Staff Pick
Anthill is a Southern tale that somehow incorporates a political analysis on environmental preservation, species extinction, and corrupt land developers into a coming-of-age novel. Midway through the book, the reader gets an extensive look at the explosive rise and dismal fall of several ant colonies in the Lake Nokobee forest in Alabama. Wilson has the amazing ability to explain ant colony life as though it's the most fascinating thing you could ever wish to read. Culture, purpose, war, and a dramatic arc fit for Greek tragedy — it's all there. To say that Anthill is an exciting and "human" dissertation on ant life makes it sound much, much less thrilling than it actually is. The story of Raff Cody and his lifelong love of nature is sweet, beautiful, frightening, and enlightening. Don't try to understand the seemingly insane charms of this book — just read it! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
"What the hell do you want?" snarled Frogman at Raff Cody, as the boy stepped innocently onto the reputed murderer's property. Fifteen years old, Raff, along with his older cousin, Junior, had only wanted to catch a glimpse of Frogman's 1000-pound alligator.
Thus, begins the saga of Anthill, which follows the thrilling adventures of a modern-day Huck Finn, whose improbable love of the strange, beautiful, and elegant world of ants ends up transforming his own life and the citizens of Nokobee County. Battling both snakes bites and cynical relatives who just don't understand his consuming fascination with the outdoors, Raff explores the pristine beauty of the Nokobee wildland. And in doing so, he witnesses the remarkable creation and destruction of four separate ant colonies (The Anthill Chronicles), whose histories are epics that unfold on picnic grounds, becoming a young naturalist in the process.
An extraordinary undergraduate at Florida State University, Raff, despite his scientific promise, opts for Harvard Law School, believing that the environmental fight must be waged in the courtroom as well as the lab. Returning home a legal gladiator, Raff grows increasingly alarmed by rapacious condo developers who are eager to pave and subdivide the wildlands surrounding the Chicobee River. But one last battle awaits him in his epic struggle.
In a shattering ending that no reader will forget, Raff suddenly encounters the angry and corrupt ghosts of an old South he thought had all but disappeared, and learns that war is a genetic imperative, not only for ants but for men as well. Part thriller, part parable, Anthill will not only transfix readers with its stunning twists and startling revelations, but will provide readers with new insights into the meaning of survival in our rapidly changing world.
Review
"Starred Review. A foremost authority on ants, an eloquent environmentalist, and the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for his exceptional nonfiction, Wilson has written a debut novel of astonishing dimension, acuity, and spirit.... With lyrical exactitude, empathy for all life, and a shocking conclusion, Wilson's wise, provocative novel of the interaction between humankind and the rest of nature expresses a resonant earth ethic." Donna Seaman
Review
One part of Anthill, by the world’s leading myrmecologist, demonstrates that in Mr Wilson ants have found not only their Darwin but also their Homer.... The tale within a tale is an astonishing literary achievement; nobody but Mr Wilson could have written it, and those who read it will tread lightly in the forest, at least for a while.... his evocation of their ways is a more powerful tool for raising ecological awareness than any Disneyfication is likely to be.Wilson’s foray into fiction allows him to write more expressively, psychologically, even spiritually about the great web of life, humankind included, and the irrefutable rules for ecological survival. ... A teacher as well as a scientist, Wilson uses the prism of fiction to cast new light on the grand unifying lesson of nature: all of us earthlings, all of life’s astonishing creations, thrive or fail together. --Donna Seaman
Review
"The savage conflicts between the Trailhead and Waterside colonies are as dramatic as any epic of Herodotus or Thucydides, histories Wilson evokes in his characterization of the tiny warriors as myrmidons and hoplites." New York Review of Books
Review
[A] beautifully written coming-of-age novel about a young boy in Alabama. The highly respected author and entomologist may be sneaking some science down the throats of self-respecting fiction readers everywhere with the tale of a boy-turned-environmental lawyer who tries to save wildlife, but we hardly mind.Starred Review: Lush with organic details, Wilson’s keen eye for the natural world and his acumen for environmental science is on brilliant display in this multifaceted story about human life and its connection to nature.If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be reincarnated as an ant, this is probably the best description available. --Nicholas Wade
Review
The astute, knowledgeable, amazing structure of Anthill is a masterpiece of craft, a fictional embodiment of the ant. --Sue Brannon Walker, Poet Laureate of Alabama
Review
"Despite the seriousness of the warning he means to convey, I believe Edward O. Wilson had a fine time writing his first novel. It shows in the exuberance of the prose, and in the inventiveness of the plot.... the reader will have a great time reading it. Certainly I did." Margaret Atwood
Review
Melville gave us whales and obsessions, Orwell gave us pigs and politicians. Now Wilson suggests with winning conviction that in our own colonies, we proceed at our peril when we cast off mindful restraint in favor of unchecked growth.... carries the reader down the ant-hole to describe life from the ants' point of view. No writer could do this better, and Wilson's passion serves him best here. His language achieves poetic transcendence. --Barbara Kingsolver
Review
The South suddenly has a surprising new hero, and his name is Raff Cody....In Edward Wilson's remarkable voice, Anthill becomes an inspirational novel for us all. --Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump
Review
A triumphant epic of life by the world’s greatest naturalist. This is War and Peace—among the ants, the land developers, and the environmentalists and preachers. Marvel at E. O. Wilson’s wondrous and captivating creation. --Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute
Review
If Edward O. Wilson were actually an ant, he'd be the warrior and the drone and the queen and everyone else too. Anthill will remind people of all of his gifts and introduce them to some new ones! --Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet
Review
"One part of , by the world's leading myrmecologist, demonstrates that in Mr Wilson ants have found not only their Darwin but also their Homer.... The tale within a tale is an astonishing literary achievement; nobody but Mr Wilson could have written it, and those who read it will tread lightly in the forest, at least for a while.... his evocation of their ways is a more powerful tool for raising ecological awareness than any Disneyfication is likely to be." The Economist
Review
"Starred Review: Lush with organic details, Wilson's keen eye for the natural world and his acumen for environmental science is on brilliant display in this multifaceted story about human life and its connection to nature." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Wilson's foray into fiction allows him to write more expressively, psychologically, even spiritually about the great web of life, humankind included, and the irrefutable rules for ecological survival. Fiction grants him the freedom to imagine an inspiring hero who finds a way forward through the labyrinth of environmental conundrums. Drawing on the great classics of Southern literature, Wilson hopes to emulate what Harper Lee did for civil rights in To Kill a Mockingbird by dramatizing the urgent need for justice on the environmental front." Donna Seaman, Special to the Chicago Tribune (Read the entire )
Synopsis
Thus, begins the saga ofAnthill, which follows the thrilling adventures of a modern-day Huck Finn, whose improbable love of the "strange, beautiful, and elegant" world of ants ends up transforming his own life and the citizens of Nokobee County. Battling both snakes bites and cynical relatives who just don t understand his consuming fascination with the outdoors, Raff explores the pristine beauty of the Nokobee wildland. And in doing so, he witnesses the remarkable creation and destruction of four separate ant colonies ( The Anthill Chronicles ), whose histories are epics that unfold on picnic grounds, becoming a young naturalist in the process. An extraordinary undergraduate at Florida State University, Raff, despite his scientific promise, opts for Harvard Law School, believing that the environmental fight must be waged in the courtroom as well as the lab. Returning home a legal gladiator, Raff grows increasingly alarmed by rapacious condo developers who are eager to pave and subdivide the wildlands surrounding the Chicobee River. But one last battle awaits him in his epic struggle. In a shattering ending that no reader will forget, Raff suddenly encounters the angry and corrupt ghosts of an old South he thought had all but disappeared, and learns that war is a genetic imperative, not only for ants but for men as well Part thriller, part parable, Anthill will not only transfix readers with its stunning twists and startling revelations, but will provide readers with new insights into the meaning of survival in our rapidly changing world. "
Synopsis
Astonishing, inspirational, even magical: a naturalist"s novel about an Alabama boy who heroically tries to save a sacred forest.
Synopsis
"Thick with the spell of nature, is a powerful tale of ant empires and a boy determined to save them."--Diane Ackerman, author of "Wilson speaks with a humane eloquence which calls to us all."--Oliver Sacks "His style is gracious and lucid, the example of his life greatly inspiring."--Barry Lopez "Wilson is a writer of enthralling importance for our place in time."--Edward Hoagland, "There's a new Darwin. His name is Edward O. Wilson."--Tom Wolfe
Synopsis
Winner of the 2010 Heartland Prize for fiction: Inspirational and magical, the story of boy who grows up determined to save the world from its most savage ecological predator: Man himself.
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About the Author
Regarded as one of the world's preeminent biologists and naturalists, Edward O. Wilson grew up in south Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, where he spent his boyhood exploring the region's forests and swamps, collecting snakes, butterflies, and ants--the latter to become his lifelong specialty. The author of more than twenty books, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Ants and The Naturalist, as well as his first novel Anthill, Wilson, a professor at Harvard, makes his home in Lexington, Massachusetts.