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A lovely story about the Holocaust might seem like a grotesque oxymoron. But in The Zookeeper's Wife, Diane Ackerman proves otherwise. Here is a true story -- of human empathy and its opposite -- that is simultaneously grave and exuberant, wise and playful. Ackerman has a wonderful tale to tell, and she tells it wonderfully. Review: A Natural History of Terrible Things ( Post, Sept. 16)

Diane Ackerman, author of "The Zookeeper's Wife," fields questions and comments about her new book, a true story of a couple who ran the Warsaw zoo, which was destroyed during the Nazi occupation.

Diane Ackerman is the author of several nonfiction titles, including the bestseller, "A Natural History of Senses," as well as collections of poetry and children's books.

Join Book World Live each Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET for a discussion based on a story or review in each Sunday's Book World section.

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Diane Ackerman: Hello, readers, and welcome. It's lovely having this chance to chat with you. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Diane

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Columbia MD: I am looking forward to reading your new book. I find your writing combines the intuitive and the scientific in quite a wonderful way. How do you separate your prose from poetry?

Diane Ackerman: When I was an undergraduate, I had two female cats that got pregnant at the same time (my roommate let in a tom one night), and they had their kittens within days of each other. I guess their scents got confused, because they began stealing and nursing each other's kittens. My prose and poetry sometimes steal each other's kittens, as I try to decide where an image or observation belongs.

If I had a choice, every page of my prose books would be intense, image-laden poetry. But I know the sun can't always be at noon in a 300-page book. Books have to have transitions, contrasts, changes of pace. Still, it's the more poetic passages that satisfy me the most. Sometimes I don't honestly know if I'm writing poetry or prose poems, and the prose may even include some unrequited poems.

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Munich, Germany: Do you think that there's a connection between cruelty to animals and cruelty to fellow human beings?

I've read about cases where notorious murderers were friendly to animals, but actually, you'd think that a disregard for life would transcend species.

Diane Ackerman: Yes, I certainly do. But the Nazis were a bizarre exception. Their goal was to raise perfect animals while exterminating imperfect humans. So, they revered nature, and were ardent animal lovers and environmentalists. Under the Third Reich, animals really became noble, mythic, almost angelic-- including humans, of course, but not Slavs, Jews, Catholics, or Gypsies. A strange paradox.

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Washington, D.C.: Thank you for writing this book! I really look forward to reading it. My grandparents and their siblings were all active in the Polish Underground. My grandparents escaped to France after the war. Their siblings weren't so lucky, some perishing in camps and others at the hands of the post-war Communist government. Thank you for telling a story that reminds us of how complicated this history is, and how many ways there still are to tell it.

Diane Ackerman: The Polish Underground was amazing-- superbly-organized and so ingenious. How wonderful that your family was active in it! I bet they have remarkable stories to tell.

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Harrisburg, Pa.: How did you research this book? What records and survivors

of this story remain?

Diane Ackerman: I did a huge amount of reading! Wartime photographs and film footage were especially helpful. And, although Jan and Antonina are no longer alive, I was fortunate enough to interview their son, who went with me to their old home in the zoo. Some survivors of the war in Poland are still alive. And there are lots of archives, letters, diaries, sermons, memoirs, articles, and other writings and filmed testimonies by citizens of the Warsaw Ghetto. I must say, it was great fun studying Poland's natural history and folklore, and even Nazism's crazy origins and values. And, of course, many wonderful details loomed on my travels in Poland.

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Washington, D.C.: Thanks for writing this excellent book! How did you come to know the story of the Zabinskis? What was the genesis for this book?

Diane Ackerman: Through the animals. Many years ago, I heard that there were ancient thought-to-be extinct horses running around a primeval forests in Poland, and that they had something to do with Nazi perversity. I wanted to know how the horses got there. Other books and projects intervened, but I stayed interested and kept researching it. Piece by piece, the Zabinskis' story began to emerge, and the more I learned about Antonina the closer I felt to her. She was astonishingly compassionate, courageous, and yet down-to-earth.

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Diane Ackerman: Thanks everyone-- it was lovely chatting with you!

all the best,

Diane

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