Other editions of book Bless the Beasts & Children

Bless the Beasts & Children became the late Glendon Swarthout's biggest bestseller, selling over 3 million copies in North America, with many overseas foreign language editions and never being out of print since first published in 1970. Bless the Beasts was a selection of the Literary Guild, the Doubleday Book Club, as well as a Reader's Digest condensed book. This novel was nominated by hard cover publisher Doubleday as its Pulitzer Prize candidate in Fiction for 1970. The film of Bless the Beasts by director Stanley Kramer in 1972 was not as successful, but it did contain a famous, Oscar-nominated theme song by the Carpenters and its music score has been released as "Nadia's Theme," from the 1972 Olympics and is still heard today as the theme music from CBS Television's long-running soap opera, "The Young and the Restless."This 25th anniversary edition of this juvenile classic, which includes an Afterword by the author's son, Miles Swarthout, answering some of the questions teenagers have written in about this story from their high school and college literature classes across America, giving them a better understanding of this famous novel, one of the first books to ever deal with the environmental subject of animal rights. Based upon my adventures as a summer camper and counselor at a private boys' ranch camp in Prescott, Arizona, Bless the Beasts & Children tells a tragicomic tale of a group of disturbed teenaged boys from over-privileged families who are "warehoused" by their inattentive parents at a summer session at an Arizona boys camp in hopes that their lazy, urban kids will be toughened-up in this camp's rigorous cowboy program. While on a field trip with their militaristic counselor, Wheaties, the boys see an annual buffalo "hunt" sponsored by the Arizona Fish and Game department, in which their counselor has drawn a permit. Sickened by the slaughter of these great beasts while trapped in big pens by these "sportsmen," the youths resolve to save the next day's allotment of 30 buffalo. Riding from their forest camp later that day on horses, the boys steal a pickup in Prescott and head up to Flagstaff on their mission-of-mercy. Complications arise, but these problem boys band together and manage to free these national symbols, but only after strenous effort and at great price. Glendon Swarthout's more positive response to William Golding's classic Lord of the Flies, and Golding's thesis that all men are basically beasts, stands as one of the first contemporary bestsellers to take up the cause of animal rights. Bless the Beasts remains one of the few controversial novels which ever resulted in some political change and social good -- the Arizona legislature mandated changing the regulations of their annual buffalo hunt to more humane practices due to student protests resulting from this book and film. Glendon's theme that even a group of misfit youths, if banded together in common cause, were capable of a great, heroic deed, still resonates strongly with American teenagers and their teachers, and this classic novel is still mandatory reading in many English classrooms across America.Reviews --"This is Mr. Swarthout's best novel since They Came To Cordura, an exciting mission-pursuit story with an engrossing cast of young characters." Publisher's Weekly"This is one of the rare books whose impact will far exceed its size. A brief synopsis of the plot cannot prepare the reader for the emotional involvement he will encounter...Truly an excellent novel." Nancy Chalfant, Sunday News & Leader, Springfield, Missouri"Well-written, almost poetically sparse, author Swarthout's ninth book adds to his prestige the acclaim that he handles the characters of runaway kids every bit as easily as he maneuvered rebellious soldiers in They Came To Cordura." the Los Angeles Times"It's a novel that no reader, once hooked, can put down....You shouldn't miss this one." Nard Jones, Seattle Post-Intel

From the author of The Homesman, Glendon Swarthout’s Bless the Beasts & Children is the classic coming-of-age novel that explores the fabric of the American ideal—as seen through the eyes of rebellious youth.“Send us a boy—we’ll send you a cowboy”: It doesn’t matter if the kid hates the sight of horses. Or if he still sucks his thumb and wets the bed. He’s got to be taught to toe the line. To measure up. To dig in his spurs—because that’s the way things are at the Box Canyon Boys Camp in Arizona. Based on the adventures of the author’s own son, Bless the Beasts & Children tells a tragicomic tale of a group of disturbed teenaged boys from over-privileged families who are sent by their inattentive parents to camp in hopes that their lazy, urban kids will be toughened up in the cowboy program. Complications arise, but these problem boys band together to take up an important cause. In this remarkable novel, Glendon Swarthout presents an electrifying portrait of six adolescent “misfits” on a desperate mission to save themselves. And, in a society dedicated to one narrow view of success, they learn something important about what it means to be a man. This is “an exciting mission-pursuit story with an engrossing cast of characters” (Publishers Weekly).

Only in Pocket Books Enriched Classics will readers find: - A concise introduction that gives readers important background information- A chronology of the author's life and career- A timeline of significant events that provide the book's historical context- An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations- Detailed explanatory notes- Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work- Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction- A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience- Consistently readable text