First Published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

According to Murphy's Law, "If anything can go wrong, it will." This humorous hardcover compilation offers variations on the well-known adage, including comic truths related to business matters, excuses, efficiency, and legal jargon.

This book examines Japanese wartime zoo policy during World War II, analyzing the reasons why the Home Ministry destroyed more than 300 showpiece animals throughout Japan well before U.S. air strikes were anticipated, with international comparisons of the effects of the war on zoos in Europe, the United States, and the Middle East.

A close-up look at the contradictions and wonders of the modern zoo Orangutans swing from Kevlar-lined fire hoses. Giraffes feast on celebratory birthday cakes topped with carrots instead of candles. Hi-tech dinosaur robots growl among steel trees, while owls watch animated cartoons on old television sets. In American Zoo, sociologist David Grazian takes us on a safari through the contemporary zoo, alive with its many contradictions and strange wonders. Trading in his tweed jacket for a zoo uniform and a pair of muddy work boots, Grazian introduces us to zookeepers and animal rights activists, parents and toddlers, and the other human primates that make up the zoo's social world. He shows that in a major shift away from their unfortunate pasts, American zoos today emphasize naturalistic exhibits teeming with lush and immersive landscapes, breeding programs for endangered animals, and enrichment activities for their captive creatures. In doing so, zoos blur the imaginary boundaries we regularly use to separate culture from nature, humans from animals, and civilization from the wild. At the same time, zoos manage a wilderness of competing priorities—animal care, education, scientific research, and recreation—all while attempting to serve as centers for conservation in the wake of the current environmental and climate-change crisis. The world of the zoo reflects how we project our own prejudices and desires onto the animal kingdom, and invest nature with meaning and sentiment. A revealing portrayal of comic animals, delighted children, and feisty zookeepers, American Zoo is a remarkable close-up exploration of a classic cultural attraction.

In this book, ZOO, the author, Bernard Livingston will present a study of this world which treats it as social history. But the style will be a light-handed one similar to that of his previous social study, Their Turf, the story of the world of the racehorse and the people involved therein. It is to be hoped that the fun, drama, humor and yes, enlightenment inherent in the world of the zoo will not be lacking in this work.