Mother Was a Lovely Beast:

Mother Was a Lovely Beast:  A Feral Man Anthology: Fiction and Fact About Humans Raised by Animals Edited by Philip Jose Farmer          Hardback Book:  246 pages          Genre: Adult Facts & Fiction Feral Humans,  Edgar Rice Burroughs and other authors cited along with editor’s notes and facts given with detailed explanations and historical proof.


EXCELLENT BOOK.   Who knew there was truth to the Tarzan story?   Facts are given by the editor with links to actual locations, ships, progeny, peerage, etc.    Apparently Edgar Rice Burroughs embellished some stories he had heard from a sea captain about an Ape Man.     The Editor researched the tale and found there were elements of truth there.    He travelled to the locations mentioned in the  documents, journals, diaries and Burke’s Peerage that he came across and found the actual locations of the events were near locations mentioned in the fictionalized version that   Burroughs described in his writings.  The actual Englishman who spent 15 or more years among the bonobo after the deaths of his parents (who had actually been shipwrecked in the Belgian Congo) was actually raised by a bonobo female.    Fascinating stories here  including the other true tale of the French boy who was raised by wolves.    I don’t want to give too much away, but, it is utterly amazing to read about, even to consider a human raised in the wild as a feral creature then having to acclimate himself to human life when discovered.   The editor was even able to meet one of the true Tarzan’s offspring or at least one of the many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who are still to this day said to be descendants of the Ape Man.    The real Tarzan had 6 African wives after all and he said he had children with 5 of them.   The cad left his African families when he left the jungle however and never communicated with any of his offspring once he left and hooked up with an American gal and married her after their having lived together for a time.   There are also many stories the editor liked that were fiction about feral encounters of humans and beasts that he includes in the book and these stories are really enjoyable, too.    I am so glad I read this book, I particularly liked how the editor gave his take on his research at the end and gave the reader clear directions on where to connect the dots and find out the real low down on animals adopting humans.     Both amusing and amazing.    Tarzan didn’t just seem real he was based on fact.    Kudos to Philip Jose’ Farmer for bringing this knowledge and all the great stories to light.    Many stories included here from other countries making the cases for feral adoptees.    Standing ovation for this one.