A Buffalo in the House: The True Story of a Man, an Animal, and the American West

by R.D. Rosen

Book Overview

From a #1 New York Times-bestselling author, "a heartwarming tale of bonding between people and animals" (Booklist).

A sprawling suburban house in Santa Fe is not the kind of home where a buffalo normally roams, but Veryl Goodnight and Roger Brooks are not your ordinary animal lovers. Over a hundred years after Veryl's ancestors, Charles and Mary Ann Goodnight, hand-raised two baby buffalo to help save the species from extinction, the sculptor and her husband adopt an orphaned buffalo calf of their own. Against a backdrop of the American West, A Buffalo in the House tells the story of a household situation beyond any sitcom writer's wildest dreams.

Charlie has no idea he's a buffalo and Roger has no idea just how strong the bond between man and buffalo can be. In the historical shadow of the near-extermination of a majestic and misunderstood animal, Roger sets out to save just one buffalo--in a true story featuring "one of the most memorable characters in recent nature writing" (Publishers Weekly).

"More than a touching man-beast buddy tale . . . lovingly chronicles the history of an embattled species and its importance in the American West." --Entertainment Weekly

"Moving proof of the restorative powers of man's relationship with nature." --People

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1595581650
• ISBN13: 9781595581655
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: New Press
• Length: 242 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.1" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

History, Drama and a Lot of Laughs

We had the pleasure of meeting the author at a book reading here in Albuquerque. I had been intrigued with the topic as Santa Fe is just a bit north and the main character actually living in the house....well, we just had to go. We have also been to the National Bison Range in MT but I had no idea of the bison's history (both past and current). Without going into too much detail, this is a must read for animal lovers as well as those who just like a good story. I laughed a lot (and cried) and learned that our inhumane attitudes still exist in the west. As I drive past the Sandia Pueblo and look upon the bison grazing in the field, I will see them much differently. It's time we took a stand against the slaughter in Yellowstone. I gave the book to my 10 year old niece who lives in Montana - maybe she can help change things.

A Delightful Surprise

Cried my way through to the end of Buffalo in the House this morning. I loved the book. I am not an animal person, but I was still charmed by Roger's relationship to Charlie the buffalo, and absolutely dismayed by the history of the buffalo in our country. This book is engaging and informative from start to finish -- an educational and heartfelt delight.

engrossing and wonderful

who would have thunk that a story about an injured buffalo would be the smartest, kindest, best written and engrossing memoir of the year? rosen has done an amazing job, bringing us into the story of charlie and the great people who adopt him, while also showing us how the buffalo was wiped off this land. bravo.

putting action where the word is

While doing research for a book (in German) about the Yellowstone bison, I came upon "A Buffalo in the House" and couldn't put it down. This beautifully written book not only tells the story of Charlie, the amazing buffalo and the people who try to give him a home, but also about the situation of the wild buffalos in the US. While "the symbol of the American West" ist trying to survive, the government is slaughterin the last genetically pure bison in the Nations first National Park. I highly recommend reading the book to get some insight on this political issue. And after reading it, go out and join the movement to help save the last wild bison.

Caring for an American Icon

Amid the noise, dust and confusion of a moving buffalo herd near Yellowstone National Park, a newly born buffalo calf strays from his mother, never to see her again. Eventually "mother" would be Roger Brooks, a retired commercial airline plot, and his wife Veryl Goodnight, a sculptor, who adopted and named the buffalo Charlie, after Veryl's legendary great-great uncle Charles Goodnight, who helped bring back buffaloes from near extinction. Author R.D. Rosen tells the story of the couple and the joys, difficulties and sorrows they experience while raising Charlie from week-old bottle-fed calf to 1800-pound bull. Reading of these experiences just drained my emotions. I treasure this book for its revelation of how an animal can affect so intimately those who care for it. I was drawn mostly to Roger's close attachment to Charlie. "Ethologists and philosophers argue endlessly about what animals feel," the author writes, "and whether they feel in the same way that humans do. In Charlie's case . . . it was a question of something else altogether: how deeply an animal can get a human to feel." And therein lies the beauty of this book. Interwoven with Charlie's story is the history of the plight of the buffalo, or bison, an American icon. I value the book for its documentation of the hardships of the buffalo in American history and the efforts of caring people trying to protect this majestic animal, a living symbol of America's heritage. Today, the herd at Yellowstone is the only continuously wild herd left in America, yet these buffalo are frequently mistreated. Rosen writes of efforts to preserve the Yellowstone herd, especially the work of the Buffalo Field Campaign, a group that is at the forefront of efforts to protect the wild buffaloes.