Synopses & Reviews
For millennia, lions, tigers, and their man-eating kin have kept our dark, scary forests dark and scary, and their predatory majesty has been the stuff of folklore. But by the year 2150 big predators may only exist on the other side of glass barriers and chain-link fences. Their gradual disappearance is changing the very nature of our existence. We no longer occupy an intermediate position on the food chain; instead we survey it invulnerably from above--so far above that we are in danger of forgetting that we even belong to an ecosystem. Casting his expert eye over the rapidly diminishing areas of wilderness where predators still reign, the award-winning author of examines the fate of lions in India's Gir forest, of saltwater crocodiles in northern Australia, of brown bears in the mountains of Romania, and of Siberian tigers in the Russian Far East. In the poignant and troublesome ferocity of these embattled creatures, we recognize something primeval deep within us, something in danger of vanishing forever.
Review
"He sees both sides of the equation, which environmentalists still tend to frame in terms of good animals versus evil people....Insatiably curious, level-headed and amazingly erudite." Washington Post Book World
Review
"Erudite, witty, and utterly fascinating...sets a new standard in nature writing." T. Coraghessan Boyle
Synopsis
FOR MILLENNIA, lions, tigers, and their man-eating kin have haunted our jungles and nightmares, but soon alpha predators may vanish from the wild. "Monster of God explores their natures and the variety of human attitudes toward them through sources as diverse as prehistoric cave paintings, "Beowulf, and the "Alien movies. In search of contemporary human voices. David Quammen visits four remote landscapes; India's Gir forest, home of the Asiatic lion; an Australian Aboriginal community that venerates crocodiles as ancestors; the Russian Far East and its tigers; and Romania, where shepherds coexist uneasily with brown bears.
Synopsis
Casting his expert eye over the rapidly diminishing areas of wilderness where predators still reign, the award-winning author ofThe Song of the Dodo examines the fate of lions in India's Gir forest, of saltwater crocodiles in northern Australia, of brown bears in the mountains of Romania, and of Siberian tigers in the Russian Far East. In the poignant and troublesome ferocity of these embattled creatures, we recognize something primeval deep within us, something in danger of vanishing forever.
Synopsis
"Rich detail and vivid anecdotes of adventure....A treasure trove of exotic fact and hard thinking."--, front page
About the Author
David Quammen is the author of The Song of the Dodo, among other books. He has been honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and is the recipient of a John Burroughs Medal and the National Magazine Award. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.