What ensues is a hilarious comedy like none other in recent literature. The ranch is soon a chaos of budding and blighted romances, mistaken identities, rampaging poodles, runaway sheep, schemes of seduction and sudden wealth, and a newly hatched ostrich in search of love. Novelist Michael Thomas has created a cast of memorable human characters, a supporting cast of realistic animal personalities, and a colorful setting in Nevada's vast rangeland, and his keen ear for dialogue and perfect timing support a plot as convoluted and ultimately satisfying as a Shakespearean comedy.

This is a story of Nevada's back country told by a writer of uncommon skill and humanity. Readers will smile, chuckle, then laugh out loud at the antics of the Eckleberrys and their human and animal companions. Ostrich is a wild romp of a tale, and its endearing characters and engaging plot will delight readers long after they have read the last page.