Malibu

by Vance Joseph Hoyt, Zdeslav Bulat (Translator)

From Malibu Surfside News. It was a lucky find; a battered old book with a green cloth cover embossed with an illustration of a mountain lion and a mule deer, and the title "Malibu." The novel, published in 1931, is a fictionalized account of author and naturalist Vance Joseph Hoyt's experiences raising an orphaned mule deer fawn with a mountain lion kitten in the Santa Monica Mountains. The story of Malibu is told primarily from the animals' perspective. Hoyt provides a fascinating look at the Santa Monica Mountains in the 1920s - describing the animals' travels from Topanga all the way to Arroyo Sequit, during an era when most of the area was still a private wilderness. Contemporary conservationists may shudder at the cavalier approach Hoyt takes to capturing and raising wild animals as pets, but Hoyt was a passionate advocate for wildlife in an era when there were few protections, and he was one of the Malibu area's first animal activists. Hoyt makes a powerful case for banning hunting and trapping in the Santa Monica Mountains. The book is a plea for peaceful coexistence with wildlife in at a time when wild animals were viewed by many as vermin. "This is the era of big cities and machinery. I wouldn't be here myself if it wasn't as good a way as any of making a living," a cynical game warden quips in the novel. Hoyt's fictional alter ego responds: "...The day is coming when our forests will be closed to hunters, and such men as you will hold their positions because of their love for the beauty of their work, not just for the dollars they are paid." Hoyt's novel follows the deer - named Malibu because "Malibu means bad road, rough going, and no one has a more rocky road to travel than a deer," and Gato, the mountain lion, from birth to adulthood. Hoyt describes their unlikely friendship and their lives in the wild when they reach maturity...

Genres: Animals

178 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1931

Reviews

[Erin the Avid Reader ⚜BFF's with the Cheshire Cat⚜ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was good! It's an extremely hard book to find, and prices of eBay are outrageous. Luckily my mom had this book inherited from her grandmother so I could enjoy its beauty. It is a beautifully written book. Wish it wasn't out of print.

[Mariasole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ho trovato questo libro in una libreria di testi antichi e vintage, dato che non si ristampa più in Italia dagli anni '50 credo. Ed è un vero peccato che scelte editoriali basate sugli introiti e sulle novità per ragazzi moderni debba sacrificare perle del genere. E' la storia di un naturalista nordamericano negli anni '30 che vive ai margini di una grande riserva naturale. Lui adora gli animali ed un giorno salva un piccolo di cervo e un piccolo di puma; e li alleva insieme e diventano amici. Purtroppo questa riserva è anche dedicata alla caccia una volta all'anno e quando l'uomo lascia ritornare gli animali alla loro vita selvaggia, il racconto prosegue con gli stessi animali protagonisti, nella loro storia quotidiana di vita e di rifugio dai pericoli mortali, tra i quali rientrano anche gli esseri umani. Veramente avvincente.