Bosom Enemies #4

Horses as people, and people as horses. The series proved be shocking to many readers, who are unaware of our normal unconscious cruelties to horses. A German officer captures an American sergeant during WW II. Their confusion and squabbling is cut short when people show up who don't even recognize their differences. To them, the two men are just two available -- and sellable -- pieces of horseflesh.

German Leutnant Stephan Egger and American Sergeant Stewart Harrow stagger ashore dry as bones on the beach outside San Francisco. In 1970. They''re as young as they were when they lost their rear ends to horse butts, years before during World War Two. They can''t remove their uniforms -- they can''t even pry off their hats. They''re packing the same old grime and sweat. They''re thrown in jail for fighting under the bridge at the Presidio -- and to Stephan''s enduring shock, it''s his granddaughter who bails them out. A culture clash across time and place. As long as there are still hobnails left in his highleather boots, no antique officer should ever be clueless enough to get on a skateboard. Katherine Keller, reviewer for Sequential Tart, says, "Barr''s Bosom Enemies makes me queasy. Here are soldiers from different wars that have been altered. One day they took a wrong turn and ended up with a human torso, equine legs. They are kept as horses/slaves by men smaller than themselves, with horse heads and human everything else. Bosom Enemies is a book about ‘social class, the nature of freedom, blind stubbornness, ignorance, and the treatment of animals.'' Allegory in the tradition of the best fairy tales but with the sharp teeth and claws of the originals."