Read Rage

So, here is an amazing thing: my second nonfiction recommendation in a row. Though this falls more under the category of quirky but informative memoir, which is a far more appealing kind of nonfiction than that of the textbook-y variety.

The full title for this book is Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide. Peter Allison took what was to be a year-long vacation in Africa when he was 19 or so, but he loved being there so much he ended up staying, becoming first a safari guide, then a safari camp manager, a guide training manager, and head guide coordinator. Eventually, after many years, he retired as a guide and explored other opportunities around the globe, but has occasionally returned to lead safaris because he missed the wildlife. This book is full of many, many stories about leading hapless tourists around in the African bush, dealing with wildlife that can easily kill you on a daily basis, trying to find a social life in a small isolated camp, and much more. Allison has survived less than genial encounters with elephants, big cats, hippos, and more, and sometimes while reading you will wonder how any safari guide manages to survive. Mostly, they survive because they are well educated about each animal, but also there seems to be a little bit of bravado and luck required to really shine.

What comes through in all of the stories is Allison's love and respect for wildlife in general and Botswana in particular. Most of the stories are funny -- actually most of the stories are hilarious -- but a few are poignant and reflective, and those are no less absorbing. Reading this book will not only entertain you -- it will also give you a glimpse at what it is like to live in one of the world's last real wild places.

The call number for this book is 916.88304 A439W.

Posted by Krista Hutley at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yikes! It's been a while since I've posted a review. Many apologies -- I didn't have as much reading time as I like in December. Anyway, here's the first review of the New Year, and it's a great one. As you may know, I am not a big reader of nonfiction. I stay away from the factual in favor of the fanciful -- why read books that make me feel like I'm in school again, cramming for a test in a subject I'm not that interested in?

This book is different. Alan Weisman's The World Without Us is one of the most important books I have ever read. It's highly readable, intelligent, influential, terrifying, poignant, and hopeful.

Weisman’s premise is simple: if humans were to disappear en masse, what would happen to Earth? More specifically, what would happen to what we leave behind on Earth? In readable and engaging prose, Weisman shows how nature would reclaim our homes, our cities, and our farms, and how long it would take. He also goes beyond such everyday places (everyday for an American audience), to examine megafauna in Africa, an old growth forest between Poland and Belarus, underground cities in Turkey, abandoned hotels in Cyprus, the DMZ in Korea, the Kingman Reef in the Pacific Ocean, even satellites in outer space.

As Weisman travels the globe, imagining a future without us, he uncovers the disturbing reality of what we’ve done in the past and what we’re doing right now. For example, we learn about the indelible nature of plastics, and what they do to our oceans; how we contain nuclear waste, chemicals, and dangerous gases, and why the current solutions are only temporary ones; and the long-lasting effects of our ever-increasing population on a finite world. While this book shows nature’s seemingly endless capacity to self-heal, it also makes clear just how much we have already changed the world, permanently.

Though this book offers a sobering picture of our effects on the world, it is not one without hope. Weisman stresses nature’s ability to adapt, survive, sometimes even flourish, in the face of ecological and environmental disasters. Weisman leads us toward asking the big questions, the questions we need to answer if we are to survive as a species on this planet.

How can we reverse the damage we’ve done? How can we learn, as a global society, to live in balance with nature? Are we too late? And if we do die out, what will our legacy be?

We have this book in our library, call number 304.2 W428W. Check it out -- you need to read it!

Posted by Krista Hutley at 02:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)