What do readers think of Alfie and Me by Carl Safina? Write your own review.

I've never read Carl Safina before, so I didn't know to expect that he includes a massive amount of philosophy along with his observations of the animal world. I was very interested in his observations and care of the owl he rescued, along with his vast knowledge of the animal world as a whole. Of course we all relate to each other, human and animal, and the writings of philosophers can enlighten us and open our minds. But I think Safina goes a bit overboard in this book by about 100 pages of too much philosophy.

Part of this book is about the rescue of Alfie, a baby owl and the relationship with the author. Unfortunately, the main theme is about the ills of humanity caused by Western philosophy & religion. How our minds and values have been negatively influenced was discussed ad nauseam, leaving little room for the story of Alfie.
Although, I agree with the author on the fragility of human existence, I was not expecting a story on an orphaned owl to include everything from Schrödinger Cat to John Coltrane. I should have guessed 16 pages of references and a bibliography could not all be about owls.
This book was not for me. I only finished it because I agreed to write a review.