Kayote B. (kayote) reviewed on 2/1/2011 + 254 more book reviews

This is a book poorly served by the ordering of its chapters. I enjoyed most of the book. I even enjoyed most of the end chapter (though it was a bit rougher than the rest, and harder to read because of it). The very end, however, was a jarring violent image that did not flow with the rest of the book and left a bad taste. Inaccurate? No, but jarring--she mentioned the violence of the natural (and human) world elsewhere without being so jarring, and not usually right at the end. If there had been another chapter after, it still would have been jarring but not marked the entire book so much.

While not the best nature writer I've read, I did enjoy her travels into bats and whales and alligators. I learned quite a bit, as well. Her introduction was I think the best part of the book, simply because of her discussion of risk. People should read introductions to books; they often are insightful and interesting (and those that aren't are at least usually short).

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