In this classic volume, Peter Matthiessen exquisitely combines nature and travel writing to bring East Africa to vivid life. He skillfully and magically portrays the sights, scenes, and people he observed firsthand in several trips over the course of a dozen years: the daily lives of herdsmen and hunter-gatherers; the drama of the predator kills; the hundreds of exotic animals; the breathtaking landscapes; the area's turbulent natural, political, and social histories; the adventures of the field biologists who pursue and investigate the habits of wild creatures; the anthropologists seeking man's origins throughout the Rift Valley; and the lonely African, poised between the traditional ways and the conflicting demands of Western culture.
A finalist for the National Book Award when it was released in 1972, this vivid portrait of East Africa remains as fresh and revelatory now as on the day it was first published.
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"I read this when it first came out - over thirty years ago - and I'm inspired to read it again along with Matthiessen's Snow Leopard. This has absolutely gorgeous photos by Eliot Porter, of Sierra Club calendar fame. " — Merilee (4 out of 5 stars)
"I read this when it first came out - over thirty years ago - and I'm inspired to read it again along with Matthiessen's Snow Leopard. This has absolutely gorgeous photos by Eliot Porter, of Sierra Club calendar fame. "
“Entwined with...curiosity about the dim past is Mr. Matthiessen’s second and to me more engrossing theme: his observations of the natives, the landscape, the wildlife he encountered....[Eliot Porter’s] sense of composition is flawless...Taken together these two artists have discovered for me an Africa I have never seen or properly appreciated before.”
“Stunning…The Africa [Matthiessen] evokes is finally timeless, majestic, throbbing with life, indivisible.”
“Dion Graham’s deep voice adds a poetic quality to the author’s descriptive writing as he talks about watching wild elephants or buffalo. Graham also brings life to Matthiessen’s meetings with Africans and Europeans.”
“The lush prose casts its own spell on a landscape observed with awe and inexplicable sadness…[Matthiessen’s] narrative powers are considerable.”
" The finest book ever written about East Africa. "
" wonderful book about Africa. Despite PM's pretentiousness and mild racism I love his writing. "
" I always enjoy what I read by Peter Matthiessen, this one especially because I love Africa. Great book. "
" One of the best ever books I have read. "
" Interesting. I may be biased in that Matthiessen's "Snow Leopard" was so incredible that I've wanted him to reach that height again and so far I haven't found a book of his that has. This is still a fine read. "
" I listened to this book and it was like listening to a beautiful painting of Africa "
" Descriptions beautiful. Attitudes towards Africans probably typical for the time, but hard to accept today "
" I read this when it first came out - over thirty years ago - and I'm inspired to read it again along with Matthiessen's Snow Leopard. This has absolutely gorgeous photos by Eliot Porter, of Sierra Club calendar fame. "
" One of the most inspiring books I've ever read. Peter Matthiessen captures the beauty and essence of the African savannah from the start, a place that is dear to me and where I grew up. thanks. "
" I loaned this book to a friend who was heading to Africa on safari. She found it very good preparatory reading.I liked it very much myself, but there isn't a word this man has written that isn't engaging. "
Peter Matthiessen (1927–2014) was the author of more than thirty books, including the New York Times bestseller The Snow Leopard. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1974. He was cofounder of the Paris Review and won two National Book Awards, the 2000 Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities, and the 2010 Spiros Vergos Prize for Freedom of Expression.
Dion Graham is an award-winning narrator named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile magazine. He has been a recipient of the prestigious Audie Award numerous times, as well as Earphones Awards, the Publishers Weekly Listen Up Awards, IBPA Ben Franklin Awards, and the ALA Odyssey Award. He was nominated in 2015 for a Voice Arts Award for Outstanding Narration. He is also a critically acclaimed actor who has performed on Broadway, off Broadway, internationally, in films, and in several hit television series. He is a graduate of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, with an MFA degree in acting.
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