Holy Cow

Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale is the 2015 debut novel by American actor and author David Duchovny. In the novel, a cow, a pig and a turkey escape their American farm to pursue a better life in India, Israel and Turkey, respectively. Duchovny initially pitched the story as a children's animated film, but it was rejected for its religious themes, including the pig being a convert to Judaism. Critical reception was mixed, with distinct opinions on the novel's themes and style of humor. Background Duchovny, best known for his role as Fox Mulder in The X-Files has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Princeton University and a Master of Arts degree from Yale University. He came up with the idea of Holy Cow when he thought that if he were a cow, he would want to live in India, if he were a pig he would move to Israel, and if he were a turkey he would want to live in Turkey. The story was first pitched as a children's animated film but was rejected due to its themes of Judaism and Islam, and scenes including the religious circumcision of a Jewish pig.