Frazier's strongest pieces are his tightly focused biographies of specific people or breeds of animals. ( )

This is a loose collection of reportage infused with portraits of quirky characters, environmental issues, abundant humor, and important social commentary. Frazier seems to lack any particular agenda, but there do seem to be a few unifying themes. He claims that “a theme in my book, it's about the thing that's underneath, the thing that's actually there but often invisible.” In pursuit of this aim, Frazier highlights not only forgotten and abused people (e.g., the homeless and racial minorities), but also certain animal species (e.g., harbor seals in New York City, feral hogs, and Asian carp) that seem to fly just below our radar. His goal is to examine what is authentic and thus indigenous in a wide variety of settings. The result is an eclectic mix of delightful stories from an irrepressible, curious, witty, and empathic observer of society and the world he inhabits.

The book takes its title from a piece about feral hogs. It turns out that they are thriving just about everywhere in America while wreaking havoc on the environment and other species. Two points are particularly noteworthy: 1) The mythical gigantic hogzilla probably does not exist because of the difficulty of foraging for that much food in the wild—the candidates for the size prize seem to be escapees from farms. 2) The places where feral hogs thrive are the same ones that supported Bush in recent presidential elections—who knew? In spite of prevalent loathing for these creatures, Frazier manages to display empathy and even admiration for them. One can only be touched by the little girl attending a show designed to show how dogs attack hogs, when she cries out, “run, pig, run.”

Clustered among idiosyncratic stories about people who study and nurture horseshoe crabs, the danger of Asian carp infesting the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watershed, the return of seals to New York Harbor (and where they go when not there), a start-up seeking environmentally friendly substitutes for plastics using mushrooms, and a search for the Manson Family hideout in Death Valley, there are moving stories about societal breakdown. “Hungry Minds” tells of feeding New York City’s homeless during the Bloomberg years while simultaneously feeding their minds in a writers’ workshop. “The Antidote” uncovers a surprising epidemic of opioid addiction on Staten Island highlighting more universal themes ranging from the life-saving drug, naloxone; the criminal element that supplies middle class addicts; painful funerals for the victims to the corporate greed that drives the supply of highly addictive pain medications.

There are also quite a few interesting portraits of the quirky characters Frazier encounters. A New Jersey family seeking to capitalize on a meteorite that fell through their bathroom ceiling only to be disappointed by scientists who determine that it was not a meteorite. Derrick Parker, a New York City police detective, who moonlights providing protection for rap artists, becomes the go to guy for investigating crimes among the rap community. Stealhead Joe, the best fishing guide on Oregon’s Deschutes River, seems to be living an enviable life, but things are not all that they seem. A Dutch artist receives notoriety for his unusual kinetic sculptures he calls strandbeests. A day at the beach with him is fascinating and indeed unusual. Ellin Mackay saves the New Yorker from obscurity with a piece critiquing the Manhattan social scene, while also discovering her ideal husband in Irving Berlin. An African-American servant is brutally murdered by being struck with a cane at a society ball in 1963. Her assailant, a member of a wealthy and powerful Southern family, was given a minimal sentence for his crime. This unfortunate tale eventually finds its way into one of Bob Dylan’s powerful protest songs. One cannot help but scramble to YouTube to listen to this somewhat obscure Dylan song.

These stories are unfailingly enjoyable and serve as testaments to Frazier’s meticulous research methods, immense curiosity, clear writing style, and courage. Despite the somber subject matter he often tackles, Frazier’s dry humor is never very far away. ( )