American Hippopotamus

by Jon Mooallem

In 1910, the United States—its population exploding, its frontier all but exhausted—was in the throes of a serious meat shortage. But a small and industrious group of thinkers stepped forward with an answer, a bold idea being endorsed by the likes of Theodore Roosevelt and The New York Times. Their plan: to import hippopotamuses to the swamps of Louisiana and convince Americans to eat them.

The only thing stranger than the hippo idea itself was the partnership promoting it. At its center were two hard-bitten spies: Frederick Russell Burnham, a superhumanly competent frontiersman, freelance adventurer, and fervent optimist about America’s future—Burnham would be the inspiration for both the Boy Scouts and Indiana Jones—and Fritz Duquesne, a.k.a. the Black Panther, a virtuoso con man and cynical saboteur who believed only in his own glorification and revenge. Burnham and Duquesne had very recently been sworn enemies under orders to assassinate each other. They’d soon be enemies again. But for one brief and shining moment they joined behind a common cause: transforming America into a nation of hippopotamus ranchers.

In American Hippopotamus, Jon Mooallem brings to life a historical saga too preposterous to be fiction—a bracing and eccentric epic of espionage and hippos, but also of a conflicted nation on the threshold of a bewildering new century, deciding what kind of country it would be, and what beasts it would eat.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Animals, Natural History, Ebooks, Africa

71 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 17, 2013

About the author

Jon Mooallem is a longtime writer at large for The New York Times Magazine and a contributor to numerous radio shows and other magazines, including This American Life and Wired. He has spoken at TED and collaborated with members of the Decemberists on musical storytelling projects.

His latest book, THIS IS CHANCE!, about the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 and radio reporter Genie Chance, will be published in March, 2020. His first book, Wild Ones, was chosen as a notable book of the year by The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, NPR’s Science Friday, and Canada’s National Post, among others.

He lives on Bainbridge Island, outside Seattle, with his family.

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real Rating: 3.75* of five

The Atavist produces Kindle Singles, basically long magazine articles, on many fascinating, weird, and completely unexpected topics. I saw, and immediately bought, AMERICAN HIPPOPOTAMUS.

I mean, who wouldn't? My review lives at my blog to prevent its being deleted in case someone doesn't like something I said. Which has happened here on Goodreads since the Amazon butthurt brigade started being such jerks.

It's $2.99 well spent.

[Charles Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book

Is almost completely devoid of hippopotami to the point of this critic being forced to call it out for its hippopotamuslessness.

[Rachyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I definitely enjoyed reading this, though I will say that it isn't exactly what I was expecting. I had no idea up until recently that there was such an idea in America's past as the possibility of hippopotamus importation and consumption. But when I found out that there was (from reading River of Teeth) I was definitely interested in learning more.

This article wasn't nearly as much about hippo meat and the New Food Source Society as I had hoped it would be. This piece is rather more about the men behind the idea. And don't get me wrong – these guys are absolutely fascinating – but their stories weren't really what I had in mind. That said, I did enjoy learning about them and also a little segway into the preparedness movement, another part of American history I was unfamiliar with.

I thought that the piece was very well written and really feels more like an adventure story of sorts. Plus the author's use of the word "hippopotamuslessness" gave me a little chuckle.

I was slightly disappointed though that there weren't specific foot/endnotes regarding citations so that I could look more into what I was especially interested in, but rather all of the sources were clumped together. I am still planning to look more into other Atavist publications though to see what other odd stories I might stumble across.

[Andrew Garvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jon Mooallem's fascinating (if misleadingly titled and marketed) book is a brief look at two characters so preposterous they couldn't possibly be made up - elite scout, tracker, adventurer Frederick Burnham, and his Boer War nemesis, conman, spy, murderer and terrorist, Fritz Duquesne.

In 1910, they met again, this time on the same side of a lobbying and legislative push for funding to import African hippos to the swamps of Louisiana to solve America's urgent meat crisis.

The hippo plan, as strange (yet oddly logical) as it was, simply stalled and failed but Duquesne's continued adventures, lies and crimes are worthy of a longer book. And possibly several films too ridiculous to be deemed credible.

Mooallem's short study may not really follow through on its premise but he has some insightful things to say about optimism and ambition in American politics. And what could be more optimistic and adventurous than a plan to import and sell 'lake cow bacon'?

[Raluca · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, apparently, around the turn of the last century, America was starting to feel a food crisis, and a bunch of guys thought it could be solved by importing hippos into the Louisiana marshes and rearing them for meat. Two of the people who proposed that had fascinating personal histories, and had been deadly rivals before somehow coming to support the same idea. This very-longform article follows them, and the larger context of their lives, rather than the hippo bit. So if that's what you're looking for, you might be disappointed - and plenty were, judging by the reviews.
Better than nothing, but not nearly enough to fight my Mooallem withdrawal. And yes, not nearly enough hippos.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible story from a master of long form journalism.

[Shaunesay · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting Kindle short that I picked up through Unlimited after reading Sarah Gailey's River of Teeth and Taste of Marrow, to find out about the real Hippos in America story. While the truth of the matter is pretty short and to the point, it never got off the ground, it was very interesting reading about Fritz Duquesne and Frederick Burnham, two very colorful gentleman I may need to read more about!

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun Kindle single from Atavist covering the "Meat Question" plaguing America in 1910. But wait, there's more ....there's presidents and wars and spies and bombings and Boy Scouts. Oh yes Hippos..Yes, truth is stranger than fiction.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

During the early 20th century, as its population grew, America was briefly concerned by the threat of a meat shortage. Farmers couldn't possibly hope to produce enough pork, beef and poultry to keep up, or so it seemed, and two men proposed an unorthodox solution: import select forms of wildlife from Africa. Primary among these were giraffes and hippos, which they imagined freely grazing among the country's plains and wetlands. They were also convinced turkey eggs are vastly superior to standard eggs, but that's another issue for another time. Or maybe it isn't, because their turkey proposal enjoys nearly as much coverage as the whole hippo idea.

Even for a short book (this one's a mere seventy-one pages), there's shockingly little substance to that primary thread. Burnham and Duquesne, the two men at the center of the fleeting movement, garner most of the commentary, and they're worthy of a closer look. Polar opposites in every sense of the word - combatants on conflicting sides of an overseas war, one a notorious con man and the other, literally, the model upon whom the Boy Scouts were founded - it's hard to imagine them occupying the same patch of carpet, let alone cooperating on a proposal before congress. There aren't enough pages to do their stories justice, either. Even the author admits to the scarcity of details and the uncertainty of his sources - Duquesne was a world-class liar with a knack for publicity - so I'm not sure the end result is much more informative than a long, vehemently disputed article on Wikipedia.

A curious concept with some basis in reality, but it's essentially a bag of hot air in the end. "Well, important Americans very briefly talked about doing this hippo thing. And then they did something else."

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got dangerously close to the end of this short "book" and started conversing in my head. Basically, I was asking myself why they would call this book American Hippo and barely even talk about the Hippo thing? It was just about the two dudes.

And then I said to myself, maybe I missed it. You know, these audiobooks go fast and I could have missed it. But if I did, it would have been such a small footnote. So I was upset about this.

Then the last 30 minutes or so are all about the American Hippo and how close this came to pass and how shortsighted the past was. How our current world has been shaped by this decision (directly or indirectly).

Anyway, a good book. Apparently a movie soon.

[Christa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating piece of history

This little known story offers a perspective on American history that had me thinking about what could be, especially if we let go of the fear of judgement.

[Frances Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story of two totally different men w. The author is optimistic that America can be the land of dreams.

Great story about two very different men who worked together for a cause.




The author is optimistic and with the story feels America can be the land of dreams.

[Glen Berger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather short but fascinating bit of offbeat history. Would have preferred more philosophical gleanings by the author, but perhaps Mooallem was prudent in not building out more than the story warrants.

[Tom O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

A piece of non fiction that reads like fiction. Remarkable characters doing amazing things. A really enjoyable piece.

[Denise Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a quick read & encouraged me to research the actual story behind it. I particularly enjoyed finding a new tidbit of history that has been ignored.

[Simon Fenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to Jon's own reading of this on Audible. I absolutely love his voice and it really brought the tale to life. I could listen to him read his work forever.

[John Bullard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievably American

[Lisa C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating! I wish there were better references in the back matter.

[Michelle]

https://magazine.atavist.com/american...

[Tammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blah, boring
It was interesting until they stopped talking about the hippopotamuses and now I've got 30 minutes left and I'm wondering are we even going to talk about the hippos again?

[Colin Mcclusick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A group of men had an idea that would have changed America forever... if only society could have gotten behind it. I don't really ever read nonfiction books, but I'm almost certain this was the most fantastical nonfiction book/article that there is. These men's lives were truly unbelievable. If you want my further review or more information on this topic listen to "What you should know" podcast where I will cover the topic!

9.7/10 would highly recommend to anyone looking for more information on this topic, and would also recommend for anyone looking for: a spy story, crazy history story, and an adventure story.

[Sandy D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story of the attempt to introduce hippos as a meat source to Louisiana in 1910 (really!) is also the biography of two larger than life "frontiersmen" who were in on the scheme: Frederick Russell Burnham, an American who worked for the British in South Africa, and Fritz Duquesne, a Boer, who was also a German spy. Definitely weirder than fiction.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Hippopotamus. Blasted through this nonfiction novella with great delight; so much astonishing Victorian detail, so much damn fun. The story of two hardcore spies, American and Boer, who ranged over the eC20th, blowing things up and meeting presidents and dissing Churchill’s fitness level and mining by hand as an anti-fascist action and striking oil and maybe killing lords – who campaigned together to bring an invasive species in to eat another invasive species and introduce a new meat animal to America. Duquesne to Burnham:

To my friendly enemy, the greatest scout in the world, whose
eyes were the vision of an empire. I craved the honour of killing him,
but failing that, I extend my heartiest admiration.

So damn fun, and, in the last instance, also deep. Mooallem reproaches us for having clicked on American Hippopotamus to make fun of the men. But:

Rather than diversify and expand our stock of animals, we developed ways to raise more of the same animals in more places. Gradually, that process led to the factory farms and mass-confinement operations we have today—a mammoth industry whose everyday practices and waste products are linked to all kinds of dystopian mayhem, from the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, to a spate of spontaneous abortions in Indiana, to something called blue baby syndrome, in which infants actually turn blue after drinking formula mixed with tap water that’s been polluted by runoff from nearby feedlots. That same runoff also sloshes down the Mississippi River to its mouth, pooling into one of the world’s biggest aquatic dead zones, seven or eight thousand square miles large at times...

These aren’t problems that America created so much as ones we’ve watched happen — consequences of our having ducked other, earlier problems by rigging together relatively unambitious solutions that seemed safe enough. We answered the Meat Question. But there were more meat questions ahead.

Simple, thoughtful, astonishingly well-written.

[Andrew Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Larger than life characters and a utterly outlandish premise that seems as though it came from an alternate universe.

The idea was to import hippopotamuses from Africa, set them in the swamplands along the Gulf Coast, and raise them for food. The idea was to turn America into a nation of hippo ranchers.

Not sure how many tricks Atavist has up their sleeves but there's definitely more than one screenplay in the lives of Burnham and Duquesne.

At one point, [Duquesne] was shipped all the way to a prison in Lisbon. But he escaped easily, first finding the time to seduce his jailer’s daughter. He then made his way to England, claimed to be a Boer defector, enlisted as a British soldier, hitched a ride back to the front in Africa, and took off on his own again.

n.b he hangs onto his British uniform to go behind enemy lines and knock off some officers. The whole thing sounds like a lost Bond movie plot.

There are more prison escapes, a fairly improbable third act with a Nazi spy ring, and more Zelig-like appearances by Burnham across the American frontier -- American Hippopotamus has the beating heart of any number of those 'True Stories for Boys' (Davy Crockett, etc), and that breathless tone is both the strength and ultimate weakness of American Hippo.

As good as the Burnham story is, he was, a soldier of fortune in a brutal and ugly conquest of Rhodesia. It's more than a little jarring - there's a whole academic discipline that thinks about latent colonial/imperial attitudes in literature, and here you have a guy that was straight up murdering and pillaging villages for Cecil Rhodes and it doesn't ever really get addressed.

[Zachary Littrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contained in these pages are acts of terrorism, multiple wars, spies, Nazis, Winston Churchill, Teddy Roosevelt, water hyacinths, and, of course, hippopotamuses, and yet it is non-fiction. This is a real-life, stranger-than-fiction, account of a group of unlikely allies, with the audacity to propose an unorthodox solution to America's meat shortage problem at the opening of the 20th century: introduce hippopotamuses into Louisiana.

Naturally, as there are no hippos roaming Louisiana, it's no spoiler that the proposed bill failed to come to be. But the story is not at all about the hippos (sorry to disappoint). The book spends its time instead on the life and circumstances surrounding the hippos' larger-than-life proponents: war-hero, scout, and American paragon Frederick Burnham, and his former nemesis, the wily, nihilistic, unscrupulous Boer-native Fritz Duquesne. And the joy of this book is just the oddball assortment of coincidences and twists surrounding the one period of time where polar opposites Dequesne and Burnham's lives intersected, which Mooallem gleefully catalogues.

It's less than a hundred pages, so it's hardly an exhaustive biography on either Burnham, Dequesne, or any of the numerous interesting figures involved, but I found the longform story to be a perfectly sized slice of weird Americana.

I also give kudos to the author for seeing the opportunity to use the word "hippopotamuslessness" and seizing it.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting Kindle Single, originally printed in The Atavist.

The story of two men, both renowned scouts, soldiers, assassins, businessmen, journalists, and adventurers whose lives nevertheless ended up in diametrically opposite ways. One - Frederick Russell Burnham - became so revered for the way he conducted his life that he was the model on which Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts of America. The other - Fritz Duquesne, consumed by hatred for the British eventually became a German Spy, terrorist, con man, and narcissist. During the second Boer war each man was employed as a scout and ranger, Burnham for the British, and Duquesne for the Boer. Each was assigned to assassinate the other.

Yet, despite the different arc each of their lives followed, those arcs met at one point as each became a passionate proponent of the effort to import Hippopotamuses into the United States as a solution for the meat crisis that hit American the early 20th century. Aided by Congressman Robert Broussard of Louisiana, they nearly succeeded. Yes you read that right, there was a serious effort to establish Hippopotamus meat as an American food staple.

Don't want to spoil it for anyone so I won't go further

A really interesting slice of American history that I am positive very few are aware of! Well worth a couple hours of your time.

[Debra Lilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first heard about "American Hippopotamus" through an interview with the author on NPR. It's that kind of story ... quirky, odd, off-beat, and engaging. It involves a group of men in the time period around 1910-1920, that era of American history when all kinds of impossible-ish things were being thought about, proposed, and even done. Things like importing hippos from Africa to Louisiana, to solve The Meat Problem.

The story revolves around two men, one of whom was the original scout who inspired the founding of the Boy Scouts of America and the other of whom was a guerrilla warrior to the nth degree. Neither of them were good men. But each of them did amazing things, and I wonder whether people as intense as they were just don't exist anymore.

Plus, this book has the word "hippopotamuslessness" in it. Need I say more?

[Trent Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The single best piece of writing on Louisiana history that I have ever encountered. I come back and read it once per year.

[Dwight · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting true account of the attempts of a group of very interesting men to try to solve the USA meat shortage (pre WWI) by importing Hippos to be bred for meat in Louisiana.
This work would best be described as a long form article or a shorter ebook, but not so short that it can't develop the back stories of all the involved parties. The author has great skill in weaving historical data into a fun narrative.
Some of the events and points made tie in very well with our current political system, possibly even more so then when this was written. I would recommend this to anyone interested in American History, outdoorsman ship, true war/crime stories, and just fans of lesser known/out-there history.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel guilty calling this a "book" - it's more like a long article. Production aside, this is a very interesting story - maybe a mini-biography - about two men at odds who happen to end up on a committee to attempt to import African animals for American consumption.

The writing and organization are very good and there are all sorts of strange coincidences and little facts that may not relate directly to the hippo importation issues but are definitely fascinating.

The story itself is a bit of a let down - obviously we never started eating hippos in the US - but what a strange, and enjoyable, little bit of history.