Shop Tails: the Animals Who Help Us Make Things Work

In this singular collection of essays, Nancy Hiller relates the ways in which non-human animals – some companions, others wild or raised on farms – have provided warmth and comfort, prompted laughter, and offered examples of courage or composure in the face of distressing events.

Shop Tails is a loving tribute to the animals whose lives have been intertwined with Hiller’s own and taught her lessons about relationships, loyalty, illness, joy, death, and (also important) pudding. It is also an unflinching look back at old wounds that have played their own part in making Hiller the person she is; she documents her efforts to prove her worth to others, as well as herself, in the workshop and beyond. In doing so, she discovers the empowerment that can come from honoring the life you’ve made in response to the hand you’ve been dealt. Every one of us will at some point experience challenges that feel insurmountable. We can only exert so much control over circumstances and events, but more often than not, we have the capacity to decide how we will respond.

Her 21 essays within will make you laugh. They will make you angry. They will inspire you to create something beautiful (a piece of furniture, a garden, a better relationship, a home). They will break your heart. And they will stay with you.