The New York Times Book Review Charles Foster's 'Being A Beast' By Vicki Constantine Croke It’s not easy being a theriomorph. The gods of myth never seem to break a sweat when they sprout an elephant head, goat hooves or swan’s wings. But few of us mere mortals can take on an animal’s nature so … Continue reading Book review — ‘I Want To Know What It Is Like To Be A Wild Thing’
Author: Vicki Croke
Book review — Helen Macdonald’s ‘H Is for Hawk’
The New York Times Book Review Helen Macdonald’s ‘H Is for Hawk’ By Vicki Constantine Croke Follow @VickiCroke If birds are made of air, as the nature writer Sy Montgomery says, then writing a great bird book is a little like dusting for the fingerprints of a ghost. It calls for poetry and science, conjuring … Continue reading Book review — Helen Macdonald’s ‘H Is for Hawk’
Book review — Winged Victories
The New York Times Book Review Winged Victories: 'The Thing With Feathers' and 'The Homing Instinct' By Vicki Constantine Croke Avian migration is such a vast and complex phenomenon that it can accommodate star treatment in two new books. “The Thing With Feathers,” by Noah Strycker, takes on the miracle of navigation as part of … Continue reading Book review — Winged Victories
Book review — Three-Ring Circuses
A book review of 'Topsy' by Michael Daly and 'Behemoth' by Ronald B. Tobias.
Book review — Adapt and Survive
A New York Times review of Eliot Schrefer's book 'Endangered.'
Ghost Temple
Nearly seventy years ago, young Ruth Harkness went to remotest China in search of wild pandas and found a lost culture --and her own spiritual self. Tracing her footsteps to this still mysterious land is its own reward.
The Deadliest Carnivore
Half mongoose, half clouded leopard, Madagascar's fossa is rarely seen and barely understood yet essential to the natural balance of this threatened Eden.
The Brothers Wild
Frank and john Craighead's groundbreaking study of grizzly bears helped save the carnivores from extinction. For the twins from Chevy Chase, it was just another chapter in a lifetime of adventure.
Elephant Company
The remarkable story of James Howard “Billy” Williams, whose uncanny rapport with the world’s largest land animals transformed him from a carefree young man into the charismatic war hero known as Elephant Bill.
The Lady and the Panda
The true adventures of the first American explorer to bring back China's most exotic animal.