What do you think?
Rate this book
Wild Thoughts from Wild Places
A collection of thoughts, essays, stories, and profiles from nature provides a look at such different places as the central Amazon, the South Pacific, and Cincinnati, detailing such adventures as kayaking on a Class V river in Chile and tracing the spread of the Ebola virus
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
72 people are currently reading
1322 people want to read
About the author
David Quammen
61 books1,888 followersDavid Quammen (born February 1948) is an award-winning science, nature and travel writer whose work has appeared in publications such as National Geographic, Outside, Harper's, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times Book Review; he has also written fiction. He wrote a column called "Natural Acts" for Outside magazine for fifteen years. Quammen lives in Bozeman, Montana.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
October 22, 2007
Passage From Book:
Personal ethics involves the drawing of lines: I will go as far as this boundary, here, but I will not go beyond. I will defend myself against physical menace but only pacifically. I will fight if attacked but I won't kill. I will kill if my family is threatened but I won't aggress. I will squash an earwig in the kitchen but not a beetle in the yard. I will eat plants but not animals. I will eat tuna but not dolphin. I will eat goat but not pig. Fruit but not vegetables. I'm a Jainist, I will harm no living thing - except when I breathe or walk down the street, and then only unintentionally. There's a fuddling welter of such crisscrossing strictures, each observed by its own faction of conscientious people. We all draw our lines in diferent places, at different angles, and for different reasons, each line's position reflecting a mix of individual factors that include sensibility, emotions, experience, and taste (in both the broad and the narrow senses of that word), as well as sheer righteous logic. Moral philosophy, unfortunately, is not one of the mathmatical sciences. I will let the butcher do all of my killing, I will destroy habitat but not animals. I will eat stir-fried shrimp, sitr-fried beef, even stir-fried elk, but not stir-fried lion. Huh? Not every crisp line represents a triumph of ethical clarity.
Personal ethics involves the drawing of lines: I will go as far as this boundary, here, but I will not go beyond. I will defend myself against physical menace but only pacifically. I will fight if attacked but I won't kill. I will kill if my family is threatened but I won't aggress. I will squash an earwig in the kitchen but not a beetle in the yard. I will eat plants but not animals. I will eat tuna but not dolphin. I will eat goat but not pig. Fruit but not vegetables. I'm a Jainist, I will harm no living thing - except when I breathe or walk down the street, and then only unintentionally. There's a fuddling welter of such crisscrossing strictures, each observed by its own faction of conscientious people. We all draw our lines in diferent places, at different angles, and for different reasons, each line's position reflecting a mix of individual factors that include sensibility, emotions, experience, and taste (in both the broad and the narrow senses of that word), as well as sheer righteous logic. Moral philosophy, unfortunately, is not one of the mathmatical sciences. I will let the butcher do all of my killing, I will destroy habitat but not animals. I will eat stir-fried shrimp, sitr-fried beef, even stir-fried elk, but not stir-fried lion. Huh? Not every crisp line represents a triumph of ethical clarity.
May 8, 2009
This is the second book I've read by Quammen and I very much enjoy his essays, but I have to admit I enjoyed Flight of the Iguana a bit more. Wild Thoughts from Wild Places focuses a bit more on human beings, their activities like fishing and kayaking (and manning nuclear missile silos). It's enjoyable enough, but I found Flight of the Iguana's examination of different species more compelling than ruminations on my own species. I'm funny like that.
The highlight of the book for me was probably the essay in memoriam of the author Edward Abbey. Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang was a formative novel in my late teens, and Abbey's death is a sad thing but his unmistakable attitude toward death and grieving was inspirational.
The highlight of the book for me was probably the essay in memoriam of the author Edward Abbey. Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang was a formative novel in my late teens, and Abbey's death is a sad thing but his unmistakable attitude toward death and grieving was inspirational.
May 30, 2010
This was a very nice book for a summer read, making you float away to other places. But to be honest, I was disappointed by the lack of a real story from the beginning to the end. From the title I was expecting more "wild thoughts" and less "wild places"...
Nevertheless, it is a great book and I loved the writing style, just not what I was expecting.
Nevertheless, it is a great book and I loved the writing style, just not what I was expecting.
May 5, 2014
I had certain expectations going into this book that I feel I need to declare up front. First, I adored Quammen's Monster of God: The Man-Eating Predator in the Jungles of History and the Mind, and on the basis of this adoration added Quammen's entire naturalist oeuvre to my Amazon wishlist. Second, I didn't realize this was a collection of previously published essays - not that that would have prevented me from reading it, of course, but I probably would've started elsewhere.
That said, I adored this book, read primarily on the elliptical over the last few weeks. Many of the original essays were published in his long-running Natural Acts column in Outside magazine, so at least a third of the essays lean towards sportsy-outdoors rather than sciencey-outdoors. Don't let that be a barrier to entry, however, as even the sportsiest of sportsy-outdoors essays allows time for reflection on our relationship with the natural world.
Topics of selected essays - and subsequent conversations over the dinner table or at bedtime - include:
- Man's relationship with the river
- Mountain lions (hunting, eating)
- Telemark skiing
- The varying types of wood grown in response to specific stresses
- Super pigeons
- Monogamy in the animal kingdom (including humans)
- Barnacles
- The plight of the Tanzanian Aborigine
If you enjoy your travel writing with a bit of science, or if you enjoy thinking big thoughts in small doses, this might just be the book for you.
That said, I adored this book, read primarily on the elliptical over the last few weeks. Many of the original essays were published in his long-running Natural Acts column in Outside magazine, so at least a third of the essays lean towards sportsy-outdoors rather than sciencey-outdoors. Don't let that be a barrier to entry, however, as even the sportsiest of sportsy-outdoors essays allows time for reflection on our relationship with the natural world.
Topics of selected essays - and subsequent conversations over the dinner table or at bedtime - include:
- Man's relationship with the river
- Mountain lions (hunting, eating)
- Telemark skiing
- The varying types of wood grown in response to specific stresses
- Super pigeons
- Monogamy in the animal kingdom (including humans)
- Barnacles
- The plight of the Tanzanian Aborigine
If you enjoy your travel writing with a bit of science, or if you enjoy thinking big thoughts in small doses, this might just be the book for you.
September 19, 2009
Quammen is Just Great. The essay that opens this collection is called "Synecdoche and the Trout" so please imagine the delights that await after an intro like that. Although my loyalty to Quammen is unflinching, I liked these essays less than his recent stuff. Most of them were taken from magazine articles (he wrote for Outside for a long time)and, based on the demands of that I guess, his prose seems to be playing to an audience of adrenaline junkies and is a little extreme for my taste. A few times, as I read sedately in bed with a cup of tea, I just wanted to say, "David, please, contain yourself."
June 24, 2011
Quammen offers scientific essays on everything from the Super Doves of New York City to the joys and mysteries of monogamy.
Fairly dense chapters lightened by anecdotes; some more engaging than others. Interesting, just took me awhile to get through it. Maybe I would have liked it better if I had skipped around more!
Fairly dense chapters lightened by anecdotes; some more engaging than others. Interesting, just took me awhile to get through it. Maybe I would have liked it better if I had skipped around more!
August 4, 2022
I'll read anything by David Quammen, he's one of my favorite science writers, and this lovely collection of some of his work was a delight. Switch out your morning doomscroll session with an adventurous or heartfelt story from this book, I promise you'll have a much happier start to your day.
September 26, 2020
"In Wild Thoughts from Wild Places, award-winning journalist David Quammen reminds us why he has become one of our most beloved science and nature writers.
This collection of twenty-three of Quammen's most intriguing, most exciting, most memorable pieces takes us to meet kayakers on the Futaleufu River of southern Chile, where Quammen describes how it feels to travel in fast company and flail for survival in the river's maw. We are introduced to the commerce in pearls (and black market parrots) in the Ara Islands of eastern Indonesia. Quammen even finds wildness in smog-choked Los Angeles -- embodied in an elusive population of urban coyotes, too stubborn and too clever to surrender to the sprawl of civilization.
"With humor and intelligence, David Quammen's Wild Thoughts from Wild Places also reminds us that humans are just one of the many species on earth with motivations, goals, quirks, and eccentricities. Expect to be entertained and moved on this journey through the wilds of science and nature."
~~back cover
The piece that really struck me and stayed with me is Before the Fall, which begins with an infestation of tent caterpillars -- an outbreak and crash event. "It's characteristic of certain types of animal but not others, Lemmings undergo outbreaks; river otters don't. Some species of grasshoppers do, some species of mouse, some species of starfish, whereas other species among the same taxonomic groups don't. An outbreak of woodpeckers is unlikely. An outbreak of wolverines, unlikely. Among those insect species inhabiting forests, ... only one percent ever experience outbreaks."
He goes on to point out that "the most serious outbreak on the planet earth is that of the species Homo sapiens. ... we've increased our population by a factor of five hundred since the invention of agriculture, by a factor of five since the Industrial Revolution, by more than double within only the last century -- and that there seem to be no natural limits in sight. Relative to other large-bodied mammals, we're a grossly abundant species in the throes of an exceptional, and seemingly unsustainable, episode of proliferation and consumption."
"This is a question, not an assertion: Is Homo sapiens an outbreak population, just reaching the peak of its curve? ... And if we are presently experiencing an outbreak, what does science warn us to expect?" What will the crash look like?
This collection of twenty-three of Quammen's most intriguing, most exciting, most memorable pieces takes us to meet kayakers on the Futaleufu River of southern Chile, where Quammen describes how it feels to travel in fast company and flail for survival in the river's maw. We are introduced to the commerce in pearls (and black market parrots) in the Ara Islands of eastern Indonesia. Quammen even finds wildness in smog-choked Los Angeles -- embodied in an elusive population of urban coyotes, too stubborn and too clever to surrender to the sprawl of civilization.
"With humor and intelligence, David Quammen's Wild Thoughts from Wild Places also reminds us that humans are just one of the many species on earth with motivations, goals, quirks, and eccentricities. Expect to be entertained and moved on this journey through the wilds of science and nature."
~~back cover
The piece that really struck me and stayed with me is Before the Fall, which begins with an infestation of tent caterpillars -- an outbreak and crash event. "It's characteristic of certain types of animal but not others, Lemmings undergo outbreaks; river otters don't. Some species of grasshoppers do, some species of mouse, some species of starfish, whereas other species among the same taxonomic groups don't. An outbreak of woodpeckers is unlikely. An outbreak of wolverines, unlikely. Among those insect species inhabiting forests, ... only one percent ever experience outbreaks."
He goes on to point out that "the most serious outbreak on the planet earth is that of the species Homo sapiens. ... we've increased our population by a factor of five hundred since the invention of agriculture, by a factor of five since the Industrial Revolution, by more than double within only the last century -- and that there seem to be no natural limits in sight. Relative to other large-bodied mammals, we're a grossly abundant species in the throes of an exceptional, and seemingly unsustainable, episode of proliferation and consumption."
"This is a question, not an assertion: Is Homo sapiens an outbreak population, just reaching the peak of its curve? ... And if we are presently experiencing an outbreak, what does science warn us to expect?" What will the crash look like?
January 24, 2019
A perfectly lovely collection of random essays that varied so widely, I couldn't wait to get to the next chapter and find out what story the author would tell next. From trout, trees, Montana, Tasmania, rivers including my favorite Payette of Idaho, I just kept being surprised. How long is a barnacles penis? Or, the ponderings with the Black Currawong, or the whereabouts of swallows in the winter. I just never tired of the next story. Superdoves in New York City, coyotes, mountain lions, reaction wood, and white tigers. Synecdoche. Skiing with cowboys in lace nightgowns. Tracing the steps of William Lanney through the Cradle Mountains. "Bagpipe for Ed," was my fav (I think), because my copy of, "Desert Solitaire" is raggy and torn and re-read so many times, I have it neatly shelved under, "my bibles." Someday, I hope will marry a man like Ed! I must say I was green with envy when I saw that Davis Quammen once received a quaint personal letter from Edward Abbey! "Never trust an anarchist." Ha!
I had to ponder just what genre this book belongs to. It is full of science, nature, anthropology, biographies, etymology, orthology, history, botany, humor, love, connections. Part of me wants to keep this book on my bookshelf to return to often, but instead, I can't wait to gift it on to another lover of life person that I know will smile as much as I did.
Thank you, David Quammen for this amazing journey through these essays, for leaving my head full of amazing images of history, people, places, and our natural wild world. I was raised in Montana and Idaho, I now frequent the rivers of Idaho, dipping my feet in as often as possible. You made me smile, ponder, and escape.
Favorite quotes:
page 105: "Zimmerman and Brown with their simpler schema had made a fundamental point: that the shape of a given tree represents an interaction between destiny and experience."
page 168: " The Black Line wasn't the most bloody episode in the annals of colonial conquest, or even in Tasmanian history, but it merits its own special infamy as a symbol of British determination to sweep the Tasmanian Aboriginal people off the map."
page 225: "Never trust an anarchist."
I had to ponder just what genre this book belongs to. It is full of science, nature, anthropology, biographies, etymology, orthology, history, botany, humor, love, connections. Part of me wants to keep this book on my bookshelf to return to often, but instead, I can't wait to gift it on to another lover of life person that I know will smile as much as I did.
Thank you, David Quammen for this amazing journey through these essays, for leaving my head full of amazing images of history, people, places, and our natural wild world. I was raised in Montana and Idaho, I now frequent the rivers of Idaho, dipping my feet in as often as possible. You made me smile, ponder, and escape.
Favorite quotes:
page 105: "Zimmerman and Brown with their simpler schema had made a fundamental point: that the shape of a given tree represents an interaction between destiny and experience."
page 168: " The Black Line wasn't the most bloody episode in the annals of colonial conquest, or even in Tasmanian history, but it merits its own special infamy as a symbol of British determination to sweep the Tasmanian Aboriginal people off the map."
page 225: "Never trust an anarchist."
May 7, 2020
What a delightful quixotic mix of essays Quammen puts before us. Those who are into extreme sports will find fascinating details of how some of these sports developed while those who enjoy natural history will learn new facts about common species to which we often don't give much thought. I reveled in the precise use of vocabulary, including a few words that were totally new to me, something I don't find much in modern writing. This is perfect bedtime reading, because each essay is of a length that can be covered in a half hour or so, an offers so much to think about, that taking on another seems unwise.
November 16, 2024
This is a good author who writes with style about nature, biological and wild and outdoors.
So why the average rating for this collection of varied topics?
It's because, if he is writing about one you have some background and interest in, you will like what he's writing about. But if you don't (example: myself and skiing...) then try as you might, you will be unable to execute a fancy turn and will slide gracelessly over his prose and into a wall of icy incomprehension. Wham.
But you should appreciate some of his work, so maybe you'll want to give this a try regardless.
So why the average rating for this collection of varied topics?
It's because, if he is writing about one you have some background and interest in, you will like what he's writing about. But if you don't (example: myself and skiing...) then try as you might, you will be unable to execute a fancy turn and will slide gracelessly over his prose and into a wall of icy incomprehension. Wham.
But you should appreciate some of his work, so maybe you'll want to give this a try regardless.
December 2, 2021
I wasn’t sure about Wild Thoughts from Wild Places, but I gave it a chance. I’m really glad that I did. It’s a series of essays about Quammen’s experiences in wild places. My favorite essay involved snow. In the essay, Quammen mentioned that the book Smilla’s Sense of Snow had detailed names and descriptions for different kinds of snow. It was a good lead. Wild Thoughts from Wild Places is a good read for anyone interested essays involving wilderness experiences.
April 13, 2021
Quammen's ability to dangle the most obscure facts of nature in front of me in the form of an essay and draw me in and fascinate me no end AND make me laugh along the way is the reason I keep reading him. I do so hope he keeps writing....
January 29, 2022
I had this book on my shelf for God knows how long But I decided to start reading it and I am so grateful that I did. It took me a few short stories in to get the hang of his writing style but after I realized, I became inspired with his very intelligent descriptions and witty humor.
February 4, 2017
A series of previously published magazine pieces. Love Quammen. The essay on Ed Abbey is worth it alone. Will make me re-read Desert Solitaire.
October 19, 2018
This a marvelous collection of previously published essays by a talented author.
July 10, 2019
Just one of my favorite reads on natural history and nature
August 23, 2019
That book was really wonderfull.
July 13, 2020
I skipped a few of these (notably, ones about rafting and ones about skiing) but there are many beautiful pieces in here.
November 22, 2020
The best contemporary nature writer. Strawberries under ice is my favorite essay, and there are other good ones too, like reaction wood and eat of this flesh.
February 25, 2021
Always adds esoteric or hard won facts about his subjects. Clearly loves the natural world and often touches a nerve of longing to go there.
August 26, 2023
quite pretentious
November 29, 2023
David Quammen is one of my favorite writers, you learn so much from his books. 10/10 from me.
May 3, 2024
Love a collection of short stories. Some of these were not my favorite, but I would flip to the next chapter and really enjoyed it!
November 30, 2024
The trout story spoke to my heart.
Read
April 3, 2025Yup!
November 20, 2025
really enjoyed it - most of the short stories really fasinating
April 30, 2011
Quammen writes very short, often interesting essays in this book, but I found his all-American childhood, stories of his visits to the Cincinnati Zoo, the history of the old family house more captivating than the writing that directly concerns nature and wild things. Sure, I learned some interesting tidbits of information about the coyotes of Los Angeles, and mountains lion hunting, but it all seemed too superficial. Some of the points he makes about the bioethics of zoos, ethics of hunting, and the role of the human in changing/destroying/trying to fix its environment are well-put, but again, nothing new or revolutionary here. In fact, some essays seem more like summaries of what such-and-such expert said in this book and so-and-so believes than Quammen contributing anything new to the question at hand. So for a good intro to many bioethical arguments and interesting nature factoids, this is a great book. For someone like me, it may be too light.
Quammen's writing style is journalistic for sure, but I found that I wanted more humor, more a sense of direction, which he does not provide. I wanted a bit of Bryson or even Chatwin in there. Some of the articles certainly get lively with rather testy ethical issues, like the one about mountain lion hunting, so that was fun.
Quammen's writing style is journalistic for sure, but I found that I wanted more humor, more a sense of direction, which he does not provide. I wanted a bit of Bryson or even Chatwin in there. Some of the articles certainly get lively with rather testy ethical issues, like the one about mountain lion hunting, so that was fun.
December 2, 2008
Not my favorite Quammen compilation, but there are a few gems in there. I thought that maybe I was just growing out of Quammen's writing since I have been reading his essays and books since high school, but in the end, David, I think it's you, not me.
I know more about telemark skiiing now than I ever cared to. For a long time Quammen walked a fine line between geeky-funny and geeky-creepy, and I'm afraid that he's now leapt bodily into the latter category. If I saw him walking down the street, I might just pull my collar up, my hat down, and hope to pass by unnoticed. Anything to avoid more unwelcome speculation on the cultural import of the stupid stupid telemark turn.
I know more about telemark skiiing now than I ever cared to. For a long time Quammen walked a fine line between geeky-funny and geeky-creepy, and I'm afraid that he's now leapt bodily into the latter category. If I saw him walking down the street, I might just pull my collar up, my hat down, and hope to pass by unnoticed. Anything to avoid more unwelcome speculation on the cultural import of the stupid stupid telemark turn.
January 1, 2012
This is a collection of essays from David Quammen, who writes for a variety of outdoor publications. The basic theme is nature. Most have been published in magazines. Some of the essays are interesting. "The White Tigers of Cincinnati" is about zoos and their role in the world. "To Live and Die in LA" is about coyotes and their spread and adaptability. "Superdove on 46th St." is a similar essay about pigeons. The one I liked most was "The Trees Cyr out on Currawong Moor". This is about the last aboriginal family on Tasmania and how they hid out from the settlers for several years. Some of the essays were dated, and some were just not very interesting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews