks like I was completely wrong in that assumption - but I didn't want to reinforce/validate the mainstream world's stereotyped view of Furry. ("You see, it's just like that MTV special said!")
When it comes to furs identifying themselves as zoophiles I have to point out a basic fact about Furry: there's no governing body or "membership" requirements; anyone who wants to call themselves a fur, can - even a zoophile. IMHO (and that's all I can offer here, is my opinion) - Furry=anthropomorphic, and there is *nothing* anthropomorphic about using a real-life animal, in real life, for sexual gratification.
One point I feel obligated to take issue with your review is where you say "Belief in therianthropy and Catholicism are seldom harmful in themselves but they are not based on evidence and their uncritical acceptance gives the impression that such unsupported beliefs are acceptable."
Rakuen, how do *prove* a spiritual belief, *any* spiritual belief? According to dictionary.com, belief is "confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof." Can you *prove* God exists, or that someone is "wrong" in their belief they possess an animal soul, or even that someone who feels they were mistakenly born the wrong gender strongly enough to surgically transform themself is "wrong"? I tried in that chapter to respect those peoples' beliefs and not challenge them and I don't believe I was wrong in doing so. (Due to a cluttered Email in-box I overlooked a response from a woman who oversees an online therian support group; I so much would've liked to include her perspective in that chapter and hopefully I'll someday remedy that oversight.)
As I mentioned above, I have enough already-written material to serve as the basis of a sequel, which I very much hope to interest my publisher Cleis or another company to release. For one thing it would correct as many errors in FN as possible and it would *definitely* cover Furry around the world, how it spread from the US to become a global phenomenon.* (I'm sure there've been furry gatherings in every continent save Antarctica by now, and I'm probably wrong about Antarctica...and if nothing else, it would give me an excuse to attend Eurofurence and a few other far-flung furry conventions.) Its title would of course be "Furry Planet."
***
*I'd also include mainstream anthropomorphism in art galleries, serious literature, stage plays, fashion etc even architecture and things like cat-eared headphones. (And it would *definitely* explore the sexual aspects of Furry in greater detail; in fact I'm planning to title that chapter "The Naughtier Bits.")
Rakuen, I very much appreciate your review and the points you raise. (In fact, a lot of the reviews and comments FN has received have been so enthusiastically thumbs-up I've actually been looking forward to some more critical looks at the book!)
First off, the lack of a global perspective wasn't so much a deliberate exclusion as much as a lack of time to investigate Furry world-wide in enough depth to do it justice (I had a January 1 2017 deadline to submit my manuscript which I barely made) and space. (My manuscript was way overlength; I had to leave out a good deal of already-written material including a chapter on Pony I'm really proud of.)
The American focus was due as much to the fact Furry was (as Bruce Springsteen sang) "Born in the USA" and its primary readership would be here. The best I could do this time around was a one-sentence reference to furry conventions springing up around the world. (Rakuen, thanx much for pointing out that near 50/50 Eurofurence suiter/non-suiter split; wish I'd known!)
As for the sex, yes, I definitely and deliberately downplayed that aspect of the fandom; if I went too far in doing so it was to counteract the "Furry=kinky sex fetish" stereotype. You might have noticed the "voice" I wrote in was one explaining Furry to non-furs; I mistakenly assumed the furry audience would be secondary to fur-curious mainstream readers, and it looks like I was completely wrong in that assumption - but I didn't want to reinforce/validate the mainstream world's stereotyped view of Furry. ("You see, it's just like that MTV special said!")
When it comes to furs identifying themselves as zoophiles I have to point out a basic fact about Furry: there's no governing body or "membership" requirements; anyone who wants to call themselves a fur, can - even a zoophile. IMHO (and that's all I can offer here, is my opinion) - Furry=anthropomorphic, and there is *nothing* anthropomorphic about using a real-life animal, in real life, for sexual gratification.
One point I feel obligated to take issue with your review is where you say "Belief in therianthropy and Catholicism are seldom harmful in themselves but they are not based on evidence and their uncritical acceptance gives the impression that such unsupported beliefs are acceptable."
Rakuen, how do *prove* a spiritual belief, *any* spiritual belief? According to dictionary.com, belief is "confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof." Can you *prove* God exists, or that someone is "wrong" in their belief they possess an animal soul, or even that someone who feels they were mistakenly born the wrong gender strongly enough to surgically transform themself is "wrong"? I tried in that chapter to respect those peoples' beliefs and not challenge them and I don't believe I was wrong in doing so. (Due to a cluttered Email in-box I overlooked a response from a woman who oversees an online therian support group; I so much would've liked to include her perspective in that chapter and hopefully I'll someday remedy that oversight.)
As I mentioned above, I have enough already-written material to serve as the basis of a sequel, which I very much hope to interest my publisher Cleis or another company to release. For one thing it would correct as many errors in FN as possible and it would *definitely* cover Furry around the world, how it spread from the US to become a global phenomenon.* (I'm sure there've been furry gatherings in every continent save Antarctica by now, and I'm probably wrong about Antarctica...and if nothing else, it would give me an excuse to attend Eurofurence and a few other far-flung furry conventions.) Its title would of course be "Furry Planet."
***
*I'd also include mainstream anthropomorphism in art galleries, serious literature, stage plays, fashion etc even architecture and things like cat-eared headphones. (And it would *definitely* explore the sexual aspects of Furry in greater detail; in fact I'm planning to title that chapter "The Naughtier Bits.")
- Joe