I have to admit that the only reason I picked up The Book of the Dun Cow is that I used to work closely with Walt Wangerin’s brother-in-law, who often mentioned this book in reverential, hushed tones. (Hi, Don!)

Now I’m completely sad that I waited so long. This is a tremendous novel. Like Watership Down, its characters are talking, self-aware animals. Under the care of the lordly, but imperfect, rooster Chauntecleer, the animals do battle with Evil. Wangerine’s epic, stylized narrative carries none of the smirking cynicism that marks contemporary media. His characters have nobility, despite their flaws.

This 25th Anniversary paperback edition carries an Afterword by the author, in which he writes, “What The Book of the Dun Cow is not—nor was ever intended to be—is an allegory.” It was good for me to read that, because I was tempted to allegorize the story, though I kept failing to make any consistent this-to-that comparisons.

Wonderful and thought-provoking, this book will deserve my attention again in the near future—and, quite probably, many times after that.