About this Event
Join us for the launch of Michelle Lerner's A Series of Opinionated Animals, a moving and uproarious memoir about the radical, world-changing act of recognizing the personhood in every creature.
Michelle Lerner will read from A Series of Opinionated Animals, followed by a conversation with writer Porochista Khakpour, audience Q&A, signing, and reception.
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About the book
For Michelle Lerner, a Harvard-educated lawyer, the call wasn't just unusual—it was a summons. On the line was a panicked volunteer from a chaotic cat shelter she'd left behind years ago. The problem? A neurologically impaired squirrel who insisted on being sat on by his rabbit roommate was about to fall into the hands of the state, and Michelle was his only hope. It's a question most people never face, but for Michelle, it was just a day in a life lived in loving, chaotic service to the most opinionated animals imaginable.
In A Series of Opinionated Animals, Lerner invites readers into her astonishing world, where the line between rescue and civil disobedience is often blurred. This is a world where a disabled sheep named Lamby—the "Woolly Bully"—wears children's skateboarding elbow pads, develops a taste for blue corn chips, and learns to herd cats, all while demanding her meals by ramming her head against the kitchen door. It's a world where Monster, the squirrel, recovers from his mysterious past by throwing tantrums, serenading the neighborhood with squirrel opera, and forming an inseparable bond with a patient rabbit named Finn. Lerner's story is populated by a cast of unforgettable characters, including a trio of rescue dogs—Nubi, the resident genius; Fern, the speckled pig-like dog who embarks on her own "Outward Bound" journey; and Chip, the lovable fool who joyfully dances on thin ice. From a ferocious chicken who hazes new farmhands to a veritable herd of cats with feline leukemia who teach lessons in love and loss, Lerner shows us that every animal has a story and a distinct, often hilarious, point of view.
With the sharp wit of a seasoned lawyer and the deep empathy of a lifelong animal advocate, Lerner seamlessly weaves her personal experiences into a broader narrative about justice for those who cannot speak for themselves. She recounts how her profound bond with Shire, a disabled ex-police horse, propelled her into the field of animal law, where she would go on to help establish one of the nation's first student animal law programs, at Harvard no less. A Series of Opinionated Animals is a moving and uproarious memoir about the radical, world-changing act of recognizing the personhood in every creature. It is a story of unconventional family, profound grief, and the kind of love that transcends species--a love that is messy, demanding, and ultimately transformative.
Advance Praise
"Animal lovers will be drawn into the memoir by her unwavering love and insights." —Booklist
"Teenage animal lovers will be fascinated." —Booklist
"A Series of Opinionated Animals introduces us to a chicken who attacks people, a squirrel who's in love with a rabbit, a sheep with three working legs, and a host of other distinctive and lovable individuals about whom Michelle Lerner writes with equal parts wit and respect. I adored each hour I spent in their company on these pages. Often hilarious, occasionally heartbreaking, and always compassionate, these true stories will stick with me for a long time." —Sy Montgomery
About the author
Michelle Lerner is an attorney, animal advocate, and writer whose lifelong bond with a rescued horse named Shire helped shape her path to Harvard Law School, where she graduated magna cum laude and helped launch Harvard’s first animal law program. After more than a decade as a legal aid attorney, Michelle focused her career on animal law and policy, becoming a leading advocate for humane feral cat management programs and co-chairing the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee. She also founded a local Trap-Neuter-Return and cat rescue organization that helped turn her town no-K*ll through hands-on rescue work and policy reform. Michelle’s advocacy has always been rooted in her experiences caring for a wide cast of rescued animals, from dogs and cats to sheep, chickens, squirrels, and horses, each of whom deepened her belief that animals are individuals with distinct personalities and perspectives. A poet since childhood, Michelle turned to fiction and memoir writing after a disabling illness left her unable to practice law. Her debut novel, Ring, was published by Bancroft Press in 2025 and was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize. A Series of Opinionated Animals is her first memoir.
About Porochista Khakpour
Porochista Khakpour is the award-winning Iranian-American author of the novels Sons and Other Flammable Objects, The Last Illusion, and Tehrangeles, as well as the memoir Sick and essay collection Brown Album. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Bookforum, Esquire, Elle, Slate, and many others. Among her many fellowships is a National Endowment for the Arts award. She has taught at Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Bard, Wesleyan, Fordham, and more for the past 20 years. Her most recent book Tehrangeles (Pantheon, 2024) was an Indie Next Pick, an NPR Book of the Day, one of TIME's 25 Most Anticipated Books of 2024, as well as one of the "Best Books of 2024” by Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and W; it has also been longlisted for the 2025 Joyce Carol Oates Prize and the 2025 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. She was born in Tehran, raised in LA's San Gabriel Valley, and currently lives in NYC's Harlem. For more info see porochistakhakpour.com.
Event venue & nearby stays
Lofty Pigeon Books, Church Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, USA, United States
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