JOHN VAILLANT's first book was the national bestseller The Golden Spruce, which won the Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction, as well as several other awards. He has written for "The New Yorker," "The Atlantic," "Outside," "National Geographic" and "The Walrus," among other publications. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with his wife and children.
"From the Hardcover edition."
"A masterpiece of reconstructed reportage . . . What elevates The
Tiger from adventure yarn to nonfiction classic is Vaillant's
mastery of language. Every now and then he drops in a
paragraph-length essay that stands alone like a polished gem. His
riff on the "unintended courtesy" of wildlife paths in snow is the
kind of insight Terry Tempest Williams might weave an entire book
around."
--"Outside"
""The Tiger" is the sort of book I very much like and rarely find.
Humans are hard-wired to fear tigers, so this book will attract
intense interest. In addition to tiger lore and scalding adventure,
Vaillant shows us Russia's far east and its inhabitants, their
sometimes desperate lives interwoven with the economics of poaching
and the politics of wildlife conservation. I was startled to learn
about the "zapovedniks" and Russia's primary place in global
conservation. This is a book not only for adventure buffs, but for
all of us interested in wildlife habitat preservation."
--Annie Proulx
"If ever a nonfiction author has used the techniques of fiction any
better to recount a real-life narrative, it is difficult to imagine
who that author would be . . . Think of Vaillant as a younger
version of John McPhee, but on steroids."
--"The Seattle Times"
"A remarkable and thoughtful account of a distant place where man
and animal meet with fatal consequences."
--"Richmond Times Dispatch"
"[A] riveting story . . . Vaillant's book teaches a lesson that
humankind desperately needs to remember: When you murder a tiger,
you not only kill a strong and beautiful beast, you extinguish a
passionate soul."
--"Washington Post"
"By all means read Vaillant's magnificent book . . . ["The Tiger"]
offers readers a shiver-inducing portrait of a predator that has
been revered--and feared--like no other animal . . . A profound
examination of the myriad factors that threaten the animal's
continued existence in the world . . . The final pages of
Vaillant's book are suspenseful, but also deeply sad."
--"San Francisco Chronicle"
"What spirits this adventure narrative from compelling to brilliant
is Vaillant's use of the tiger hunt as an allegorical lens through
which to understand the cultural, economic, and environmental
devastation of post-Communist Russia . . . This energetic hybrid of
classic adventure and impassioned sociocultural critique will
appeal to Jon Krakauer fans, tiger lovers, and readers interested
in contemporary Russian history."
--Library Journal (starred review)
"Suspenseful and majestically narrated . . . Vaillant has written a
mighty elegy that leads readers into the lair of the tiger and into
the heart of the Kremlin to explain how the Amur tiger went from
being worshipped to being poached."
--"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)
"This book is magnificent, surely the best chronicle ever published
of the wild Amur tigers in Russia's Far East. In it are chilling
accounts of human encounters with tigers--but these encounters,
however fearsome, convincingly demonstrate the role that these
enormous cats continue to play in the natural world. Equally
compelling are the people of Primorye, those who of necessity must
hunt the tigers, and those who would preserve them. To call this
book a page-turner is an understatement. It's riveting."
--Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of "The Hidden Life of Dogs,"
"The Hidden Life of Deer," "The Old Way," and "Tribe of Tiger"
"This book must be read by everybody who is interested in the
conservation of wildlife. It takes you to the Russian wilderness to
meet face-to-face with the Siberian tiger."
--Temple Grandin, author of "Animals in Translation" and "Animals
Make Us Human"
"This elegant work of narrative non-fiction has it all--beauty,
intrigue, a primeval locale, fully realized characters, and a
conflict that speaks to the state of our world. Obsessively
well-researched and artfully written, "The Tiger " takes us on a
journey to the raw edge of civilization, to a world of vengeful
cats and venal men, a world that, in Vaillant's brilliant telling,
is simultaneously haunting and enchanting."
--Hampton Sides, author of "Ghost Soldiers, ""Blood and Thunder,"
and "Hellhound On His Trail"
" "
""The Tiger" offers a richly textured, compelling story of Nature
and Man at odds--and at risk--in Russia's Far East. Grounded in
meticulous research and informed by extensive field work, the
narrative graphically conveys the fragility of life in the
unforgiving taiga, where a single misstep can turn hunter into
quarry. Few predators inspire more reckless greed, or inflict more
relentless punishment, than the Ussuri tiger. By capturing its
mystique and savagery, John Vaillant does as much as any mortal
hand or eye to frame the "fearful symmetry" that burns in Blake's
"forests of the night."
--John J. Stephan, author of "The Russian Far East: A History"
"An absolutely superb book. There have been many tiger books but
none which so deeply try to probe the mind of tigers and the mind
and habits of humans living in the same forest."
--George Schaller, Wildlife Conservation Society & Panthera "From
the Hardcover edition."
In the winter of 1997, a huge tiger is stalking-and devouring-hunters on the edge of an isolated Siberian village. Yuri Trush and his team of tiger inspectors are called to the scene to investigate one incident, and ultimately, to determine the tiger's fate. Nature writer Vaillant (The Golden Spruce) follows Trush's team as they track the tiger on foot through dense forest in the bitter cold while documenting the effects of the tiger crisis on the desperately troubled village. What spirits this adventure narrative from compelling to brilliant is Vaillant's use of the tiger hunt as an allegorical lens through which to understand the cultural, economic, and environmental devastation of post-Communist Russia. Vaillant suggests that the lone tiger's desperate acts are merely symptomatic of the larger crisis facing wild tiger populations-and their human counterparts-in contemporary Russia. VERDICT This energetic hybrid of classic adventure and impassioned sociocultural critique will appeal to Jon Krakauer fans, tiger lovers, and readers interested in contemporary Russian history. It might also attract fans of the film The Ghost and the Darkness, based on J.H. Patterson's The Man-Eaters of Tsavo. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/10.]-Kelsy L. Peterson, Overland Park, KS Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
"A masterpiece of reconstructed reportage . . . What elevates
The Tiger from adventure yarn to nonfiction classic is Vaillant's
mastery of language. Every now and then he drops in a
paragraph-length essay that stands alone like a polished gem. His
riff on the "unintended courtesy" of wildlife paths in snow is the
kind of insight Terry Tempest Williams might weave an entire book
around."
--"Outside"
""The Tiger" is the sort of book I very much like and rarely find.
Humans are hard-wired to fear tigers, so this book will attract
intense interest. In addition to tiger lore and scalding adventure,
Vaillant shows us Russia's far east and its inhabitants, their
sometimes desperate lives interwoven with the economics of poaching
and the politics of wildlife conservation. I was startled to learn
about the "zapovedniks" and Russia's primary place in global
conservation. This is a book not only for adventure buffs, but for
all of us interested in wildlife habitat preservation."
--Annie Proulx
"If ever a nonfiction author has used the techniques of fiction any
better to recount a real-life narrative, it is difficult to imagine
who that author would be . . . Think of Vaillant as a younger
version of John McPhee, but on steroids."
--"The Seattle Times"
"A remarkable and thoughtful account of a distant place where man
and animal meet with fatal consequences."
--"Richmond Times Dispatch"
"[A] riveting story . . . Vaillant's book teaches a lesson that
humankind desperately needs to remember: When you murder a tiger,
you not only kill a strong and beautiful beast, you extinguish a
passionate soul."
--"Washington Post"
"By all means read Vaillant's magnificent book . . . ["The Tiger"]
offers readers a shiver-inducing portrait of a predator that has
been revered--and feared--like no other animal . . . A profound
examination of the myriad factors that threaten the animal's
continued existence in the world . . . The final pages of
Vaillant's book are suspenseful, but also deeply sad."
--"San Francisco Chronicle"
"What spirits this adventure narrative from compelling to brilliant
is Vaillant's use of the tiger hunt as an allegorical lens through
which to understand the cultural, economic, and environmental
devastation of post-Communist Russia . . . This energetic hybrid of
classic adventure and impassioned sociocultural critique will
appeal to Jon Krakauer fans, tiger lovers, and readers interested
in contemporary Russian history."
--Library Journal (starred review)
"Suspenseful and majestically narrated . . . Vaillant has written a
mighty elegy that leads readers into the lair of the tiger and into
the heart of the Kremlin to explain how the Amur tiger went from
being worshipped to being poached."
--"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)
"This book is magnificent, surely the best chronicle ever published
of the wild Amur tigers in Russia's Far East. In it are chilling
accounts of human encounters with tigers--but these encounters,
however fearsome, convincingly demonstrate the role that these
enormous cats continue to play in the natural world. Equally
compelling are the people of Primorye, those who of necessity must
hunt the tigers, and those who would preserve them. To call this
book a page-turner is an understatement. It's riveting."
--Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of "The Hidden Life of Dogs,"
"The Hidden Life of Deer," "The Old Way," and "Tribe of Tiger"
"This book must be read by everybody who is interested in the
conservation of wildlife. It takes you to the Russian wilderness to
meet face-to-face with the Siberian tiger."
--Temple Grandin, author of "Animals in Translation" and "Animals
Make Us Human"
"This elegant work of narrative non-fiction has it all--beauty,
intrigue, a primeval locale, fully realized characters, and a
conflict that speaks to the state of our world. Obsessively
well-researched and artfully written, "The Tiger " takes us on a
journey to the raw edge of civilization, to a world of vengeful
cats and venal men, a world that, in Vaillant's brilliant telling,
is simultaneously haunting and enchanting."
--Hampton Sides, author of "Ghost Soldiers, ""Blood and Thunder,"
and "Hellhound On His Trail"
" "
""The Tiger" offers a richly textured, compelling story of Nature
and Man at odds--and at risk--in Russia's Far East. Grounded in
meticulous research and informed by extensive field work, the
narrative graphically conveys the fragility of life in the
unforgiving taiga, where a single misstep can turn hunter into
quarry. Few predators inspire more reckless greed, or inflict more
relentless punishment, than the Ussuri tiger. By capturing its
mystique and savagery, John Vaillant does as much as any mortal
hand or eye to frame the "fearful symmetry" that burns in Blake's
"forests of the night."
--John J. Stephan, author of "The Russian Far East: A History"
"An absolutely superb book. There have been many tiger books but
none which so deeply try to probe the mind of tigers and the mind
and habits of humans living in the same forest."
--George Schaller, Wildlife Conservation Society & Panthera "From
the Hardcover edition."
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