 The focus of "Adam's Task" is on the complexities of human-animal communication and the importance of seeing domestic animals as they truly are—not as anthropomorphized creatures whom we see however we wish to see them.Some of the training methods described in the book have drawn criticism from various factions of animal activists, but Hearne stresses that she is striving for intellectual and moral integrity in all of her studies, and many agree that her obvious love for animals speaks in her defense.The "Boston Globe" calls "Adam’s Task" “A beautiful, wonderful book of the sort that permanently refreshes thought and feeling.” The "New York Times" says “When Ms. Hearne relates a dog or horse story, the animals become full-fledged characters, as brightly delineated as people created by Dickens or Twain.”

"Adam's Task" was first published by Knopf in 1986.