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American Buffalo American Buffalo American Buffalo (2008)

by Steven Rinella(Favorite Author)

3.94 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0385526857 (ISBN13: 9780385526852)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Spiegel & Grau

review 1: I found myself liking this book against my will. The book is both a personal account of the author's relationship and interest in buffalo, as well as a historical account of the American people's relationship and experience (and exploitation) with the same. The first few pages turned me off, because the author has this very grating style of writing about his own experiences that had me rolling my eyes every other paragraph. Example: "There's a set of grizzly tracks on my boot prints from just an hour ago...I get a rush of adrenaline at the thought of sorting out who's going to get this buffalo meat, them or me. I'm planning on it being me." Come on, dude. There's also a point early in the book where he describes an interaction with a shop clerk that in no way happened out... moreside of the Rinella's imagination. He also has a very awkward way with metaphors - at one point when describing a fever he comes down with he says "my skin feels like the inside of a wet plastic bag full of mushrooms." His writing about his own buffalo hunt is often tedious for these reasons (we get it - you're a outdoorsy tough dude hunting big wild buffalo. Very impressive), but he did grow on me throughout the course of the book. In between the chapters of personal narrative were chapters about buffalo themselves as well as the history of human interaction with them, which were very fascinating and often very sad, but always informative. The subject matter was very interesting if you're into history and animals like me, and while at times the personal writing style was stilted, overall Rinella did a good job of weaving together the personal and the historical. Make it through the first couple chapters or so of obnoxious macho posturing, and Rinella becomes a more likeable figure and historian. I recommend it.
review 2: I have enjoyed reading Steven Rinella's articles in outdoor magazines over the last few years. I am also a fan of his TV show MeatEater, so I decided to purchase this book and I was not disappointed. The author takes you on his journey to kill a buffalo after he drew a tag for a public land hunt in Alaska.Buffalo are the one species of mammals that I think of whenever I think about the Old West and I have always enjoyed learning about and seeing buffalo. Rinella writes about his fascination with buffalo during his childhood and his reasons for wanting to hunt one. As he writes about his hunt and the dangers he faces in the wilds of Alaska, he also writes about the history. He includes the theory on how buffalo came to exist in North America and their importance to Native Americans and European settlers. As a fan of history and an avid hunter, I absolutely enjoyed this book. less

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