Liberating today's chicken from cartoons, fast food, and other demeaning associations, "The Chicken Book" at once celebrates and explains this noble fowl. As it traces the rise and fall of "Gallus domesticus" from the jungles of ancient India to the assembly-line hatcheries sprawled across modern America, this original, frequently astounding book passes along a trove of knowledge and lore about everything from the chicken's biology and behavior to its place in legend and mythology. The book includes lively discussions of the chicken's role in literature and history, the cruel attractions of...