Creature

Amazon Best of the Month, December 2007: December seems to be the classic month to celebrate the coffee-table book--those oversized tomes that sit out on display, easily enticing anyone within arm's reach to flip through the pages. One of my favorites of the season--and one you'll want to keep out all year long--is Andrew Zuckerman's Creature, a photographic safari of astounding studio shots of an ark's worth of animals, ready for their close-ups against a stark white backdrop. Mesmerizing, inspiring, and ultimately very, very cool. Badgers, fruit bats, and bald eagles never looked so good. --Brad Thomas Parsons