'By nature volatile and discordant, the human animal looks to silence for relief from being itself while other creatures enjoy silence as their birthright 'Why do humans seek meaning to life? How do our imaginations leap into worlds so far beyond our actual reality?

In this chilling and beautiful sequel to Straw Dogs, John Gray explores how we decorate our existence with countless fictions, twisting and turning to avoid acknowledging that we too are animals. Drawing on an extraordinary array of writers who are mesmerized by extremity, from Ballard to Conrad, Gray makes us re-imagine our place in the world.