&"It comes as no wonder that The New York Times included Rachel Poliquin&'s The Breathless Zoo among its best coffee table books of 2012, calling it one among a privileged selection of titles that &'make an impression.&' Along with a rigorously researched and written text, The Breathless Zoo offers up an aesthetically enviable book design, which includes a collection of sumptuously colored images that often amaze, as frequently unnerve, but always leave the curious mind wanting more. The only thing truly bad about The Breathless Zoo, in my humble estimation, is that I didn&'t write it. Poliquin&'s book remains a visually and textually rich treasure trove of knowledge, and should be required reading for anyone in the field of animal studies, as well as anyone engaged in disciplines that interrogate the history of nature and its various representations, in word, image, and practice. We are fortunate to have The Breathless Zoo at our disposal.&" &Alissa A. Walls, Humanimalia.