Library Journal Review: In 1969, a questing student named Sam and his lover Lindy leave Berkeley, CA, for the wilds of Alaska, where Sam is transformed first into Ransom and then into an actual ram. Pursuing his quest ever higher into the Mount Rangel wilderness, he dons a sheep suit, takes LSD, lacerates his chest, and is pursued by a pack of wolves. Not just any pack of wolves but one representing the seven aspects of Lindy's personality. Ransom believes that he must destroy both his former self and, eventually, his ties to humanity: "An animus is a spirit, an animating passion. But it's also the will to destroy." Is he ascending ever closer into blessed oneness or descending into insanity? This novel has two parallel narratives, Sam's story as told by a third person and Sam's novel, Wild Animus, about his experiences as a ram. As a realistic Bildungsroman about surrendering to inner and outer wildness, this first novel (Shapero claims it's entirely autobiographical) is far-fetched despite the very accurate representation of nature. But read as magic realism or as a parable, it is a powerful and complex book indeed, drawing on the work of Carl Jung, Barry Lopez, and Rick Bass. Recommended for all libraries.?Jim Dwyer, California State Univ. Lib., Chico Copyright ? Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.