In the novels of Teresa Präauer, alongside humans, animals are always present: the birds, the fish, or the monkey. In this narrative essay, she explores this closeness between species and writes, reflectively and entertainingly, about the blurry boundary between humans and animals, which is so often examined in art. Teresa Präauer observes in "Becoming Animal" the stages of transition, transformation, and deviation from the norm. Anyone or anything with hair makes an appearance in her text: in places overgrown with hatching, fur, faux fur, or grass. She has gathered a collection of shaggy figures for this purpose, ranging from medieval drawings of mythical creatures—half nature, half invention—to the Perchten from the Alps, as well as the wig-wearing Toni Erdmann and the costumed furries from subculture. All these artificial and crafted...