This follow-up to Tarte's popular Enslaved by Ducks
, which introduced the somewhat neurotic writer; his supportive wife, Linda; and their animals—first a bunny and then an expanding menagerie of parrots, ducks, turkeys, cats and more bunnies—has a somewhat darker undertone, but should still delight readers with its humorous "Dave Barry on a farm" sensibility. Tarte begins with an admission that his life of caring for 30-odd animals had become pretty run-of-the-mill, and that he "longed for the unexpected, and that was always a mistake." What he gets, over the next five years, includes his father's death, his mother's diagnosis with Alzheimer's, a garden pest control/philosopher who doesn't really know anything about gardening, and the sudden deaths of some of his favorite pets. Despite the many wacky barnyard moments, Tarte doesn't play it safe: he deftly explores his concern that "dark undercurrents had risen to the top like worms after a rain, and the worms were now in charge." But with the help of family, friends and a new parrot named Bella, he overcomes his setbacks and sees that the "mixture of wildness and comfort" created by his beloved animals "was life itself in miniature." (Mar. 16)
