Reviews
"A fascinating, entertaining, and totally engrossing story of these under-appreciated birds, deftly intertwining natural history and human history, and with insights and lessons that go far beyond the subject birds." --David Sibley, author of What It's Like to Be a Bird "This book is an evolutionary labyrinth, taking Meiburg to the end of the world following a single, curious predator. Vivid, beautiful, and scientifically rich, crawling with jungle ants, blasted by Antarctic winds, his tales will transport you from the page to wilder places." --Craig Childs, author of Atlas of a Lost World "I'm in love with this book. If you like great writing, strange historical twists, adventure, nature, music and/or birds this will quickly become one of your all-time favorite books." --Laurie Anderson, artist "Caracaras are not like other birds, or even other birds of prey. Curious, wide-ranging, gregarious, and intelligent, the ten species of caracara are a scientific puzzle that has intrigued biologists since the days of Darwin. And this book--as curious, wide-ranging, gregarious, and intelligent as its subject--is not like any other book that I have encountered. A Most Remarkable Creature is not only about a bird, but about the community of people that has formed, almost accidentally, around the bird, and beyond that about humankind itself." --Charles C. Mann, author of 1491 "What a remarkable feat: taking a mysterious, oddly social, keenly intelligent bird of prey that most of the world has never heard of and animating the creature with such beauty that it comes fully alive in our imaginations. Jonathan Meiburg went on an equatorial search for the latter-day descendants of the age-old caracara and brought back--a little like Darwin himself--travel report, documentary, biography, social history, scientific treatise. And all of it so wonderfully readable." --Paul Hendrickson, author of Hemingway's Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, "Meiburg's enthusiasm [for the caracaras] matches Darwin's, and readers will share it. . . Not only a fine writer, the author is clearly an adventurer, and he devotes entertaining chapters to treks into the high Andes and South American jungles in search of other caracara species. . . [A] wholly captivating natural history." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Utterly captivating and beautifully written, this book is a hugely entertaining and enlightening exploration of a bird so wickedly smart, curious, and social, it boggles the mind. Along the way, Meiburg takes us from the Falklands to the UK, from Guyana to the Antarctic and Florida, and from deep time to the present and back again, describing in brilliant language why these birds--and their planet--are the way they are. If you love birds, natural history, science, travel, adventure, or just great writing, you will be rapt. "--Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Bird Way "A fascinating, entertaining, and totally engrossing story of these under-appreciated birds, deftly intertwining natural history and human history, and with insights and lessons that go far beyond the subject birds." --David Sibley, author of What It's Like to Be a Bird "This book is an evolutionary labyrinth, taking Meiburg to the end of the world following a single, curious predator. Vivid, beautiful, and scientifically rich, crawling with jungle ants, blasted by Antarctic winds, his tales will transport you from the page to wilder places." --Craig Childs, author of Atlas of a Lost World " A Most Remarkable Creature does what only the very best science and nature writing can. Jonathan Meiburg reminds us that our world is not fully known, that the prehistoric walk among us, and, most of all, how exciting and unnerving it feels to encounter an animal you've never seen before, and, even more, to find that animal staring right back." --Steven Rinella, author of American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon "A rich, sprawling romp through time and far-flung, fabulous spaces, in pursuit of one of Earth's most enigmatic, engaging, and shrewdest creatures." --Alan Weisman, author of Countdown "I'm in love with this book. If you like great writing, strange historical twists, adventure, nature, music and/or birds this will quickly become one of your all-time favorite books." --Laurie Anderson, artist "Caracaras are not like other birds, or even other birds of prey. Curious, wide-ranging, gregarious, and intelligent, the ten species of caracara are a scientific puzzle that has intrigued biologists since the days of Darwin. And this book--as curious, wide-ranging, gregarious, and intelligent as its subject--is not like any other book that I have encountered. A Most Remarkable Creature is not only about a bird, but about the community of people that has formed, almost accidentally, around the bird, and beyond that about humankind itself." --Charles C. Mann, author of 1491 "What a remarkable feat: taking a mysterious, oddly social, keenly intelligent bird of prey that most of the world has never heard of and animating the creature with such beauty that it comes fully alive in our imaginations. Jonathan Meiburg went on an equatorial search for the latter-day descendants of the age-old caracara and brought back--a little like Darwin himself--travel report, documentary, biography, social history, scientific treatise. And all of it so wonderfully readable." --Paul Hendrickson, author of Hemingway's Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, "What a remarkable feat: taking a mysterious, oddly social, keenly intelligent bird of prey that most of the world has never heard of and animating the creature with such beauty that it comes fully alive in our imaginations. Jonathan Meiburg went on an equatorial search for the latter-day descendants of the age-old caracara and brought back--a little like Darwin himself--travel report, documentary, biography, social history, scientific treatise. And all of it so wonderfully readable." --Paul Hendrickson, author of Hemingway's Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost
