Zoo Nebraska: The Dismantling of an American Dream is a very thoroughly researched, comprehensive and well written portrayal of a real life Midwestern tragedy. As someone who has visited and witnessed firsthand almost all of the zoos in the U.S., from those with world class state-of-the-art facilities to roadside zoos that will break your heart (much like the one depicted in this book); I felt compelled to read Zoo Nebraska, which, I am thankful to say, I had never visited.

For me the book was compartmentalized. The details of life in a rural farming community are vividly depicted and included some of the history of the area. That was of particular interest to me. The local townspeople involved and their personalities were described in detail, until you felt that you knew them well (or someone just like them, at any rate). But there was no escaping the main subject matter, the ill fated circumstances that resulted in the travesty that was the roadside attraction known as Zoo Nebraska.

Dick Haskins was a local boy, a loner and somewhat eccentric person who never quite fit in. He was drawn to the study of primates and fell in love with them, wanting to devote his life to a career studying them, in Africa. However, he never pursued the educational course that would have given him the expertise required to fulfill this career dream. After a stint working with the chimps at a nearby large zoo, he ended up being able to personally take Ruben, a chimp who he had grown very close to and quite fond of, ostensibly even teaching him some sign language. The chimp was put in inadequate housing and the debacle snowballed from there. There are many culpable parties in this story, but none so much as Dick Haskins. While there is alot of sympathy for Dick instilled in the story, that did not register with me. I felt he is guilty of manslaughter, thoug of course there is no such crime for the death of non-human beings.

The lack of oversight and regulation of roadside zoos is incomprehensible to me and has resulted in tragedy time and time again. I hope this book serves to bring more awareness to this topic and cause some action and legislation to take place to prevent these types of tragedy. It's a story that never should have happened, and should never have been allowed to happen, at any level. ( )

Well-written, even if the story itself becomes a sad picture of broken dreams, unsustainable ambitions, and people put in the wrong positions. ( )

A well-researched cautionary tale about wildlife nonprofits and animal-based tourism. Highly recommended for any animal lover contemplating the start-up of a large mammal or exotic species rescue organization. ( )

There was a lot in here that I felt had no place in the "story" whatsoever, things that had nothing to do with the zoo or the incident. For example (and no name given, but it's near the end of the book) what relevance at all did ________ knowing who he was related to have any bearing to things? None whatsoever. It was as if random thoughts and chapters were thrown in just to add more words to it. Cut out of all the unnecessary "extra-ness," and this would have been more interesting. ( )

A good non-fiction read about a small zoo (if one can call it that) in Royal, Nebraska, population 68. For the size of the town, it claimed to do fantastic things. However, I find a lack of care of the animals, such as using abandoned corn cribs in which to house primates. I believe the original founder was well-intentioned, but most everybody else was in it for the money it could bring them personally or the town. This was a very difficult book to "get into". I think I must have started it at least 5-6 times, but it did pick up. This author is truly lucky to have a best-seller, as his potential audience is quite small. 252 pages ( )