Play Audiobook Sample
American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(3.05) - 489 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
From the host of the Travel Channel’s “The Wild Within.” A hunt for the American buffalo—an adventurous, fascinating examination of an animal that has haunted the American imagination. In 2005, Steven Rinella won a lottery permit to hunt for a wild buffalo, or American bison, in the Alaskan wilderness. Despite the odds—there’s only a 2 percent chance of drawing the permit, and fewer than 20 percent of those hunters are successful—Rinella managed to kill a buffalo on a snow-covered mountainside and then raft the meat back to civilization while being trailed by grizzly bears and suffering from hypothermia. Throughout these adventures, Rinella found himself contemplating his own place among the 14,000 years’ worth of buffalo hunters in North America, as well as the buffalo’s place in the American experience. At the time of the Revolutionary War, North America was home to approximately 40 million buffalo, the largest herd of big mammals on the planet, but by the mid-1890s only a few hundred remained. Now that the buffalo is on the verge of a dramatic ecological recovery across the West, Americans are faced with the challenge of how, and if, we can dare to share our land with a beast that is the embodiment of the American wilderness. American Buffalo is a narrative tale of Rinella’s hunt. But beyond that, it is the story of the many ways in which the buffalo has shaped our national identity. Rinella takes us across the continent in search of the buffalo’s past, present, and future: to the Bering Land Bridge, where scientists search for buffalo bones amid artifacts of the New World’s earliest human inhabitants; to buffalo jumps where Native Americans once ran buffalo over cliffs by the thousands; to the Detroit Carbon works, a “bone charcoal” plant that made fortunes in the late 1800s by turning millions of tons of buffalo bones into bone meal, black dye, and fine china; and even to an abattoir turned fashion mecca in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, where a depressed buffalo named Black Diamond met his fate after serving as the model for the American nickel. Rinella’s erudition and exuberance, combined with his gift for storytelling, make him the perfect guide for a book that combines outdoor adventure with a quirky blend of facts and observations about history, biology, and the natural world. Both a captivating narrative and a book of environmental and historical significance, American Buffalo tells us as much about ourselves as Americans as it does about the creature who perhaps best of all embodies the American ethos.
Download and start listening now!
"Rinella weaves a coherent narrative through historical facts and personal anecdotes. While the book utilized a few distracting analogies (how many times does the word scrotum need to be used?), the book was overall successful at conveying the importance of this majestic creature. Entertaining, educational, and moving."
— Phillip (4 out of 5 stars)
American Buffalo Listener Reviews
-
—
stewart benallack, 11/18/2022
-
—
Perry, 10/27/2022
-
" I had a very hard time getting into this book even though it is a subject I am currently fascinated with. Some of the info seemed contradictory to what I've read previously. The butchering of the animal is way to detailed unless you are an experienced hunter with an understanding of the cuts thebauthor describes making There were certainly some intetesting tidbits but overall not engaging. "
— Jessica, 2/17/2014 -
" This is an awesome story about the history and loss of the plains buffalo as well as the author's experience hunting a buffalo in the Alaskan wilderness. "
— Will, 1/14/2014 -
" didn't like it. felt like i was on a horrible blind date with a buffalo freak "
— Krista, 1/11/2014 -
" This book is awesome! It has history, personal stories of hunting bison, and much more. Steven Rinella has told his story just like I like to read it. I "
— Bryan, 12/3/2013 -
" Very interesting and easy to read. Loved this book! It was like going on a hunting trip with Mr. Rinella. Trekking through the Alaskan wilderness in the comfort of my own home! "
— Emily, 11/12/2013 -
" Rinella writes a great adventure story here as well as a well rounded history of this American iconic animal. A great read! "
— Robin, 3/17/2013 -
" Rinella does a great job of mixing the history of buffalo with his story of hunting buffalo. I think fans of Jon Krakauer would enjoy this book. "
— Darlene, 2/21/2013 -
" Who'd a thought that a book about the great American buffalo could be interesting...much less cool? This one is both of those things. Steven Rinella is an interesting human being and his story is a compellng read. Go for it even if you've never thought that you liked reading non-fiction. "
— Mswms, 2/18/2013 -
" I love outdoor hunting books. So in that sense, this book was awesome. "
— Michael, 12/23/2012 -
" Borrow it. "
— Donovan, 9/16/2011 -
" I enjoyed this book that wove the history of the North American Buffalo and man's relationship to it with Rinella's opportunity to hunt one. However, I did not find it as engaging as his "Scavenger's Guide" did but I couldn't put it down once I got to the last several chapters. "
— Chris, 4/1/2011 -
" Very cool so far! So different from anything I have read. It is about a guy who finds himself through a buffalo hunt. It is a true story and it is not ridiculous. "
— Lisa, 3/18/2011 -
" i really loved this book! i have no interest in hunting, but am fascinated by the history of the buffalo - by its tortured past in this country. rinella writes beautifully and with reverence about the buffalo - even the scenes of gutting the animal are poetic. a wonderful book! "
— Michelle, 3/13/2011 -
" didn't like it. felt like i was on a horrible blind date with a buffalo freak "
— Krista, 3/11/2011 -
" A really great entertaining book. It amazes me that something as simple as finding a skull of a buffalo could start someone on such an incredible journey. I am glad that Steven Rinella took the time to share his knowledge and experiences with us. I highly recommend the book. "
— Chris, 9/30/2010 -
" Who'd a thought that a book about the great American buffalo could be interesting...much less cool? This one is both of those things. Steven Rinella is an interesting human being and his story is a compellng read. Go for it even if you've never thought that you liked reading non-fiction. "
— Mswms, 9/28/2010 -
" Interesting facts about buffalo intertwined with the author's own buffalo hunt in Alaska. "
— Rebecca, 7/15/2010 -
" This was a great interesting history of the American Buffalo, mixed in with tales from Rinella's life. I loved everything except the very gory images of Rinella dressing his buffalo after the kill. "
— Katie, 5/8/2010 -
" This is an awesome story about the history and loss of the plains buffalo as well as the author's experience hunting a buffalo in the Alaskan wilderness. "
— Cobray, 4/17/2010 -
" Very cool so far! So different from anything I have read. It is about a guy who finds himself through a buffalo hunt. It is a true story and it is not ridiculous. "
— Lisa, 3/24/2010 -
" Written in a very casual style, but with some neat insights on the history of the North American bison. "
— Matt, 2/7/2010 -
" Good natural history/nature writing. A little slow at some points; otherwise good. "
— Matt, 2/2/2010
About Steven Rinella
Steven Rinella is the author of The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine and a correspondent for Outside magazine. His writing has also appeared in the New Yorker, American Heritage, New York Times, Field & Stream, Men’s Journal, and Salon.com. He grew up in Twin Lake, Michigan, and now splits his time between New York City and Anchorage, Alaska.