An immersive blend of chicken-keeping memoir and culture reporting by a journalist who accidentally became obsessed with her flock.
Join us to celebrate Tove Danovich's book Under the Henfluence!
Saturday, June 17th at 7pm at Auntie's Bookstore (402 W Main Ave).
This event is free and open to the public.
RSVP below!
About the book
Since first domesticating the chicken thousands of years ago, humans have become exceptionally adept at raising them for food. Yet most people rarely interact with chickens or know much about them. In Under the Henfluence, culture reporter Tove Danovich explores the lives of these quirky, mysterious birds who stole her heart the moment her first box of chicks arrived at the post office.From a hatchery in Iowa to a chicken show in Ohio to a rooster rescue in Minnesota, Danovich interviews the people breeding, training, healing, and, most importantly, adoring chickens. With more than 26 billion chickens living on industrial farms around the world, they're easy to dismiss as just another dinner ingredient. Yet Danovich's reporting reveals the hidden cleverness, quiet sweetness, and irresistible personalities of these birds, as well as the complex human-chicken relationship that has evolved over centuries. This glimpse into the lives of backyard chickens doesn't just help us to understand chickens better--it also casts light back on ourselves and what we've ignored throughout the explosive growth of industrial agriculture. Woven with delightful and sometimes heartbreaking anecdotes from Danovich's own henhouse, Under the Henfluence proves that chickens are so much more than what they bring to the table.
About the author
Tove Danovich is a freelance journalist who has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Ringer, Backyard Poultry Magazine, and many others. Her articles have been included in Year’s Best Sports Writing and Best Food Writing. She lives in Portland, Oregon with one husband, two dogs, and an ever-changing number of chickens. The flock's Instagram @BestLittleHenhouse is more popular than hers.
Bookseller Comments
Tove Danovich was a guest on the #1 science podcast, Ologies! They had so much information host Alie Ward split their interview into TWO episodes! Her first episode (#314), called Chickenology (Hens & Roosters) was released on March 29th and can be found here. But you should still come to her event at Auntie's after listening to the podcast! I'm not excited at all, nope, not at all!!! I promise I won't be using exclamation marks at the event...OK maybe one or two.
Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them (Hardcover)
An immersive blend of chicken-keeping memoir and culture reporting by a journalist who accidentally became obsessed with her flock.Since first domesticating the chicken thousands of years ago, humans have become exceptionally adept at raising them for food. Yet most people rarely interact with chickens or know much about them.