Coming off Dougal's Breakfast thread thrashing the burgeoning threads on American politics, I realised taxidermy is repulsive but fascinating.

One of John Irving's books (tell me if it's 'The World According to Garp' or 'Hotel New Hampshire') has a little story about a grandpa who doesn't know his grandchildren has had his beloved late pet stuffed and hidden in a walk-in closet in the family gym. Grandpa is in horizontal position lifting weights when someone leaves the closet door unlatched. 'Fido' inadvertently rolls out and Grandpa dies of a heart attack.

Found a site about stuffed dogs:
http://www.ravishingbeasts.com/dogs/

(Please forgive me.)

ewwwwwww
Poor grandpa!

Love the thread though !!!

first off - weird segueway fm DB's post to this thread...!

next i remember that scene, infact that whole film is a classic.

i am not for preserving one's dog or cat that way, but some aspects of taxidermy are interesting to me. like birds or perhaps looking at stuffed animals in a natural history museum. but not in one's closet, no...

Is a Segueway a diversive production of one of these?


So, was it 'Garp' or 'Hotel'?

Taxidermy is a dying art.

i think it was Hotel NH...but i get those 2 mixed up too..
& that pic is of a segway ....

Yes, I'd appreciate taxidermy on creatures that are endangered or likely to become extinct (for educational purposes) but stuffing dogs sounds totally unnecessary.

Hotel New Hampshire . Didn't see the movie, just read the book. First time I encountered the concept of a family flying in separate planes, in case one goes down (which did happen in the story).

Thank you, Mud. I've vivid memories of the books but not of the movies. Strange, isn't it?

Speaking of unexpected storylines, I'd venture that Chuck Palahniuk is the John Irving of the 1990s and 2000s.