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Monster Of God (Paperback)

by David Quammen (Author) "Great and terrible flesh-eating beasts have always shared landscape with humans ..." (more)

4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: WW Norton; New edition edition (Sep 19 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393326098
ISBN-13: 978-0393326093
Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 14 x 2.6 cm
Shipping Weight: 522 g

Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #189,778 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
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#33 in Books > Outdoors & Nature > Conservation > Endangered Species

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Product Description

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The human mind, for reasons that were once obvious, has long been haunted by intimations of things that go bump in the night. And nothing, as the eminent natural historian David Quammen writes in Monster of God, goes bump quite like what he calls an "alpha predator." Among the ranks of those alphas are scary things indeed: sharks, tigers, bears, crocodiles, Komodo dragons, pythons, anacondas, big cats. "It's a short, formidable list," Quammen wryly notes, and one that is growing depressingly shorter with the passing years, as the predators find habitats torn out from under them, their prey reduced and even eliminated. Quammen travels the world to study these animals in their element, lords of ever rarer domains on every continent. "If we exterminate the last magnificently scary beasts on planet Earth," he closes by noting, "then no matter where we go for the rest of our history as a species--for the rest of time--we may never encounter any others." The thought of a world without things that go bump is unnerving, and Quammen's book is a timely, literate warning that such a world is fast upon us. --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

With equal parts lucid travel narrative and scholarly rumination, Quammen (The Song of the Dodo) describes the fascinating past, tenuous present and bleak future of four supremely adapted predators who are finding themselves increasingly out of place in the modern world. The animals-Indian lions, Australian crocodiles, Russian brown bears and Siberian tigers-share more in common than alpha roles in their respective environments and dwindling prospects for maintaining them; they are, as the book pointedly notes, man-eaters, animals that can and do feed on human flesh. Quammen admits that the term may seem antiquated, but, he writes, "there's just no precise and gender-neutral alternative that says the same thing with the same degree of terse, atavistic punch." He looks at the animals both up close and from an intellectual distance, examining them in their threatened enclaves in the wild and pondering what these killers have meant to us in our religion and art from the pages of the Bible and Beowulf to Norse sagas and African poetry. His writing is sharp and vital, whether depicting his guide's chance childhood encounter with a lion cub or the heat of a rollicking crocodile hunt in a soupy river. Equally resonant are his arguments for why these particular animals excite such fear and fascination in us, and how we will suffer in terms practical and profound if they are eliminated completely from their habitats and confined to zoos and human memory. The crisp reportorial immediacy and sobering analysis make for a book that is as powerful and frightening as the animals it chronicles.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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4.7 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Living with Lions, Jan 6 2004

By	Matthew Taylor (Rockville, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Monster Of God (Hardcover)

This book is amazing. As in it's predecessor, The Song of the Dodo, David Quammen acheives an amazing feat by combining science, travel stories, literature, history, and philosophy (and a sprinkling of pop culture) into a compelling discussion of the fate of what he calls "alpha predators" in this modern world. Quammen traveled to India to visit people living among lions (yes, lions), Australia to visit people living among crocodiles, Romania to visit people living with brown bears (who knew?), and the Russian Far East to visit people living with tigers. Each of these pieces is a distinct story by itself, with its own set of characters, yet Quammen sews them all together with common concerns about predators, prey, and who pays the price of having these alpha predators around. Sensitive to traditional cultures as he is to natural ecosystems, Quammen is a great writer producing unique literature that is important for our time.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful read, Dec 29 2003

By	Seth J. Frantzman (Jerusalem, Israel) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Monster Of God (Hardcover)

A very insightful and wonderful account of the relations between man and the man-eaters in both myth, mind and memory. The author tackles several subjects in this hands-on accounts. The author looks at traditional 'man-eaters' although the word itself disturbs him in his politically correct nature, he looks at the Siberian Tigers, the Lions and even the Bears of Rumania. He looks at the myths surrounding the 'man-eaters' and he analyzes the political responses. He tells wonderful tales of the alligators of Australia and weaves a web of intrigue whereby the reader can now distinguish between the truly lethal 'man-eaters' and the skinny snouted harmless critters of the inland streams. Many stories are interwoven including vast accounts of the natives who like always seem to live 'in harmony' with nature. Only when modern man came along with his weapons and his urban development did the truly viscous kings of the animal kingdom disappear. The only shortcoming is the small amount of room devoted to wolves and sharks, but obviously the book is such a wonderful gem to only so much could be covered, especially since the account is part travel writing.

Seth J. Frantzman

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5.0 out of 5 stars Conservation of Animals that can Kill and Eat You, Nov 24 2003

By	David B Richman (Mesilla Park, NM USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Monster Of God (Hardcover)

One of the major deficiencies in planning for the conservation of animals is that often the difficulties of local humans are not recognized. It is quite easy to sit in a comfortable office and decree that this organism or that organism be protected, without examining the consequences to the often-poor inhabitants of the land where the said organism lives. This is especially true when the organism is at least an occasional predator of Homo sapiens. In "Monster of God" David Quammen has examined the consequences of the conservation policy for both the target predators and the humans inhabiting the same territory. It is not a totally pretty story, with both animal and local human often on the short end of the stick.

Quammen does not romanticize the predators, but he does make us aware of their importance in the ecosystem as well as the difficulties of the local peoples who have to live with them. Sometimes an accommodation can be worked out and sometimes it is on very shaky ground. It is always a complex interplay between predator and human. Indeed, predators cannot be either over romanticized or demonized if we are to save and stabilize the populations of these magnificent, yet dangerous, animals. Their loss would be regrettable, but their conservation must include adequate respect for the difficulties of people living with a dangerous predator nearby.

Yes, despite some nonsense written in the last century, crocodiles will eat people if given the chance. Lions, tigers and bears can and will also eat humans under the right circumstances. The recent death of two grizzly bear activists by the claws of their "gentle" subjects should provide a cautionary tale. These are not totally benign life forms- some sort of living stuffed toy- but neither are they evil.

Quammen's discussion of mythic monsters adds some historical background to the uneasy relationship between man and predator. That humans have a history of fearing the beast beyond the fire and of interpreting fossil skulls wrongly in this light is not surprising. However, Quammen does doubt the existence of a primordial ancestral fear gained from our precursors on the African veldt. Certainly one should avoid man-eating and ultimately frightening creatures. But does that then give us leave to utterly destroy them?

Unless we are able to develop a compromise between the needs of people and the animals involved we may very well see the end of large predators. The complexities of this problem has been well stated by David Quammen. He has written an eye-opening book that should be read by everybody interested in the conservation of these remarkable and frightening animals.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars exceptional book on mythology, history, and biology
I really enjoyed this exceptional book on the mythology, culture, history, and biology of man-eaters around the world. Read more

Published on Nov 12 2003 by Tim F. Martin

5.0 out of 5 stars Visit People in Remote Places ; Learn about Keystone Species
This was a difficult book to get into but it does prove to be very interesting. The food chain and where we fit into it and why is difficult reading at times. Read more

Published on Nov 6 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tipping Top of the Food Chain
A few years ago, David Quammen wrote a big travel and science book which was a superb explanation of biogeography and island extinctions, _The Song of the Dodo_. Read more

Published on Oct 20 2003 by R. Hardy

5.0 out of 5 stars Biology confronts mythology . . .
. . . and meet politics and globalisation. The encounter, reported by North America's foremost nature journalist, is an informative, exquisite read. Read more

Published on Sep 30 2003 by Stephen A. Haines