Article: Big Is Beautiful

THE ASTONISHING ELEPHANT

By Shana Alexander

Random House. 300 pp. $25.95

Some people can stare at babies for interminable periods of time, endlessly enthralled by the fat pink cheeks and those minuscule feet. Personally, I am more interested in elephants. On my frequent visits to the National Zoo, I often end up in front of the elephant house, staring at the pachyderms as they ponderously patrol their yard. I am intoxicated by the sheer size of the beasts. I wonder about that thick rough skin. What would it feel like to wear it? How satisfying would it be to scratch against the cement post? I have some idea what it's like to be a baby but no clue about what it would be like to be an elephant.

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