I have spent the last several weeks in Japan leading a group of undergraduates on a study abroad program. It's been an amazing experience and great for both personal and professional development. It's been less great for reading (and blogging). I did manage a couple of books, though, the first of which is The Boilerplate Rhino. I have my dear friend Clio to thank for introducing me to the world of David Quammen a few years ago. (She was also responsible, in college, for introducing me to my husband, so she's clearly a great lady to know!)
David Quammen is a nature writer. Sometimes the thinks he writes about are fascinating and sometimes they are, excuse, less exciting than watching grass grow. Boilerplate Rhino, which is a collection of essays written for his monthly during his time at Outside magazine, has some of each. His account of the perfect durian fruit is fascinating, for example, as is his essay on the original boilerplate rhino. On the other hand, if I'm being perfectly honest (always my goal), I didn't even manage to read time-and-motion study in its entirety (and these are not especially long essays). From bat watching on Guam to speculating on the owl's absence of a penis (all owls, not a particular owl) to luminescent beetles the size of a human finger the essays run in terms of topics.
Even when the subject seems less than entirely interesting, though, Quammen can always be counted on for his beautiful prose. He describes military jets as "smearing the sky with carbon" during take-off and notes succinctly in an essay about Henry Thoreau that "the human reality is always more complicated than anything that can be put down on paper." Quammen is a writer's writer, a man whose every word seems to be carefully considered before appearing in print. I have loved each book of his I have read (The Song of the Dodo and Wild Thoughts from Wild Places, in addition to Boilerplate Rhino) and am looking forward to my next Quammen pick, just as soon as I read the other 20-odd books on my list.
4 stars.
I can't take credit for introducing you to your husband - I wasn't trying to play matchmaker. (I will, however, take full credit for setting you up with David Quammen, whom I've shamefully neglected ever since I read The Song of the Dodo.)
ReplyDeleteNot trying, no, but I guess it worked out that way.
ReplyDeleteDavid Quammen was the Sunday speaker at the conference - I was bummed to miss him. I did, however, pick up a complimentary copy of his most recent book "Spillover." The publishing company rep said it's a bit different from his other work (it's about animal diseases that are communicable to humans), so I'm eager to read it.