Rat, a mentally unbalanced but eloquent lab rat who fancies himself a scientific expert, acts as an apologist for mankind's worst acts against animals--vivisection, experimentation, hunting, and slaughter--by preaching that humans are animals' superiors, that animals don't have souls, that animals have a moral duty to serve humanity as both food and grist for scientific experimentation, and ultimately that Death is the only Freedom for animals.

The plot revolves around Doc Rat fighting against the rebellion, but we see parts of the plot told through the eyes of other animals and species. He’s sensitive chap and it was his exquisite sensitivity that caused him to dream up the item that’s become the latest rage here at the lab: the fabulous removal of the eggs from a female rat’s body—to the tail, to the ear, to the stomach. If say, someone on the surface were to kill the rabbit baby then the submarine, with the mother on board, would know to surface and launch their nuclear weapons. His primary medical education took place at Oxford University, and after his studies, his practical training took place at university hospitals associated with London and Cambridge universities.

The point of all these works is that humans are not "special" or chosen to be the culmination of either Creation or blind evolution. The book rests on a single joke, that the scientists are subjecting the animals to brutal experiments and Dr. The only real bright light in this comical but dark book was a tangential story about a music conductor who manages to briefly communicate with whales.

During a stay as the doctor for the coal-mining town of Collie, he drew an anthropomorphic comic strip, DownUnderGround, for the local newspaper. It is satirical, and funny, but also a troubling look at the world where humans think everything and everyone else is subordinate to them. As the grant-supported, knowledgeable survivor of the most refined scientific experiments, Doctor Rat, Ph.A bloodcurdling novel in the spirit of Animal Farm and 1984, Doctor Rat is a trip through a laboratory worthy of a mad scientist—except this scientist is a wisecracking rodent. And it’s the justification for these horrific experiments that has captivated our maniacal Mad Doctor. OFFICIAL AUTHOR INFO: American novelist William Kotzwinkle is a two-time recipient of the National Magazine Award for Fiction, a Book Critics Circle award nominee, a winner of the World Fantasy Award, the Prix Litteraire des Bouquinistes des Quais de Paris, the PETA Award for Children's Fiction, and he wrote the narration for Michael Jackson's E. And, after the universal animal uprising, we murder all the elephants, bears, monkeys, turtles, snakes, and everything else. I didn’t discuss in the review, but my favorite scene involves Doctor Rat’s attempt to recruit all the rats in The Pleasure Dome experiment box to help him put down the lab rebellion.

On one level there are obvious symbolic parallels to the Nazi death camps and other situations where absolute control is exercised by one group over another without any sort of accountability.

It’s part of the experimental program of music that’s being channeled toward certain rats, to make them more docile and sweet. After a fraught and adventurous romance, he married Daniella Hood, his tae kwon do instructor and dentist. Rat Trap lets the data speak for itself, from pointless tests to shamefully poor experimental designs, plainly revealing how 150 years of animal testing have succeeded only in thwarting medical progress and lining the pockets of an industry that just wants to maintain the status quo. He listened attentively, thoroughly explained my diagnosis, and demonstrated a genuine commitment to my well-being.

A whole host of different species are locked up alongside the mad Doctor Rat, each one there is undergoing their own atrocious experiment in the name of science. A rat lying here, making a real contribution to science by having his trachea severed, and suddenly he’ll be completely plugged into a revolutionary image. As the end nears Doctor Rat cheers: “Gimme a B, gimme a U, gimme a B, gimme an O, gimme an I, gimme a C!The randomness, the flaws and the madness contained within these pages made for a love-hate reading experience. Ben and Flopsy join Phil, the gorilla chemist, and two friends for a weekend of fishing and “male bonding” at Hanging Drop Lake, where personal secrets are revealed. Files beginning with a single (*) are the same for the whole colour/reading level and only need to be downloaded once per colour/level. Her story, "Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain," from her collection Near + Far (Hydra House Books), was a 2012 Nebula nominee.