Rating: 
Summary: Interesting read, entertaining
Review: I wouldn't necessarily call it a "male bashing book". Jane Goodale (no relation to the chimp enthusiast) has been dumped by Ray, a co-worker who still had a girlfriend from a long-term relationship while he dated Jane, and who allegedly dumped Mia (the g-friend) to tell Jane her loves her and wants to move in with her. After she gives notice to her lanlord, Ray begins to have doubts and eventually, with only days before Jane has to clear out of her apartment, he decides he just can't go through with it all. This particular humiliating turn of events prompts Jane to study male behavior in it's most primal form- animals. Particularly, the bull/cow theory. Apparently, no matter how they try, no one seems to be able to get a bull to mate with a cow he's already mated with- he wants "new cow". This provides Jane with the information she needs to research male behavior, not really for any noble cause, but rather, to try and explain the unexplainable- why can't men seem to commit? Additionally, it gives Jane a false sense of satisfaction in thinking that all men leave, and not that all men leave HER only. I don't see this as a "let's hate all guys" book, because Jane realizes, with the help of her new womanizing roomate Eddie, that not all men are bad, and that she used this experiment to try and nurse her wounded heart. Not one of my top 10 picks, but certainly worth reading (unless, of course, your an over-the-top feminist type who will take this to uneccessary plateaus in the name of sisterhood).
Rating:
Summary: Straight forward
Review: We really don't get to know Jane, just kind of dive into it. This book is original and creative in how it plays out. Jane is a little crazy. I expected more from Eddie but I was bummed out by his lacking character. Jane's character seemed depressed before, during, and after Ray - so it was kind of hard to tell? But otherwise this book is witty and interesting - definitely a fast read.
Rating:
Summary: A Male Point of View
Review: I found this book at a beach house I rented for a week this summer. Obviously chick lit, I looked around, and since no one was looking, I read the first few pages and was hooked by Zigman's marvelous humor. I didn't take it as male bashing at all. In fact, it accurately described many men friends I've had over the years, and I'll allow for the possibility I've behaved this way once or twice... Some reviewers have bashed Jane, but I thought she was funny, sensitive, insightful, and caring. Why can't you fall for someone who says all the right things in two months? Anyway, I enjoyed reading the book and although this will never happen, men should read it to understand the feelings of the women with whom they enter relationships.
Rating:
Summary: Quick and light...
Review: Okay, _Animal Husbandry_ is not the Great American Novel. If that's what you're looking for, I'd suggest that you run the other way. _Animal Husbandry_ is not a saga about the meaning of life but rather about one horribly bitter woman. The book is a little hard to get into at first. The first couple of chapters don't really make sense- the sentence structure is not there at all and the ideas that are thrown out don't connect. But, it's very quick reading and before you know it, Laura Zigman has found her niche and her writing style becomes very enjoyable and engrossing. Jane really is a bitter character, but that's what makes her so fun. And the New Cow Theory- hum. It will outrage some people and find a home in some people's hearts. I was in the middle- it made sense but it wouldn't apply it to real life. Laura Zigman definitely shows promise with her first book. As many people before me have noted, it seems as though Ms. Zigman has had a personal experience with someone like Ray and writing _Animal Husbandry_ has been like a sort of writing therapy for her. At the begining, she's as bitter as Jane, but the two visibly heal by the end of the book. I saw the movie before I bought the book, and I was pleasently happy with the way it turned out. The movie is a bit sweeter, but _Animal Husbandry_ has more spunk. Laura Zigman shows promise of becoming a great author and I look forward to reading _Dating Big Bird_ which sounds a little more creatvie and detached from Ms. Zigman's life.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it and laugh without guilt.
Review: After reading the first chapter of this book on Amazon, I sent a link to 25 of my women friends, telling them that this was a must read. I didn't do this because I thought the book was Great Literature. I did it because I thought the book pretty well described the emotional disembowelment of being dumped and its messy aftermath. But in a funny way. The controversial COW THEORY (see above reviews) really isnt the point of the book. The narrator says so at the bottom of page four and continuing on to page five. The COW THEORY is merely the result of the protagonist, Jane Goodall(Laura Zigman? me? Your Name Here?) trying to make some sense of being discarded like a stained JCrew buttondown. Everyone who has been dumped secretly suspects, that s/he is rejected because of some inherent flaw that makes them instrinsically unloveable. The obsessive, sometimes absurd things we do to prove to ourselves otherwise can be either comic or tragic. This book opts for the comic approach.
And lets face it, cows are funny. And absurd. COW THEORY is funny and absurd. My friends and I enjoyed COW THEORY. (UsedCowLot is not available as a screenname on AOL, by the way). I thought that the more man-bashing elements of COW THEORY were mitigated by using the cow instead of, oh, let's say, the pig. PIG THEORY isn't nearly as funny, since that lends itself too neatly to the idea that all men are pigs.
The book has some structural flaws, but I hesitate to comment on them at length, since I don't think I could write any better. I say, buy the book, laugh without guilt and when your best guy buddy is crying on your shoulder about how his g/f dumped him, explain about the lure of the NEW BULL.
Rating: 
Summary: get a life
Review: Yes, most of us can probably relate to Jane's dilemma of getting dumped after a short but intense affair. It is a challenge, however, to sympathize with someone who whines about it for the next 300 pages. Her theories are hardly new, and her character is hardly likable. In fact Jane is a person with no thoughts, other than those devoted to figuring out why her loser "boyfriend" dumped her. She has no family history, virtually no friends and no interests, other than drinking, smoking and complaining about men. The dialogue is laughably bad and I found myself digging very hard to find Ms. Zigman's acclaimed wit.
It's difficult to believe that a book with such a flimsy "plot" and virtually no character development could be published. Did Ms. Zigman's editors actually read this junk?
Rating:
Summary: The book is much better...
Review: I really liked the movie, mainly because of Hugh Jackman. However the movie was made a little too a la Hollywood cookie cutter romantic comedy ending. The book has a much better ending and all of the zany nonsense makes more sense. The writer has a way of getting you hooked into the story at the very beginning and keeping you interested until the very end. The people are more real, like someone you might actually know and can identify with. It was fun, light read. Great for dreary winter weekends.
Rating: 
Summary: excellent and dead-on
Review: A friend of mine got dumped just like the heroine of this book, so it was eerie how true her musings were ... Jane Goodall (like the famous doctor) has a theory based on a scientific study -- once a bull has mated with a cow, she becomes "Old Cow", and the bull will reject her for a "New Cow", even when the Old Cow is disguised with a new dress or the scent of another cow. Been there, done that, apparently. The book starts out with Jane having been recently dumped. The dumping leaves her homeless, and still having to work with Ray every day in the office. Jane met Ray at work, and fell in love even though he was engaged. She charts her transition from New Cow to Old Cow and then becomes obsessed with the mating rituals of the animal kingdom and applying it to human beings, ostensibly proving that all species are ... pigs. It's an interesting story, with Jane's hit-the-nail-on-the-head 'theories' to make you laugh out loud. Some colorful new characters are introduced at different points in the book so the plot stays fresh and you are never bored. Any woman can relate to the "New Cow-Old Cow" theory -- you will no doubt start using it in your own life with your circle of female friends!
Rating: 
Summary: get over it
Review: While the writing style is smart and witty, I just wanted to shake the protagonist! How could an intelligent, successful 30-something get so broadsided by a six-week relationship? Hard to muster sympathy for a woman whose behavior is reminiscent of high-school.
Rating:
Summary: So real, so fun
Review: Gosh, lighten up with those negativo reviews! This is a great, light read with enough intellectual grit to chew. Zigman captures the existential misery most humans experience when a love affair ends abruptly and inexplicably. She does it with outrageous, razor-sharp humor and intelligence within a gen-x plot that appeals to even a middle-aged mom: me. My 19 y.o. daughter is enjoying the book now. Forget the "gender incorrectness" attacks in these reviews. The lead in this novel has a best friend who is a gay man with genuine depth of character. The book is real, not mean-spirited. Ultimately it's about coping with a break-up. Reading this book is a good place to start.
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