Wild Thoughts from Wild Places

by David Quammen

List Price:	~~$15.00~~
Amazon Price:	$10.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.
You Save:	$4.05 (27%)
Average Rating:
Lowest New Price:	$5.27
Availablitiy:	Usually ships in 24 hours

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
In Wild Thoughts from Wild Places, award-winning journalist David Quammen reminds us why he has become one of our most beloved science and nature writers.

This collection of twenty-three of Quammen's most intriguing, most exciting, most memorable pieces takes us to meet kayakers on the Futaleufu River of southern Chile, where Quammen describes how it feels to travel in fast company and flail for survival in the river's maw. We are introduced to the commerce in pearls (and black-market parrots) in the Aru Islands of eastern Indonesia. Quammen even finds wildness in smog-choked Los Angeles -- embodied in an elusive population of urban coyotes, too stubborn and too clever to surrender to the sprawl of civilization.

With humor and intelligence, David Quammen's Wild Thoughts from Wild Places also reminds us that humans are just one of the many species on earth with motivations, goals, quirks, and eccentricities. Expect to be entertained and moved on this journey through the wilds of science and nature.

Amazon.com Review
In this collection of "Natural Acts" columns from the pages of Outside magazine, wide-ranging ecojournalist David Quammen turns his attention to all manner of earthly matters: the physics of flowing water and the thrills of kayaking, the evolution of supercoyotes, and the lives of famous naturalists (Charles Darwin, Gilbert White). Above all, Quammen celebrates the joys of life in the outdoors, especially in his favorite haunts in the mountains and trout streams of Montana. "We never know what he have lost, or what we have found," he writes. That may be, but in these pages you'll know that you have found a lively intelligence and wonderful natural history writing.

Customers who bought this item also bought

All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 5 out of 5 stars

6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars

Amazing, 1999-09-24
Mr. Quammen has made science seem like the most exciting fiction. Finally someone!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars

surprising philosophy and natural history, 1999-07-09
I bought this book just before going on a 2 week trip to Chile for scientific research. It surprised me. The essays were often on topics which I thought I had no interest-trout- but Quammen gives the subject an interesting philosphical slant.

I read alot of natural history books and these essays were not the usual style of writing that I have come to expect. Quammen incorporates science, history, and philosophy into his writing. I liked some of the essays so much I wished that he had gone into greater detail! And i will be looking up some of the references he cites at the end of his book! It was a great companion for 4 cloudy nights on a mt in chile.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars Natural Acts is a truly incredible book., 1998-10-11
I picked up 'Natural Acts' at the library's paperback book-swap. I only grabbed it because the first few pages seemed a bit humorous and witty. Upon further review, I realized that I was dealing with no ordinary author (if any of them can be called ordinary).

David Quammen has an unparalleled flair for putting nature in its place. By the end of 'Natural Acts' you'll be happily convinced that this world is as mystical and comical as you thought it was.

Some of my favorite topics in the book include (in my own words): The (exaggerated)Size of Anacondas, The Intelligent Crow, Why Are There So Many Damned Beetles?, and that whole 'Why Would Someone Drink Their Own Urine?' thing.

'Natural Acts' is a very intelligent and hilarious look at nature. I routinely recommend this book to anyone I find remotely interested in science.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars Quammen's always thinking, but he can write, too., 1998-03-19
From why so many zoos have white tigers to how whitewater resembles the human heart, David Quammen sees what the rest of us don't. Even better, he knows how to write lucidly about it. Anyone who read his masterful "Song of the Dodo" will find this an easy companion; for anyone who hasn't, perhaps this will be a tantalizing appetizer. The only drawback is that this is a collection of essays, so he rarely is able to fully explore an idea.

Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon website at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.