Wild Animus: Get yours today!

On the West Coast many years ago, an unhappy and fictional Ransom Altman attended UC Berkeley. Evading arrest for drug dealing, he fled to Washington and later to Alaska, where he descended into LSD-induced madness, attempting to transform into an animal in the wilderness.

Intrigued? Based on Amazon.com summaries, you can expect all this and more in Wild Animus by Rich Shapero. For the past week, boxes containing this multimedia project — consisting of a book and accompanying CDs — have been handed out on campus. I got mine today.

Looking for a summary of the book? Then look elsewhere. I have no plans to go through the Wild Animus experience any time soon. My internet sources note, though, that the ending is revealed (and ruined) by the introduction.

The Wikipedia article about Shapero reveals that the University is not unique; the book has been delivered to campuses across the Northeast, but "most copies were immediately discarded."

You can get your very own copy if you loiter around Frist and the corner of Prospect and Washington. Hear others' opinions of the book after the jump.

The users at Amazon.com gave the book 65% 1-star ratings. Here are the most popular unfavorable and favorable reviews. I'll leave it up to you to decide which is which.

"This is easily one of the worst books I have ever read ... The dialog throughout reads like someone who has never heard a conversation, and has only read bad poetry in translation ... Please do not read this book."

"I, like many others, received this book for free. But unlike others, I found this book a delight to have around the house. It served quite well as a monitor riser for my LCD screen. My friend and I needed a book to add weight for a tofu press. Pages 200 to 225 made wonderful firestarters when covered in paraffin wax ... The cat ate pages 123 to 127 when we ran out of catgrass for him to chew."

Still curious about the book? Well hurry on up to Frist because this is one experience you surely don't want to miss.