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Back in Keith County
"Good biologist though [Janovy] is, he's an even better nature writer, with a special affinity for the mysterious and the mystic."-Noel Perrin "This 'human need for wilderness' is the trail winding through Back in Keith County . . . [to] the streams of John Janovy's 'inner cowboy country.' The fourteen essays are a very human mix of biology, sentiment, wandering observation and personal philosophy."-Smithsonian John Janovy Jr. is Varner Professor at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and director of the Cedar Point Biological Station. He is the author of Keith County Journal and On Becoming a Biologist, also available as a Bison Book.
181 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
4 people want to read
About the author
John Janovy Jr.
37 books10 followersEmeritus Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 23, 2022
I want to give this a 3.5. But you know. Goodreads.
This is a disturbing mix of a non-fiction nature/wildlife prose, biology journal, bar and beer banter, and philosophical journey.
I loved so much of it.
I'm rounding up to 4 because of a few specific quotes I know I'm taking with me, and because I have a non-fiction rating scale rooted in the philosophy of "rating it for what it is". And for want it is, it is magical.
Plus, and I mean this, JJJr. is an expert wordsmith when he wants to be. I laughed. I teared up once near the end. I spent consideral amount of time pausing and reflecting. I learned some new words.
And most importantly, I've remembered the significance of gifts of opportunity, and my attention has be redirected back toward my inner Keith County. I will preserve the wilderness inside, and probably never forget this book.
This is a disturbing mix of a non-fiction nature/wildlife prose, biology journal, bar and beer banter, and philosophical journey.
I loved so much of it.
I'm rounding up to 4 because of a few specific quotes I know I'm taking with me, and because I have a non-fiction rating scale rooted in the philosophy of "rating it for what it is". And for want it is, it is magical.
Plus, and I mean this, JJJr. is an expert wordsmith when he wants to be. I laughed. I teared up once near the end. I spent consideral amount of time pausing and reflecting. I learned some new words.
And most importantly, I've remembered the significance of gifts of opportunity, and my attention has be redirected back toward my inner Keith County. I will preserve the wilderness inside, and probably never forget this book.
May 21, 2019
No doubt Dr. Janovy is an intelligent man, but this whole book reads like a mishmash of field notes and photos. His best work comes in his "Local Color" essay, where the reader finally gets good personal profiles of both Lonnie Paul Dinkle and Blondena.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews