Andrew
wibble wibble
Wild NIghts : The Nature of New York City.
This is a classic example of the rule of not judging a book by it's cover. On the face of it, it appears to be a book on the wildlife of New York. Despite being a bit thin at 210ish pages I bought it with the expectation of reading about families of Racoons raiding apartment fridges, various spectacular warblers in Central Park and whatver else roams New York's streets at night. It does that albeit briefly.
Anne Mathews's book does not seem to know what it is supposed to be. It is not deserving of being in the wildlife section of the bookshop where I first saw it as there is a massive proportion on how cities around the world evolved, suffer epidemics, planning misdemeanors and even touches on the jewish/hispanic percentages of the population. I really struggled my way through this book with many pages being a glossy blur while thinking of the next birding trip or twitch.
It is obvious that I do not like it. Do not think I am biased in that I only like birding books. Not true, I read various other book now and then especially Bryson at the moment. It is just I like a book to be what it promises to be about. There was very little about the actual wildlife of New York, I mean she even discussed a religious pet blessing festival, come on PETS!!!!
To sum up, don't read this if you are wanting a purely wildife read.
This is a classic example of the rule of not judging a book by it's cover. On the face of it, it appears to be a book on the wildlife of New York. Despite being a bit thin at 210ish pages I bought it with the expectation of reading about families of Racoons raiding apartment fridges, various spectacular warblers in Central Park and whatver else roams New York's streets at night. It does that albeit briefly.
Anne Mathews's book does not seem to know what it is supposed to be. It is not deserving of being in the wildlife section of the bookshop where I first saw it as there is a massive proportion on how cities around the world evolved, suffer epidemics, planning misdemeanors and even touches on the jewish/hispanic percentages of the population. I really struggled my way through this book with many pages being a glossy blur while thinking of the next birding trip or twitch.
It is obvious that I do not like it. Do not think I am biased in that I only like birding books. Not true, I read various other book now and then especially Bryson at the moment. It is just I like a book to be what it promises to be about. There was very little about the actual wildlife of New York, I mean she even discussed a religious pet blessing festival, come on PETS!!!!
To sum up, don't read this if you are wanting a purely wildife read.
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