The Snake Charmer: A Life and Death in Pursuit of Knowledge

by Jamie James

Although it was still too dark to see well, Joe absentmindedly thrust his right hand into the sack to extract the specimen and have a look. Immediately, he winced with pain and yanked out his hand. A tiny black-and-white banded snake, less than ten inches long, was dangling limply from his middle finger, its fangs still sunk into his flesh. In the fall of 2001, deep in the jungle of Burma, a team of scientists is searching for rare snakes. They are led by Dr. Joe Slowinski, at forty already one of the most brilliant biologists of our time. It is the most ambitious scientific expedition ever mounted into this remote region, venturing into the foothills of the Himalayas. The bold undertaking is brought to a dramatic halt by the bite of the many-banded krait, the deadliest serpent in Asia. In the moment he pulled his hand from the specimen bag and saw the krait, Joe knew that his life was in grave and imminent peril. Thus began one of the most remarkable wilderness rescue attempts of modern times, as Joe's teammates kept him alive for thirty hours by mouth-to-mouth respiration, waiting for a rescue that never came. A daredevil obsessed with venomous snakes since his youth, Slowinski was a modern-day adventurer who rose quickly to the top of his field, discovering many previously unidentified snake species in his brief yet exhilarating career. The Snake Charmer is at once brilliant biography and exotic travel literature, blended with an accessible introduction to the bizarre, fascinating-and sometimes controversial-world of snake science. The narrative transports the reader into primeval wilderness, from the Everglades to Peru to Burma, in search of rattlesnakes and boa constrictors, kraits and cobras. Joe Slowinski's career was fast and exciting, his tragic final expedition a pulse-pounding struggle between man and nature. In The Snake Charmer , renowned journalist and author Jamie James captures the life and death of this charismatic, endlessly fascinating man. Exhaustively researched in interviews with Slowinski's colleagues and family, and the author's own trek into the wilds of Burma, this is narrative nonfiction in the tradition of Into the Wild and The Perfect Storm.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Animals, Biography, Nature, Travel, Adventure

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2008

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm at odds about this book. On one hand, I very much enjoyed learning more about herpetology and field biology. The best parts of the book, I thought, delved into advances in the classification of snakes and description of key species. Did you know that virtually all snakes are poisonous but that some are simply not toxic enough to affect humans? I didn't. That some "primitive" snakes such as pythons have pairs of organs (kidneys, lungs, etc.), but that more "evolved" snakes have single organs, making them more streamlined and efficient? Or that those who survive the nearly-always-fatal bite of the Russell's viper undergo a peculiar pituitary reversal, taking on childlike characteristics and becoming hairless, impotent, and sterile?

This sort of snake lore provided a fascinating glimpse into a little-known world. However, overall the book is structured as a biography with herpetological interludes. It commences at the moment when Joe Slowinski, a gifted but reckless herpetologist, was bitten by one of the world's most deadly snakes during an ill-fated expedition in a remote region of Burma. The book then breaks off and returns to Slowinski's childhood and progresses gradually back to the point of the fatal bite, which ultimately kills Slowinski after prolonged and heroic efforts to keep him alive.

Author James, in the epilogue, makes the connection between Slowinski's rashness and overconfidence and his death, but I still had difficulty overcoming an aversion to the beer-swilling, macho Slowinski, who at thirty-eight still behaved like a disarmingly charming but socially stunted twelve-year-old. I suppose I've met too many characters in this mold over the years to retain much regard for them. They gravitate toward the never-never land of labs and field research, places that allow them to obsess over a chosen subject, insulated from significant moral and social development.

James does a good job of scrupulously telling Slowinski's tale, and he has a clear, easy-to-digest style that makes for rapid reading. But I found myself wondering if his efforts to be even handed about his subject -- not to mention safeguard access to his sources of information, including Slowinski's parents, sister, and friends -- led him to indulge in a bit of hagiography. Slowinski's manner of death may have been sensational, but I didn't feel his life merited the full biographical treatment.

[Blondish And Bookish · Rating 5 out of 5]

“No snake kills with more ruthless efficiency than the many-banded krait, which dwells in the jungles of India and Southeast Asia.” How can you not love a book that starts out like this?! The Snake Charmer appears on the surface to be a biography of a “herper”, or snake guy, but it's much more than that. It's a travelogue of both far away places and local fossil hunting grounds, it's a treatise on the academic world of scientists, it's a terrifying study of venomous snakes worldwide. It's an adventure story following the exploits of Joe Slowinski, one of the most brilliant biologists of his time—and the first academic herpetologist ever to die of snakebite in the field.

This book contains fascinating information about spitting cobras, flying snakes, pythons, the deadly Australian Inland taipan, coral snakes, copperheads, and the many-banded krait, which is the most toxic land snake found outside of Australia. And it contains the record of Joe's slow death as the neurotoxin affects his ability to move, breathe, or speak—as his colleagues perform round the clock CPR on him while they try to get a helicoptor to save him.

Even though you know from the beginning that Joe is killed by the snake, the writing is riveting and you hope against hope that he is saved...

I recommend for anyone who likes science, snakes, or true adventure books!

[Eric_W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio (Audible download.) Very hard to turn the car engine off. I think the protagonist, Joe Slowinski, was a little cracked, but it makes for fascinating listening. Lots of fascinating detail about the politics of herpetology science. It does seem that this male-dominated profession attracts more than its share of those who like living on the edge. Some described him as a genius. He struck me more as one obsessed.

A nice feature of the book is to highlight and provide background material for a different snake at the beginning of each chapter. All sorts of nifty detail such as the fact that all snakes are venomous, it's just that the ones we classify as non-venomous don't have enough of the nasty stuff to do us any harm. Or that the bite of the Russell viper is extremely toxic and so effective at inducing thrombosis that it is used in a diagnostic test for blood clotting.

The other aspect I found interesting was the role of the media in shaping the way scientists -- not unlike everyone else -- shape their behavior and decisions to maintain, obtain, and seek funding for their little expeditions.

Kay Douglas, on Amazon, said the following of Slowinski, a characterization I agree with: "Author James, in the epilogue, makes the connection between Slowinski's rashness and overconfidence and his death, but I still had difficulty overcoming an aversion to the beer-swilling, macho Slowinski, who at thirty-eight still behaved like a disarmingly charming but socially stunted twelve-year-old. I suppose I've met too many characters in this mold over the years to retain much regard for them. They gravitate toward the never-never land of labs and field research, places that allow them to obsess over a chosen subject, insulated from significant moral and social development."


Well read.

[Devyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

By complete coincidence I picked up The Snake Charmer: A Life and Death in Pursuit of Knowledge from a little free library a couple of years ago and finally (found it in the back of a cupboard) got a chance to read it and it unlocked a forgotten memory when I looked through the photos and recognized Joe Slowinski.

That dude is responsible for stealing my snake and getting my ass whooped.

Yes, you read that right.

WARNING: Completely unrelated to the book life vignette incoming.

When I was a kid living literally in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma by the New Mexico border my mom would take us kids walking for hours down roads so rural that seeing any vehicle during the entire hike was rare. It was a good way to keep us entertained in a place without a park for a family that usually couldn't afford the basic necessities. A poor man's version of vacation, basically.

I loved it. And I got to keep any cool thing I found on the road.

And I hit the jackpot that day. I found a huge, mostly intact dead rattlesnake with the rattle in pristine condition! I've been wanting a rattlesnake tail for so long and this one was perfect.
So, there I was walking along, whipping that snake around by the tail just to hear my sister complain about it when a pickup truck drove by our little group, slowed down, then back up to talk to us.
I don't remember most of the conversation, but the blond guy in the driver's seat complimented me on my find and said they were snake scientists looking for samples and that was a particularly large snake I had there.
My mom, the traitorous people pleaser that she is, immediately offered them my snake. Told me to hand it over to those nice men for science.
But I had big plans for that snake. I was going skin it and keep the rattle. I said no.
He was okay with that.
He was going to let it go.
But my mother is the type of parent where her success in parenting relied on how polite and accommodating her children were in public.
She did not let it go and her smile got considerably tighter the longer it took to convince me.
She eventually did convince me to hand over my prize to that smiling, gap-tooth man and I let everyone know how I felt about it when I called him a dirty chicken shit thief straight to his face.

I remember everyone but my mom laughed.
I remember he tried to give the snake back.
I remember my mom wouldn't let him.
I remember my mom trying to make me apologize.

I remember refusing.

I also vividly remember getting the spanking of my life when that truck drove far enough away to be out of sight.

Okay, story time's over.

Now back to the book. The Snake Charmer really is a wonderfully structured book, just enough herpetology information to be enticing without it becoming overwhelming. There's no mystery involved; you know at the beginning the bite is going to be fatal and how it happened and what type of snake delivered the mortal blow. What really keeps you reading is the events leading up to the expedition before the bite and the desperate attempt to keep him alive after. A satisfying read for anyone that like snakes and adventure.

And most importantly of all it gave me the chance to call up my mom and tell her I Told You So about that guy (that she doesn't even remember) having plenty of snake specimens and that he didn't really actually ever have needed mine.

[Edwin Stratton-Mackay · Rating 4 out of 5]

At 7am on September 11, 2001, maverick herpetologist Joe Slowinski was bitten by a juvenile many-banded krait which injected sufficient neurotoxic venom to kill Slowinski over a tortuous 29 hours.

Relatively uninteresting biographical stuff, punctuated by moments of Slowinski being reckless, unprofessional, cruel, dishonest, cavalier, or ruthless, to the degree that NYT reviewer Donald G McNeil called Slowinski a 'Class A jerk'.

Three tangents were particularly interesting:

1. The difficulty of mobilising rescue and emergency services in the face of multiple confounding factors, such as coordinating with a paranoid military dictatorship during the shut-down of US airspace and much of US business due to the attacks of 911.

2. The emotional and psychological impact on loved ones already in a state of unreality and shock due to the terrorist attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon.

3. Good snakey-sciencey bits; Jamie James introduces the reader to snake science in a simple but engaging manner, garnering the snakes more sympathy than the reader develops for Slowinski.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating look not only at Dr. Joe Slowinski but herpetology in general. It is also cramed full of facts in information about snakes, which livens it up chapter to chapter. It can get a bit dull in places but that could be due to the fact that I'm not familiar with the subject area and contents.
I really enjoyed it, and I'll definitely be looking for more herpetology books in the future.

[Jeff Clausen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An adventure, a biography, and a cautionary tale, all revolving around snakes. The protagonist is someone you’d like to have known, albeit only when you’re not in venomous serpent territory, as he’d be wrangling them while he told you stories that would make your hair stand on end. I actually met one of his protégés way back when, who’s a character in his own right, so I guess herpetologists are just generally unusual. It all makes for a fascinating story, so go ahead and put your ophidiophobia aside and dive in.

[Anu Warrier · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Snake Charmer, by Jamie James begins as an inverted pyramid of a story - the climax is revealed before you ever get to know the principal characters. What works in favour of the book, however, is the author’s skill in keeping us engrossed in the tale even though he has disclosed the end.

The narrative begins with Joseph Bruno Slowinski’s slow and painful death. Bitten by a many-banded krait in a remote village in Burma, his friends fight for nearly 30 hours to save his life, as they wait for a rescue that never comes.

From the beginning, the expedition is a disaster waiting to happen – they do not have enough food or medical supplies, the weather is fickle, the authorities in Burma are corrupt and uncaring, and the village is in a remote area of Burma. The timing, too, could not have been worse. The September 11 attacks had just occurred and the officials at the American Consulate in Burma were busy sorting through the confusion of their own people. From that peg, James starts to unravel the compelling yarn of a man, intelligent and ambitious, passionate, yet reckless.

James takes us through Slowinski’s early years as a budding palaeontologist, his near-obsessive fascination with reptiles, his fledgling career as a field researcher to that of a scientist at the top of his field. As a student, Slowinski was drawn to the challenging study of evolutionary theory, co-authoring a paper on the theory that was intended to eliminate the possibility that chance alone could explain patterns of diversity. Sharply anti-creationist, he used rational argument to beat down opposition to the theory of evolution.

Joe Slowinski was a study in contrasts – he was meticulously disciplined as a scientist, having published several papers and earned a name for himself in his chosen field. However tired he was, he never forgot to update his journal, the source of much of the author’s information. He noted the specimens he had collected, the prevalent conditions, and embellished the whole with a gossipy note of his doings. He was rigidly fair on the field, and his natural daring was submerged in his pursuit of knowledge. In his short, but brilliant career, he had already been credited with the discovery of many hitherto unidentified species of snakes.

On the other hand, he was reckless where the objects of his fascination were concerned – he once sent a venomous snake by ordinary post to a friend, introduced a pygmy rattlesnake into a restaurant he habitually visited, brought a cobra into the University lab, where it escaped, leading to some fear and confusion before it was captured. His death is a direct consequence of his own (inexplicable) actions – he thrusts his hand inside to pull out a bagged snake, without checking to see whether it was indeed non-venomous as his colleague thinks it is.

The Snake Charmer, is on the face of it, the biography of a charming scientist / adventurer, who spent his childhood looking for snakes under every stone, all the while dreaming of becoming a scientist. It takes a peek at the young scientist who had already seen the Hopi Indian snake dance by the time he was a teenager, and describes his obsessive intensity as a leading authority on Asian reptiles.

Underlying the main story of scientific accomplishment cut short in its prime, the book is a vivid description of the extraordinary hardships and dangers attached to a scientific expedition. It is also a fascinating travelogue that describes the rainforests of Costa Rica, the tropical Caribbean, the wilderness of Peru, and the vast unexplored parts of Burma, with its small, poverty stricken villages and snake-infested plateaus. As a natural aside, the author takes a compelling look at the petty jealousies, professional backstabbing and infighting prevalent in academic circles.

James also favours us with small descriptions of the different species of poisonous snakes, the toxicity of their venom, and the geographical areas in which they are found. There are many facts about snakes and small nuggets of information about snake catching in various parts of the world, which are interesting and do not take away from the force of the narrative.

Using official written reports of that ill-fated expedition, various documents and letters, including Slowinsky’s extensive journal, interviews with family members and eyewitnesses, audio and video recordings of the late herpetologist, and his own trek into the wilderness, Jamie James has succeeded in piecing together a puzzle that was at once part charismatic adventurer and part flawed genius.

(First published on curledup.com

[phil breidenbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written book about the life and career of Dr. Joe Slowinski. This man loved snakes and if they were poisonous, even more so! They became his profession. Even though he was bitten numerous times, he wasn't afraid of them. At times, he seemed almost too comfortable with them.

His studies took him to Berma where a viper bite him. This isn't a spoiler; it is told to us in the first chapter. Reading further, we learn about his childhood and his devotion towards venomous snakes and learn what happened after his snake bite.

It is a well written book, sharing both information and telling us stories about Joe's life. He was a very intelligent man but he was also a bit on the wild side.

I enjoyed reading it!

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the vein of Into The Wild or Into Thin Air (but not as well written or fleshed out) Jamie James tells the story of Joe Slowinski, herpetologist extraordinaire, who was bitten by a deadly many-banded krait deep in northernmost Burma. James does a good job of setting up Slowinski's lifetime obsession with snakes, including both his reckless exploits with them and his dedication to the science of studying them. The centerpiece of the book is Joe's struggle for life in the remotest part of Burma, but just as James seems to hit his stride with the narrative, the story is over. While James brushes the surface of the political problems in Burma, many of which may have compounded the catastrophe, he seems to pull his punches in some fear of retribution from the crooked regime running the country. And while he plays both sides of Joe's character, making us alternately pull for him and shake our heads at some of his actions, none of the other people in the book are analyzed very deeply and therefore never quite seem real. An interesting (a pretty quick) read, but not without its flaws.

[Pat Padden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a tough book to like. Not because there's anything to complain of as far as the writing goes; Jamie James does an admirable job of putting you next to his subject; but the unadulterated arrogance of that subject, herpetologist Dr. Joe Slowinski, makes it difficult to like him enough to empathize with his horrific ordeal - the result of a moment's inattention on his part in an inaccessible part of the Burmese rainforest. That being said, there's a slithery sort of fascination to the book - the professional wangling, the academic rivalries, the itchy, steamy exotic travel,the grandstanding bravura that was Slowinski's trademark way of handling the most venomous snakes in the world, the nascent love affair gone haywire - the snakes - it's a life you probably won't envy or aspire to emulate, but when you close the book you'll have to hand it to Joe Slowinski: He did it his way.

[Lynn Pribus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a download to my iPod and I rather enjoyed it, but then I googled to see if there were pictures and learned too much about the book.

It was an interesting portrait of a boy who becomes a man with a great passion for snakes and I rather like snakes myself. There is a black rat snake who occasionally suns atop an azalea outside my office window (in season) and he once left an old skin there when he shed it to reveal (but not in my sight) his new one.

This book, however, drifted more into the history of various varieties of snake at considerable length. This might have been better in hardcover because I suspect there WERE illustrations.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, Slowinski sounds like he was kind of a dick. Not to say that he deserved to die, but let's tell the truth about people who died doing some stupid shit, shall we? Then again, everybody makes mistakes so I'm also trying to have some compassion for that.

This was a really fascinating book about a person I'd never heard of. Didn't know anything about herpetology before reading this. Learned a lot, about snakes, herpetology as a field, and Slowinski in particular. I can't imagine what a nightmare it must have been for the rest of his team as they tried to keep him alive. Great read, hard to put down.

[Vern · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an exciting book to read, I'm a serious enthusiast herper and the book gave me a lot to think about.

[Holly Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

First non fiction book ever! im so excited about it!

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

To paraphrase something said about other professions, there are old herpetologists and there are careless herpetologists, but there are no old and careless ones! An intriguing story, well-written and engrossing, and shows the sad thing that the old Greeks knew: hubris will bring your downfall. Joe had hubris to a large extent. The expedition should have been aborted when it was obvious that adequate preparations had not been made and too many egos seemed to be in charge. From Amazon: Although it was still too dark to see well, Joe absentmindedly thrust his right hand into the sack to extract the specimen and have a look. Immediately, he winced with pain and yanked out his hand. A tiny black-and-white banded snake, less than ten inches long, was dangling limply from his middle finger, its fangs still sunk into his flesh.
In the fall of 2001, deep in the jungle of Burma, a team of scientists is searching for rare snakes. They are led by Dr. Joe Slowinski, at forty already one of the most brilliant biologists of our time. It is the most ambitious scientific expedition ever mounted into this remote region, venturing into the foothills of the Himalayas. The bold undertaking is brought to a dramatic halt by the bite of the many-banded krait, the deadliest serpent in Asia. In the moment he pulled his hand from the specimen bag and saw the krait, Joe knew that his life was in grave and imminent peril. Thus began one of the most remarkable wilderness rescue attempts of modern times, as Joe's teammates kept him alive for thirty hours by mouth-to-mouth respiration, waiting for a rescue that never came.
A daredevil obsessed with venomous snakes since his youth, Slowinski was a modern-day adventurer who rose quickly to the top of his field, discovering many previously unidentified snake species in his brief yet exhilarating career. The Snake Charmer is at once brilliant biography and exotic travel literature, blended with an accessible introduction to the bizarre, fascinating-and sometimes controversial-world of snake science. The narrative transports the reader into primeval wilderness, from the Everglades to Peru to Burma, in search of rattlesnakes and boa constrictors, kraits and cobras.
Joe Slowinski's career was fast and exciting, his tragic final expedition a pulse-pounding struggle between man and nature. In The Snake Charmer, renowned journalist and author Jamie James captures the life and death of this charismatic, endlessly fascinating man. Exhaustively researched in interviews with Slowinski's colleagues and family, and the author's own trek into the wilds of Burma, this is narrative nonfiction in the tradition of Into the Wild and The Perfect Storm.

[Esme · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely learned a lot about snakes by reading this book. It had some echoes of "Into the Wild" and sent me down a few rabbit holes of research. I paused in my reading to find Karl Schmidt's account of his symptoms leading to death after his boomslang bite, and I also tried to research John Van Denburgh's suicide. (He slashed his throat with a razor in his hotel room in Hawaii almost immediately after arriving there, by boat, he had brought his car with him and apparently had plans to drive it around the island. He had traveled alone.)

The chief question that nagged at me as I read this decidedly morally neutral account (maybe written this way to allow continued access to sources in the family and scientific community) is why do we as humans think we have the RIGHT to come barreling into a remote area (with 120 porters carrying gear), scoop up all the specimens we can find, and kill all the good ones and carry them out of the country for study?

The author is rather cagey with his language (in my opinion) but I realized after a time, of course they are killing all these animals. You can't very well care for live venomous snakes in a remote region of the world beset by monsoons and treacherous terrain. At one point in the narrative he mentions that one of the researchers found a previously unknown species of shrew and another researcher fed it to an insect and this caused a great conflict. They talk about the regret they felt euthanizing two turtles because they were endangered. Well, now they are even more endangered. Congratulations. But on the plus side you can publish a paper about them and further your career.

There is also the ethics of hiring locals at paltry wages to haul your crap around for this endeavor. The locals, it was clear, stayed in subpar lean tos barely out of the rain while the scientists got to sleep indoors. And I have to imagine if a local porter fell and broke a leg or was bitten by a snake they would have just died quietly without all the hoopla that surrounded this particular snake bite of a white guy from the United States.

There is also mention of how Joe was quite willing to buy specimens from black market suppliers. (Poachers). I think ethics matter, and I hope the scientific community standards have improved since 2001.

Considering the title, was Joe pursuing knowledge or was he pursuing his own personal glory, reputation, an academic job that paid well (and that he felt was worthy of his genius), and acclaim from his peers? It just struck me as profound hubris. His death may have spared the lives of countless rare snakes, frogs, fish, birds, and turtles. A fair trade perhaps?

[Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Snake Charmer is the true account of the life and death of Joe Slowinski, a scientist/herpetologist/ adventurer of almost legendary status. Joe loved snakes and other reptiles, but especially venomous snakes ever since he was a child. He became an acclaimed biologist who discovered several new species. He also participated in or led numerous expeditions to collect specimens for universities.

On an expedition to Burma or Myanmar in 2001, his third expedition to Burma that year, he and his group of scientists and porters, about 150 total, found himself faced with numerous challenges including bad weather, illnesses, and bridges out due to flooding. This was the most ambitious scientific expedition ever undertaken in this very remote area of Northern Burma, venturing into the foothills of the Himalayas. They had collected numerous species of reptiles including venomous snakes, and at one point Joe put his hand into a bag containing what he believed to be non-venomous species, only to pull it back to find a Many-banded Krait, the deadliest snake in Asia attached to his finger.

He immediately knew his life was in danger. The venom of the krait is neurotoxic causing paralysis and a person bitten will not survive without life support. He told those with him exactly the process his death would take, and his scientist friends rushed into action to try to find assistance. Getting help was difficult with the Burmese government less than perfectly cooperative and not quick to respond. The weather made it impossible for the helicopter sent to land. Also assistance was slowed because of the 9-11 terrorist attack on the USA the day after Joe was bitten, although this account seems to blame the lack of prompt aid arriving on the weather more than 9-11. So, after more than 30 consecutive hours of mouth to mouth breathing and cardiopulmonary resuscitation Joe died at the age of 38. This is a great well-written book about a unique person who made significant scientific contributions to our knowledge and understanding of life in this world.

[Jazmynn]

In my opinion, this was a super interesting book. The book starts off super interesting with the death of Joseph Slowinski. It explains how his partners struggled for days to save his life after he endured a bite from a deadly snake. They waited for help which never arrived. It switches to him in his early years showing his interest in snakes. As he ages, it talks about his life a student and his interest in the study of evolutionary theory and how he co-authored a paper regarding the theory. It also talks about how reckless he could be at times. At one point, he took on the responsibility of taking a cobra in to the university's lab, where it escaped. his recklessness could also be deemed as his cause of death. Slowinski as his partners were out in the wilderness studying snakes when one of Slowinski's partners hands him a bag containing a snake. The partner was sure it was the non-venomous look - alike to a very deadly snake. Without checking, Slowinski reaches into the bag, therefore aggravating the snake causing it to bite him. It turns out that the snake was actually the venomous one and not the look alike. In summary, the book is the biography of the scientist that loved to study snakes.
Pros: I really liked this book in general. I like how it went somewhat in depth on a couple of snakes while also telling an interesting story.
Cons: I don't really think this book had any cons. I kind of just wish it was longer.
Quotes with Meaning: I mostly like this quote because of how it makes the first sentence of the book REALLY interesting: " No snake kills with more ruthless efficiency than the many-banded krait, which dwells in the jungles of India and Southeast Asia"

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook and my biggest complaint is that the narrator does not pause long enough to signify new chapters. I actually would have appreciated a second narrator reading the snake facts, and the main reader reading about Joe Slowinski’s life to help break up what felt like run-on sentences into run-on paragraphs into run-on chapters.

The information is interesting, mostly, but I frequently found myself tuning out. This book needed a heavy handed editor. Some details were interesting, but some details were nonessential and unnecessary to the flow of the story and only served to drag the pace down.

The last section would make for a great movie, a short 30-45 minutes dedicated to the entire first 85%, and the last 10% to 20% (not including the the epilogue) would be the meat of the movie - a lot of drama occurs and is actually very riveting. Even knowing the ending from the beginning setup (and the title), you hope it ends differently. It would make for a great action adventure/thriller.

I particularly enjoyed learning about the snakes, but overall, what should have been an interesting, intense read was drug out and left feeling as tired as the scientists on the expedition.

[Enrique · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decepcionado. Me acerqué a este libro en busca de, digamos, consejos prácticos a la hora de buscar serpientes y otros reptiles: lugares donde buscar, precauciones para no pisar serpientes por accidente en zonas de alta hierba o difícil visibilidad, objetos con los que ayudarse en la búsqueda, vestimenta adecuada...
Yo qué sé, cosas así.

En su lugar, el libro de Jamie James se centra demasiado en detalles morbosos insustanciales y demasiado poco en detalles de campo.

Hay detalles taxonómicos interesantes en la primera parte que desconocía como, por ejemplo, que elápida es una clasificación aparte y no un tipo incluido dentro de las víboras. He apuntado también algunos nombres de herpetólogos para seguir ampliando información.
Por todo ello, le doy la segunda estrella.

El final también está muy bien escrito. Intenso.
Aunque entre tantísima paja haga falta un machete por lo menos para llegar hasta allí.

Hay canales de Youtube de divulgación herpetológica en español que ofrecen información de campo más detallada al respecto.
Creo que es mejor invertir el tiempo ahí que en este libro.

[Angel Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Snake Charmer: A Life and Death in Pursuit of Knowledge by Jamie James is a biography of a herpatalogist named Joe Slowinski who had been chasing reptiles and amphibians everywhere he lived until he made a career out of it. Joe liked snakes, beer, traveling, and meeting people all over the world. He was determined to categorize regular cobras and spitting cobras as seperate species, and on one of many trips through Burma on snake expeditions he got bit by a krait (an incredibly venomous snake), the team was wildly under funded and under equipped due to a poor connection in Burma, and he was informed incorrectly about what specimen was in the snake bag.

It was not the first time he had been bitten by a venomous snake (and had learned he was allergic to anti-venom) as Joe was known for being rather reckless in the field of herpatology, and he died 29 grueling hours of a venom that stops your muscles and organs one at a time. How unpleasant. Also is was on 9/11 so it was impossible getting any help from the US government because they were a tad preoccupied.

I did learn about tons of different snake species and that in the field of herpatology women tend to study frogs and toads instead of snakes.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought this was fascinating. As a read, it flows well. It covers several areas of science, not just herpetology and to a comfortable depth--not so deep as to be tedious but not so simple as to be a waste of time and mind. Also, the biography of Joe Slowinski is fascinating. Be aware, I was looking for snakes everywhere I stepped for a few days after reading this book but if you are fascinated by poisonous snakes (even if from a distance) and the people who cannot live without them, you will love this read

[Steve Dombroskie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars. This was a second attempt, years in the making, at completing this book. Joe's tragic story details the dangers of the "old school", macho, gung-ho herpetologist mind set. While his contributions will live on until science deems otherwise, it's a shame Joe isn't still working toward the discovery and conservation of snakes and other fauna.

I found the author jumps around quite a bit during his narrative which made reading a little scattered at times. That was what kept me from giving 4/5.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit slow to start, but a very good read...a poignant tribute to a naturalist whose life was cut short. I got chills reading it, especially because of the combination of factors that led to his unfortunate end--what are the odds of getting bit by a venomous snake in a third-world country right at the same moment in history when all planes in the U.S.--including the ones that can send anti-venom--are grounded?

[R.J. Southworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book combines a biography of the herpetologist Joe Slowinski - culminating in a detailed account of the expedition to Burma where he received a fatal snakebite - with facts about snakes, and observations on scientists and what drives them. Both sides are very interesting: Slowinski was certainly a fascinating person, a deeply passionate scientist but with a reckless and even thoughtless side as well.

[Elizabeth McCulloch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't like snakes - I learned my mother's phobia. I don't like arrogant, macho men. But this book about snakes and the life and death of a swaggering herpetologist fascinated me. James alternates chapters about particular species with the narrative of Joe Slovinski's life. I can't say I came to like either Joe or his favorite creatures, but I gained some understanding of both.

[Darla Ebert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am sure a professionally educated snake lover (and study-er) would enjoy this book way more than did I. I wanted more story and less snake genre detail. That was probably more my error however the book cover's titillation and implication was that it would BE a story. If the core account had been more fleshed out, I would have enjoyed it much more.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was hard to rate. I was so engrossed in the subject matter that I didn't even notice if there were any issues with the writing. There were a lot of tangents not related to Joe's story, but most of them were engrossing as well.
My main takeaway from this book is that Joe was the worst. The author didn't try to portray him that way, but that's how it came across.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and even though I hate snakes, I found all the information on them fascinating. Sort of a "Into Thin Air" feel as I don't get why anyone would want to go through such ordeals, but it was cool to read about it. And therein lies the power of reading.