Dogpatch Press

Thanks to Howl, of Thurston Howl Publications, for his review.

Fred Patten asked me to review this book, and I was genuinely excited for the volume. It is incredibly rare to receive a strong nonfiction book relating to the furry fandom, and this is no exception.

In a nutshell, the book is an encyclopedia of all the furry fandom conventions, their details, their histories, and the people that have made the conventions happen. For a researcher, this is invaluable in measuring statistical data on convention attendance, themes, charity donations, etc. For the random furry, this could be a great primer (or travel guide) on which cons to attend (or avoid). The style of the book is mostly informative with some humor thrown in as well. I am quite glad to have this book on my shelf, and the “furword” by Dr. Gerbasi is delightful authentication for the book as well.

My greatest qualms with the book are more along the lines of production. For such a small reference book (marketed toward furries, no less), the cost is absurdly high at $40.00 US dollars. I understand there are a few color pages in the middle of the book, but those illustrations hardly make the book worth that cost. The cover itself looks shoddy as well, as if it were designed as a MS word page with public domain furry art. In fact, the way the text blurs on the front, I had thought Dr. Gerbasi was the author of the book, as that font stood out from the title more than the author font did.

I know these complaints are trivial. After all, they are hardly complaints against Patten. But as a whole, I must review the book as a finished product, not just the text itself.

However, my review on Amazon gave the book four stars out of five, and I truly recommend this to anyone who wants to research furry cons or is interested in a good primer on the subject.

The publisher has requested the following information be included with this review:

Publisher: McFarland – www.mcfarlandpub.com – 800-253-2187

– Howl