The Ubiquitous Pig
by By Jonas, Susan and Nissenson, Marilyn
Category: Fiction , General

Mention the word pig and people smile. They picture pink skin, a corkscrew tall, and the adorable snout of a piglet. They think of Miss Piggy, Wilbur, and Porky Pig. Pigs have inspired writers from Ovid to Mother Goose and artists from ancient Herculaneum to contemporary Hollywood. Still, people can't decide what to make of pigs. Pigs are so compelling, so mysterious, so contradictory - finicky yet fat, massive yet dainty, stolid yet smart. Humans, uneasy about their role in the life and death of pigs, make images of them that reveal complex feelings of attraction, revulsion, sentimentality, and guilt.In The Ubiquitous Pig, authors Marilyn Nissenson and Susan Jonas take an affectionate look at the many-sided relationship between humans and pigs and the art people have made to reflect that bond. Presented in 165 illustrations, 90 of them in color, are some of the most beguiling, dignified, haunting, cuddly, and ferocious images of pigs from antiquity to the present, along with excerpts from writings about them. Sprinkled throughout are sidebars, aphorisms, and little-known facts about these fascinating but often misunderstood creatures.The relationship between people and pigs has been noted by medical researchers, political cartoonists, and literary figures, including G. K. Chesterton, Thomas Hardy, George Orwell, Charles Lamb, Beatrix Potter, Lewis Carroll, Dylan Thomas, E. B. White, and Harry Truman, who said, "No man should be allowed to be president who does not understand hogs." Representations of pigs are among the earliest works of art, and they have remained a compelling subject for artists as diverse as Hieronymous Bosch, Faberge, Eadweard Muybridge, Winslow Homer, Currier and Ives, Alexander Calder, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Charles Addams, Maurice Sendak, and William Steig.The authors provide a lively introduction, filled with anecdotes and history. A brief bibliography for the hard-core pig fan and an index round out this charming volume.