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Yellowstone Has Teeth: A Memoir of Living in Yellowstone
Few people have experienced Yellowstone National Park like Marjane Ambler. She and her husband lived in a tiny community near the shores of Yellowstone Lake, deep in the park’s interior. The natural beauty was magnificent, but Ambler and her neighbors discovered that Yellowstone “had teeth.” It could be an unforgiving place where mistakes mattered.
In this well-constructed narrative, Ambler reveals a hidden Yellowstone, a place where delight and danger are separated by the slimmest of margins: a degree of pitch on an avalanche slope, a few inches of a buffalo’s horn, a moment during a deadly wildfire. She also tells about:
• The rangers and maintenance workers who handled everything from thundering avalanches to man-eating grizzly bears
• The mothers who carried their babies inside their snowmobile suits and prayed their machines would not fail on the long ride home
•The old-timers who forged communities despite the odds against them.
With insight, love, and humor, Yellowstone Has Teeth paints a never-before-seen portrait of an iconic American landscape and the people who live there.
In this well-constructed narrative, Ambler reveals a hidden Yellowstone, a place where delight and danger are separated by the slimmest of margins: a degree of pitch on an avalanche slope, a few inches of a buffalo’s horn, a moment during a deadly wildfire. She also tells about:
• The rangers and maintenance workers who handled everything from thundering avalanches to man-eating grizzly bears
• The mothers who carried their babies inside their snowmobile suits and prayed their machines would not fail on the long ride home
•The old-timers who forged communities despite the odds against them.
With insight, love, and humor, Yellowstone Has Teeth paints a never-before-seen portrait of an iconic American landscape and the people who live there.
224 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2013
33 people are currently reading
487 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
March 6, 2014
Yellowstone Has Teeth by Marjane Ambler has three major reasons that it is well worth reading. The first reason is that it has historical significance. Ambler tell the story of when her future husband Terry got hired on as a big equipment operator in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park, the oldest of the nation's national parks. After a summer of work Terry got hired on permanently, he and Marjane got married, and they then spent ten years near Lake Yellowstone in a small community only accessible during the winter by snowmobile. Visitors, including this reader, to Yellowstone are usually not aware of the large wilderness beyond Yellowstone's roads and tourist areas, but the park is huge, 3,472 square miles, and rangers, their spouses, and children are placed strategically to help manage every square mile. Lives lived in Yellowstone's interior during the year's of Ambler's tenure, 1984-1993, were different than those experienced by most of us. This book documents the difference, the danger, and the glory of life at that time.
One of the reasons this history is significant is that the national parks are always changing. Policies affect the workers and visitors alike, and what was true of the time Ambler writes about is not true today. Already, as snowmobile access to the park's interior is limited during the winter, some aspects of what Ambler writes about is gone.
The second reason this is a book well worth reading is that some of the nature writing is magnificent:
"Moose munched on willows in the meadows, their long legs plodding through belly-deep, marshy muck. Osprey screamed from their nests when bald eagles invaded their fishing turf to dive for cutthroat trout. The prehistoric voices of the sandhill cranes emitted a Jurassic crescendo, half fear and half joy, while great blue herons silently imitated saplings in the shallows, their yellow eyes staring into the water. Grizzlies napped in the shadows of forests, venturing out to fish or graze on thistle only when the shadows of Yellowstone's peaks darkened the valley." (pg.144)
There is a poetry in the book that sings to ancient memories in the primordial human mind, awakening us to a world that has nothing to do with cars, television, radio, city streets, or shopping malls. It makes us remember why Henry David Thoreau said, in his essay "Walking," "“The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild; and what I have been preparing to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the world.” The world is much greater than what we humans would have it to be as we walk through our lives. It contains moose, osprey, bald eagles, cutthroat trout, sandhill cranes, great blue herons, and a host of other beasts and growing things, all living lives separate from what most humans alive in this time have the opportunity to experience. There is always value in getting a glimpse of this world through a skillful writer and observer's eyes. Ambler gives us that glimpse and helps us to understand what Thoreau, or Aldo Leopold or any of the other great writers who concentrate on telling us about the wildness of the earth, are saying.
The third reason to read this book are the adventures, told with a sly humor, that enlivens its pages. There are great avalanches to live through, a desperate trip across Yellowstone Lake during a deadly storm, and the great fires of 1988 that raged through the tops of great pines in an inferno that bellowed smoke thick upon the wilderness. Interspersed with small stories that often tell of some of the pioneer rangers who worked in the park's remote places are the huge conflagrations and joys that swallow up lives in heroic gestures or the joys that make life worth living.
Part of Yellowstone Has Teeth's value lies in this intermixing of the mundane with the heart pounding adventure of wilderness life. A potluck's warmth of companionship in a small community builds bonds that allows the community to lend a helping hand when a newborn needs to be transported across a brooding mountain pass on a day so cold that frostbite is a companion as snowmobiles run noisily through the night. A buffalo stands in the path of a cross-country skier as she confronts a temper as unpredictable as a storm suddenly settling in and riling great waves onto a calm lake's waters.
May those who stumble onto Yellowstone Has Teeth understand that this book is an experience well worth having.
One of the reasons this history is significant is that the national parks are always changing. Policies affect the workers and visitors alike, and what was true of the time Ambler writes about is not true today. Already, as snowmobile access to the park's interior is limited during the winter, some aspects of what Ambler writes about is gone.
The second reason this is a book well worth reading is that some of the nature writing is magnificent:
"Moose munched on willows in the meadows, their long legs plodding through belly-deep, marshy muck. Osprey screamed from their nests when bald eagles invaded their fishing turf to dive for cutthroat trout. The prehistoric voices of the sandhill cranes emitted a Jurassic crescendo, half fear and half joy, while great blue herons silently imitated saplings in the shallows, their yellow eyes staring into the water. Grizzlies napped in the shadows of forests, venturing out to fish or graze on thistle only when the shadows of Yellowstone's peaks darkened the valley." (pg.144)
There is a poetry in the book that sings to ancient memories in the primordial human mind, awakening us to a world that has nothing to do with cars, television, radio, city streets, or shopping malls. It makes us remember why Henry David Thoreau said, in his essay "Walking," "“The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild; and what I have been preparing to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the world.” The world is much greater than what we humans would have it to be as we walk through our lives. It contains moose, osprey, bald eagles, cutthroat trout, sandhill cranes, great blue herons, and a host of other beasts and growing things, all living lives separate from what most humans alive in this time have the opportunity to experience. There is always value in getting a glimpse of this world through a skillful writer and observer's eyes. Ambler gives us that glimpse and helps us to understand what Thoreau, or Aldo Leopold or any of the other great writers who concentrate on telling us about the wildness of the earth, are saying.
The third reason to read this book are the adventures, told with a sly humor, that enlivens its pages. There are great avalanches to live through, a desperate trip across Yellowstone Lake during a deadly storm, and the great fires of 1988 that raged through the tops of great pines in an inferno that bellowed smoke thick upon the wilderness. Interspersed with small stories that often tell of some of the pioneer rangers who worked in the park's remote places are the huge conflagrations and joys that swallow up lives in heroic gestures or the joys that make life worth living.
Part of Yellowstone Has Teeth's value lies in this intermixing of the mundane with the heart pounding adventure of wilderness life. A potluck's warmth of companionship in a small community builds bonds that allows the community to lend a helping hand when a newborn needs to be transported across a brooding mountain pass on a day so cold that frostbite is a companion as snowmobiles run noisily through the night. A buffalo stands in the path of a cross-country skier as she confronts a temper as unpredictable as a storm suddenly settling in and riling great waves onto a calm lake's waters.
May those who stumble onto Yellowstone Has Teeth understand that this book is an experience well worth having.
July 1, 2024
I really enjoyed these stories about her nine years living in Yellowstone. Fascinating
July 22, 2019
I have just returned from the best ever holiday to Yellowstone and bought this book in the gift shop at Lake. This is a fantastic read for anyone that’s visited Yellowstone during the high tourist season and wants to get a glimpse into life when most of the roads are closed off and impassable due to snow! I was fascinated from start to finish and so different to what I experienced! I am already plotting a way of returning one day and experience a Yellowstone Winter! Highly highly recommended!
October 15, 2013
If you have visited Yellowstone, I highly recommend this book on life in the park. The author mostly focuses on the rough winter months, and provides great insight into the true wilderness of the park. A couple of chapters recount harrowing experiences during the horrible wildfires of 1988. I am glad I picked up this book at the lovely bookstore in West Yellowstone, MT during my vacation there this year - reading it truly added to my knowledge and understanding of, as well as amazement at the wonder that is Yellowstone.
June 16, 2013
A great read into a world very few people get to know: living in Yellowstone Park. Through Marjane, I could feel the cold, the roughness of the logs split for firewood, the noise and stink of the life-saving snowmobiles, and the camaraderie and irritations of few neighbors. She depicts a life of real freedom that is almost lost now.
January 27, 2014
I loved this book! Marjane Ambler captures the wilds of Yellowstone and its thundering avalanches, grizzlies, close friendships forged among women to counter their feelings of isolation. The author and her husband lived in a tiny community near the shores of Yellowstone Lake in the interior for nine years. The book was written with "insight, love, and humor" (from the book jacket).
May 18, 2016
Interesting stories, though a bit disjointed at times, as if the sentences were just tossed onto the page. Could have benefited from a careful editor.
December 19, 2024
Got this at a store in Yellowstone, very fun read about living in the park during the winter... not sure I'd like to do that for months and years, but Ambler really captures the dangers and nature in the off season.
June 14, 2022
Different type book. Bunch of short stories recounting her life in Yellowstone.
The fire chapters were especially interesting.
The fire chapters were especially interesting.
July 27, 2014
I've only lived at Lake/Fishing Bridge during the summer, but I LOVED hearing how things have gone down during the winter. One of the little stories that sticks out in my mind is when the women got together annually to have lunch...like in March or something...after riding snow machines long distances. And if I remember correctly, it wasn't even a special lunch...they each brought their own. People need each other. And women need women. Thank you, Marjane, for helping me learn more about the Fishing Bridge rangers. I keep meaning to ask Harlan about you! ;)
Oh! And I also LOVED your references to Headquarters at Mammoth and how out of the loop they are at times. To this day, in the good ol' summah time, the supervisor frequently says in exasperation, "I'm so tired of Mammoth saying, 'Just scan it and fax it!' I would LOVE to scan it and fax it, but I CAN'T!!! Not until the next ice age anyway." We are still on dial-up.
Oh! And I also LOVED your references to Headquarters at Mammoth and how out of the loop they are at times. To this day, in the good ol' summah time, the supervisor frequently says in exasperation, "I'm so tired of Mammoth saying, 'Just scan it and fax it!' I would LOVE to scan it and fax it, but I CAN'T!!! Not until the next ice age anyway." We are still on dial-up.
August 8, 2016
I really wanted to like this book, but Ambler's writing is disjointed, rambling and overall very disappointing. She has amazing material to work with, but she didn't bring a point of view or a coherent story. I skimmed the last few chapters.
August 26, 2013
Working for the park service and hating the cold, I know I don't ever want to work in the Lake District. But overall loved the book for the insight into Yellowstone.
May 21, 2015
Life living in Yellowstone Park year round. This was very interesting.
April 4, 2014
I thoroughly enjoyed Marjane's storytelling. Having spent three winters in Yellowstone, I think that she captured her time in that magnificent place beautifully.
January 3, 2019
I never would have known about this book if our book club hadn't picked it for our second book to read. I was hooked when I read Phil Halstead's name in the forward. Phil was a friend of mine and I have two art works done by her of two of my dogs (in exchange for some game meat I gave her.) I grew up in WY and returned to WY in 1982. I was at Yellowstone when the bears were still being fed and Smokey reminded us we needed to prevent forest fires. I'm still not sure letting wild fires burn is a good idea. Too many have gotten out of control here in Southern WY and Northern CO. And after the latest fires in the summer of 2018, I've heard studies saying that though Yellowstone recovered from the fires of '88 (which affected the entire state), scientists are discovering that forests are no longer recovering as they did back then. While it is still too early to point fingers, global warming is a chief suspect. I was initially opposed to wolf introduction in Yellowstone, not because I don't like wolves, but because I feared they would lose their protective status, which they have. As a former big game hunter, I don't believe wolves are responsible for less game. I believe wolves strengthen the herds. However, wolf introduction occurred after the author and her husband left the Park so is not really relevant to this review. I enjoyed reading about the Park in the winter, something my siblings have gotten to do, but still remains on my bucket list. I also enjoyed reading about the changing roles women have had in the Park. Inch by inch we move forward. I believe we do not own the earth, we are borrowing it from our children. I believe our National Parks are a way to protect some wilderness and we must be careful how we manage them. They are to be preserved, but also enjoyed. If preserving means adding restrictions, that may become necessary. I also believe our Parks are part of that heritage we need to pass on to our children.
August 1, 2025
I've visited Yellowstone National Park several times in the last year or so. I've even painted there. I thought I knew it reasonably well.
Then I read this book.
'Yellowstone Has Teeth' is an incredible account of Marjane Ambler - a woman who doesn't just visit Yellowstone once in a while, when the weather is fine. For about nine years, she lived there year-round with her husband. From deep, unforgiving snow and raging fires to hangry bears and charging bison, her experience with the first national park runs far deeper than most of us will ever know.
Of course, the park is not always dangerous. In these pages, Ambler often describes the hidden beauty and communion with nature that she found there, even in a mostly-confined existence. She also shares the stories of others who followed a similar path, caring for the park while living there under the harshest conditions. Young and old, new to the work of caring for a national treasure or an old-school veteran - each person approaches their work from a different background and with a different mindset, but they form their own unique kind of community.
If you want to get to know Yellowstone, the best way is of course to visit the park itself. Not just the big attractions like Old Faithful - take your time and really explore its hidden treasures.
But if you really want to get to know Yellowstone, read 'Yellowstone Has Teeth.' In it, Marjane Ambler reveals a place that most of us will never see for ourselves.
Then I read this book.
'Yellowstone Has Teeth' is an incredible account of Marjane Ambler - a woman who doesn't just visit Yellowstone once in a while, when the weather is fine. For about nine years, she lived there year-round with her husband. From deep, unforgiving snow and raging fires to hangry bears and charging bison, her experience with the first national park runs far deeper than most of us will ever know.
Of course, the park is not always dangerous. In these pages, Ambler often describes the hidden beauty and communion with nature that she found there, even in a mostly-confined existence. She also shares the stories of others who followed a similar path, caring for the park while living there under the harshest conditions. Young and old, new to the work of caring for a national treasure or an old-school veteran - each person approaches their work from a different background and with a different mindset, but they form their own unique kind of community.
If you want to get to know Yellowstone, the best way is of course to visit the park itself. Not just the big attractions like Old Faithful - take your time and really explore its hidden treasures.
But if you really want to get to know Yellowstone, read 'Yellowstone Has Teeth.' In it, Marjane Ambler reveals a place that most of us will never see for ourselves.
January 31, 2024
I grabbed the book while vacationing in Yellowstone and enjoyed reading it as we left the park. Finishing the book during winter in Chicago felt somehow appropriate. Dang! winter in Yellowstone sounds like a serious challenge that I would not dare. My respect for the people there year round has significantly increased. I enjoyed learning about some of the families that lived there from the 1930s, 1950s and the authors experience living there year round from 1984-1993. I can’t imagine riding a snowmobile to get groceries, confronting a bison sleeping in a snow covered road or saving my family from a rogue grizzly, living through blazing smokey forest fires, battling the cold and biting wind. Summer Yellowstone certainly has its dangers but Winter Yellowstone sounds threatening even for seasoned rangers and winter crew. Super informative stories and an interesting book! I appreciate having been to Yellowstone, visiting the Lake area and picturing Sylvan Pass as I read each story.
August 3, 2020
I’m not historically one to read a lot of non-fiction, but Yellowstone Has Teeth by Marjane Ambler is a book I picked up in a gift shop last summer while we were in Yellowstone, and it is one I know I will reread for years to come. The book is a memoir about the author’s time living year-round in America’s first National Park and gives a behind the scenes look at what Yellowstone is really like, particularly in the Winter months. If you are fascinated by outdoor adventure, wildlife, or our National Parks, this is a great read. Written like a collection of short stories, Ambler takes readers through adventures of her own and fellow park families who have lived and worked in one of America’s harshest and unforgiving landscapes. It was well-written and an easy read. I am (obviously) obsessed with all things Wyoming and Yellowstone, but I really loved this book!
October 14, 2018
I bought this book at a Wyoming Writers conference, along with another memoir, Lucy Moore's Into the Canyon, Seven Years in Navajo Country. The two books are similar in theme: a woman in a new relationship chooses to spend time in isolation from her larger culture while learning to survive and grow and learning to fit in to a smaller, closer-knit culture that's totally foreign to her. Not incidentally, a background theme of both stories is the idea of trust. Learning to trust and depend on others, sometimes for sheer survival, is a facet of the growth of the narrators. The love stories underlying the main narrative of "woman against nature" are just one of the joys of reading these books.
January 9, 2024
Memoir by female authors with an adventurous life or experience is one of my all-time favorite genres. This book did not disappoint. Written about Ambler’s experiences at Yellowstone Lake over the 9 winters she lived there (1984-1993) provided more than just her experiences, which were entertaining and scary in their own right. I learned more about Yellowstone National Parks management practices from the 1930’s to her 1990’s experience. So the fact that her experience was about 31 years ago didn’t matter - the history was researched and supported by conversations with rangers and other Yellowstone employees. Such a good book. Her bibliography is also full of books of interest.
May 23, 2019
This was a great look at the history of the rangers, park employees and families that wintered from the 1930’s to the 1990’s. She is a great story teller and her interviews with former park employees were great. I started reading this book one day after we drove from Cody in through the east entrance of the park, so I was totally captivated by everything she was describing. I would highly recommend this for anyone that loves Yellowstone and is interested in it’s history from the prospective of the people at the front lines.
August 15, 2019
I really enjoyed this book about Marjane's time in Yellowstone with her husband Terry. I took a trip to Yellowstone this summer and picked this up at the West Thumb bookstore. I love this park and read with interest what it was like to live here in the 1980's particularly in winter. Great book. I learned a lot and enjoyed hearing the perspective of one who lived there vs someone who just pays the park a visit. I also like hearing about what it was like for a woman. And the historical information was interesting.
January 3, 2021
4.5 stars. It is worth reading. There is a lot of historical significance to this book, as well as geography to learn if you’re not familiar with Yellowstone. Well written, the many aspects of year round Yellowstone are explained and storied in this book. It is real life drama and spans many different seasons and perspectives. I wish every ignorant and stupid (yes I said it) tourist would read this, in order to understand and appreciate Yellowstone and NP rangers/workers more. Like I said, worth the read.
Read
August 23, 2022Beautifully written collection of stories about families who wintered in Yellowstone or lived there year round. Author and husband survived cold winters, a long way from friends at other ranger stations, and food and other supplies, taking care of this beautiful park and each other.
A must read for those who want to know what living in Yellowstone is really like in winter and other months. Includes the joys, challenges and wonderful stories of rangers and their families surviving in this difficult winter environment.
Corbin Wilkes
A must read for those who want to know what living in Yellowstone is really like in winter and other months. Includes the joys, challenges and wonderful stories of rangers and their families surviving in this difficult winter environment.
Corbin Wilkes
December 24, 2019
A friend’s review of this book stuck vividly in my craw for many a month. So glad to have found the book and devoured it! One of my most memorable trips included a trip in to see Old Faithful by snowcoach....so awesome. I can’t imagine living cut off from society some thirty to fifty miles by snowmobile as Ambler and her snow plow driving husband would do for five years. An this was in the day before email!
November 24, 2024
Read this book on Kindle after having it recommended by a guide on our tour of Yellowstone. This is a collection of stories by the wife of a Yellowstone ranger written ten years ago. It documents ranger life going back 40 years before the publication date. There are many tales of animal behavior, incredible weather extremes and the challenges of living in the park, almost alone, for months at a time. For me, the lack of chronology made the tales too disjointed; there is no real storyline.
October 24, 2017
“Yellowstone Has Teeth” is a wonderful book for anyone who has visited, plans to visit, or is interested in learning about Yellowstone National Park. The reader gets to experience the wonders and the perils of the park from the point of view of the park rangers, maintenance workers, and their families. The book is beautifully written and a delight to read.
July 3, 2019
Great book I picked up on my National Parks adventure. I might be a little nostalgic for the topic right now but I thought it was a good story about the trials that face people in Yellowstone, specifically in the winter. It should be viewed more as a number of short stories rather than a novel but I enjoyed it non the less. I might even try to pass it on rather than just leave it behind.
July 18, 2021
“Everyone says there are only two good parks. The one you just left, and the one you are going to.”
“In Yellowstone, we lived on the edge, coming to terms with the danger and the isolation in our own ways.”
Fascinating inside look from the people (heroes), who live and work in the first National Park, including the wildfires of 1988.
“In Yellowstone, we lived on the edge, coming to terms with the danger and the isolation in our own ways.”
Fascinating inside look from the people (heroes), who live and work in the first National Park, including the wildfires of 1988.
April 1, 2023
Interesting to read what it was like for year-round residents of Yellowstone Park, but the writing was pretty flat. I had trouble keeping g track of the names of people in the narrator’s life while living in the park. It was sort of like hearing your parents tell you stories about their friends you don’t know. It’s not a book I’d recommend.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews