Synopses & Reviews
In 1981 David Quammen began what might be every freelance writer's dream: a monthly column for Outside magazine in which he was given free rein to write about anything that interested him in the natural world. His column was called "Natural Acts," and for the next fifteen years he delighted Outside's readers with his fascinating ruminations on the world around us. The Boilerplate Rhino brings together twenty-six of Quammen's most thoughtful and engaging essays from that column, none previously printed in any of his earlier books.
In lucid, penetrating, and often quirkily idiosyncratic prose, David Quammen takes his readers with him as he explores the world. His travels lead him to rattlesnake handlers in Texas; a lizard specialist in Baja; the dinosaur museum in Jordan, Montana; and halfway across Indonesia in search of the perfect Durian fruit. He ponders the history of nutmeg in the southern Moluccas, meditates on bioluminescent beetles while soaking in the waters of the Amazon, and delivers "The Dope on Eggs" from a chicken ranch near his hometown in Montana.
Quammen's travels are always jumping-off points to explore the rich and sometimes horrifying tension between humankind and the natural world, in all its complexity and ambivalence. The result is another irrepressible assortment of ideas to explore, conundrums to contemplate, and wondrous creatures to behold.
Review
David Williams The Seattle Times One of the most fascinating and though-provoking writers of natural history.
Review
Mike Weilbacher The Philadelphia Inquirer He is the only nature writer who makes you laugh out loud.
Synopsis
From "one of the most fascinating and thought-provoking writers of natural history" (The Seattle Times), a collection of enduring essays that form a bestiary of wondrous creatures and a gallery of the human faces that peer at them. The Boilerplate Rhino brings together twenty-six of David Quammen's most thoughtful and engaging essays from his column for Outside magazine, gifting readers with an irrepressible assortment of ideas to explore, conundrums to contemplate, and wondrous creatures to behold.
In lucid, penetrating, and often quirkily idiosyncratic prose, David Quammen takes his readers with him as he explores the world. His travels lead him to rattlesnake handlers in Texas; a lizard specialist in Baja; the dinosaur museum in Jordan, Montana; and halfway across Indonesia in search of the perfect Durian fruit. He ponders the history of nutmeg in the southern Moluccas, meditates on bioluminescent beetles while soaking in the waters of the Amazon, and delivers "The Dope on Eggs" from a chicken ranch near his hometown in Montana.
Quammen's travels are always jumping-off points to explore the rich and sometimes horrifying tension between humankind and the natural world, in all its complexity and ambivalence. The result is another irrepressible assortment of ideas to explore, conundrums to contemplate, and wondrous creatures to behold.
Synopsis
In 1981 David Quammen began what might be every freelance writer's dream: a monthly column for
Outside magazine in which he was given free rein to write about anything that interested him in the natural world. His column was called "Natural Acts," and for the next fifteen years he delighted
Outside's readers with his fascinating ruminations on the world around us.
The Boilerplate Rhino brings together twenty-six of Quammen's most thoughtful and engaging essays from that column, none previously printed in any of his earlier books.
In lucid, penetrating, and often quirkily idiosyncratic prose, David Quammen takes his readers with him as he explores the world. His travels lead him to rattlesnake handlers in Texas; a lizard specialist in Baja; the dinosaur museum in Jordan, Montana; and halfway across Indonesia in search of the perfect Durian fruit. He ponders the history of nutmeg in the southern Moluccas, meditates on bioluminescent beetles while soaking in the waters of the Amazon, and delivers "The Dope on Eggs" from a chicken ranch near his hometown in Montana.
Quammen's travels are always jumping-off points to explore the rich and sometimes horrifying tension between humankind and the natural world, in all its complexity and ambivalence. The result is another irrepressible assortment of ideas to explore, conundrums to contemplate, and wondrous creatures to behold.
About the Author
David Quammen is a two-time winner of the National Magazine Award for his science essays and other work in Outside magazine. He is the author of three novels and several other books, including The Song of the Dodo. His essay collections include Natural Acts, The Flight of the Iguana, and Wild Thoughts from Wild Places. He lives in Montana.
Table of Contents
ContentsIntroduction
I. ROADKILL ON THE HIGHWAY OF TIME
Rattlesnake Passion
The Narcotic of Empire
Hard Parts
II. DUBIOUS CERTITUDES, DAUNTLESS THEORIES
Certainty and Doubt in Baja
Phobia and Philia
Who Swims with the Tuna
Tropical Passengers
Spatula Theory
The Great Stinking Clue
The Dope on Eggs
III. FLESH OR FOWL OR WHAT?
The Cats That Fly by Themselves
Local Bird Makes Good
One Man's Meat
Either or Neither
IV. NEAR SIGHT
Beast in the Mirror
Palpating the Tumor
Rethinking the Lawn
Half-Blinded Poets and Birds
Time-and-Motion Study
V. TRICKS OF THE LIGHT
The Boilerplate Rhino
Limelight
Gardening on Mars
Impersonating Henry Thoreau
God's Weakness for Beetles
Limits of Vision
Bibliography
Index