The Ambivalents

Sally O’Reilly’s The Ambivalents—like its companion volume, Jeff Dolven’s Take Care—is a response to a 1986 catalog for Braintree Scientific, an American company that manufactures lab products used in experiments on rats and mice. O’Reilly’s book comprises letters to the company in the guise of various characters, including an artist, a literary critic, a dissatisfied customer and schoolchildren.