David Quamen is always good company. Here he travels to different parts of the world where people live cheek by jowl with man eating predators. He highlights the difficulties in implementing conservation efforts for dangerous animals in areas where people are surviving and may come in conflict with endangered creatures. He also shares some of the folklore and mythology of the reasons he visits and how the animals are part of the cultures and sometimes religion of the people involved. ( )

Eh. This book wasn't really what I was hoping for. It's not so much about the predators and far more about the people. To be honest, I skimmed through a lot of it, although there were some parts that were interesting!

Although I realise it was written 20 years ago, I must comment on how the author seems to be against eco-tourism. He keeps talking about how hunting is essential to the survival of big predators as this gives them monetary value but neglects to talk about how people wanting to see these animals in their natural habitat can bring in money (although I do think that in some cases hunting may be necessary for other reasons - to keep populations within a carrying capacity!)

I'm sure this book is enjoyable for other people, but I feel like I wasn't really the target audience. I can tell a lot of work went into this, but unfortunately, it's just not for me. ( )

David Quammen's Monster of God is unlike any other non-fiction book I have read, making it a bit hard to classify. It's a deeply researched book probing mankind's relationship with four specific animals: crocodiles, bears, lions, and tigers, all of which are united as being alpha predators, or more specifically man-eaters. Quammen gets at this subject through widespread travel, to remote corners of Australia, India, Romania, and Siberia on the easternmost edge of Russia near China. So the book seems, in part, a travelogue. He hires a slew of guides and translators and trackers and scientists who help him interview and understand the local populations that have interacted with and been eaten by these animals for generations. So the book is also to some extent an anthropological study. Then too, he dwells on and analyzes some mythic folktales like the Epic of Gilgamesh, Beowolf, Odysseus, Oedipus, etc. making parts of the book a literary critique. He also throws in a lot of scientific literature reviews so the reader comes to learn about trophic levels and cascades and other lovely dynamic aspects of ecology. Quammen also deftly inserts himself into his narrative and often displays a dry sense of humor. The writing is always first-rate. Sadly, Quammen, who wrote this book shortly after the turn of the twenty-first century, is not optimistic that these and other flesh-eating beasts will survive in the wild beyond his prediction of 2150. He was not the first observer to conclude that the pace of modernization and population growth would cause mass animal extinctions. These predictions had been made as early as the 1970s. But in 2004 when this book came out, the topic was not as broached as it is today. Quammen neither romanticizes these animals nor downplays the toll they have had on indigenous populations. But I believe he is correct when he observes that the loss of these animals in their natural habitats will signify an irreplaceable and permanent psychic loss for human beings. ( )

David Quammen's enthralling new book covers the four corners of the globe as he explores the fate of lions in India's Gir forest, saltwater crocodiles in Northern Australia, brown bears in the mountains of Romania, and Siberian tigers. Tracking these great and terrible beasts through the toughest terrain in the world, Quammen is equally intrigued by the traditional relationship between the great predators and the people who live among them, and weaves into his story the fears and myths that have haunted humankind for 3000 years.

Quammen's exploration of predators and our relation to them is a study in history, observation, nature writing, travel, and conservation. His discussions move effortlessly between our contemporary relationships with predators and their habitats on to history, biology, ecology, and even sociology. With an eye toward bringing these creatures as well as their habitats to life for readers, he blends his understanding of science with a flare for travel writing, and the effect is a brilliant discussion of predators. From the back cover: "As he journeys into their habitats and confronts them where they live, Quammen reflects on the enduring significance of these predators to us and imagines a future without them." It seems clear, though, that a future without them is one of the things this book is desperately fighting against.

Whether discussing bears, lions, tigers, or crocodiles, the work here is impressive. It is not an easy read, certainly--there's research packed into every page, and many of the subjects are serious (potentially nightmare-inducing for animal lovers, too, in some cases), but this is a worthwhile and beautifully written book that honors some of Earth's greatest creatures in a way that deserves notice.

Absolutely recommended. ( )