It's a wonderful story of how the author became so observant and her constant joy in choosing the things and events she chose t...  Read More

It's a wonderful story of how the author became so observant and her constant joy in choosing the things and events she chose to examine. All of her many books are equally wonderful.  Read Less

A memoir can be a tricky kind of book to write. One can have excellent descriptive skills, a good ability to siftthe wheat fro...  Read More

A memoir can be a tricky kind of book to write. One can have excellent descriptive skills, a good ability to siftthe wheat from the chaff, in terms of your life experience and its potential value to others, and yet still have a paucity of good stuff to share. This book is brilliant, because Elizabeth Marshall Thomas has everything one needs to create a satisfying and memorable memoir. In fact, she as a wealth of material to share...even if it were poorly written. Which it is not. Born into financial privilege, her parents were wise in teaching her the value of work and a keen love of natureand our greater world. Overriding the story is a passion for animals of all kinds and the wisdom to see creatures as our teachers. Furthermore this author has a unique life experience, with world travels off the beaten path, often off ANY path!With pluck, courage and sensitivity, she carries the reader along and writes in a way which makes one eager to seewhat comes next. I also love her ability to show her shadow. She writes openly about things others often fear to bare, things I won't reveal due to spoiling the story. She shares a refreshing honesty, the kind that helps the reader grow through identification with the heroine. Her writing style is clean, appropriately descriptive and well-paced. When I really like a book, I made an effort to find more titles by the same author. She also wrote The Harmless People, (which I believe I read in college), Warrior Herdsmen, Reindeer Moon, The Animal Wife, The Hidden Life of Dogs (which I also read a few years back...and is excellent), The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture...(I also read this and love it),. She wrote Certain Poor Shepherds: A Christmas Tale, The Social Life of Dogs: The Grace of Canine Company, The Old Way: A Story of the First People, and The Hidden Life of Deer: Lessons From the Natural World. Thomas is a true author, with something to say, the skill to say it, and the observation and keen insight to makeit worth your time. Highly recommended!  Read Less