convergence cultivating crocodilians rediscovering

books:

4 reviews

W. W. Norton & Company, 1998

For those who love love.
This is a delightful collection, containing both the arcane and well-known classics. If I could send one book free to everyone I know, this would be the one.

A Slender Thread: Rediscovering Hope at the Heart of Crisis

14 reviews
Diane Ackerman

Vintage, 1998

Beautiful
A beatifully written book by a highly actualized woman. Wonderfull to know there are people like her. One comment. "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is in the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. (p92?) And alas, had the founding fathers declared personal intoxication our god given birthright what kind of world might we live in today?

Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden

26 reviews
Diane Ackerman

Harper Perennial, 2002

brilliant, meditative, poetic and charming
i checked this book out from the library during the drab winter months of oregon, and i was so enraptured with it that i kept it for 3 weeks, reading it as slowly as possible, savoring every page. it's on my list of books to buy for myself, as well. i thought her writing was fluid and descriptive. i thoroughly enjoyed meandering along with her through her garden and through her life. i ...

The Shadow Factory
Paul West

Lumen Books, 2008

From the introduction by Diane Ackerman: Paul West recalls the early days after his stroke, exploring some of the all-too-real tricks the mind plays to save itself from the tomb of lost words. Paul had a massive stroke, tailored to his own private hell. The author of over fifty stylishly written books, a master of English prose with one of the largest working vocabularies, a man whose life revolves around words, he had suffered brain damage ...

'The Moon by Whale Light: And Other Adventures Among Bats, Penguins, Crocodilians, and Whales

11 reviews
Diane Ackerman

Vintage, 1992

Enchanting
I think this was the first book by a naturalist that I ever read (and it was many years ago that I first read this book) that was utterly enchanting and engaging. Most books of this nature are didactic with occasional leaps into literary writing. Ackerman, in contrast, balances fact with fancy and reality with conjecture; she balances personal experience with the universal; she asks original ...

An Alchemy of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery of the Brain

26 reviews
Diane Ackerman

Scribner, 2005

Alchemical magic and delight
As the alchemists from a time past, Ackerman observes, concocts, and maybe even lets herself mislead in her attempt to turning brain science research to poetry. Today, those alchemists are often characterized as liars, charlatans, and poseurs - though many of our greatest thinkers and observers of nature, such as Isaac Newton, Roger Bacon and Saint Thomas Aquinas, sought its quest. Many hard ...

The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

85 reviews
Diane Ackerman

W. W. Norton, 2008

Profoundly moving
This book is an emotional roller coaster. Ackerman starts out displaying her marvelous descriptive skills, setting the stage. "...on warm days, when the linden trees' creamy yellow tassels drugged the air with the numbing scent of honey and the rhumba of bees." The linden trees are mentioned throughout the book as a bit of respite and a oasis of normality. Ackerman's telling of the ...

A Natural History of the Senses

62 reviews
Diane Ackerman

Vintage, 1991

An All Time Top Favorite!
One of my very top all time favorites. Ackerman's writing is fantastic, and the subject is incredible. Cannot recommend highly enough-- I even own multiple loaner-copies! Before reading this, a book review would be about the story, characters, content. After reading..all that along with the texture of the print on the paper, the color of the cover, the smell of the ink, the quality of light while ...

A Natural History Of Love

16 reviews
Diane Ackerman

Vintage, 1995

"LOVE IS THE GREAT INTANGIBLE......."
Lorenz Hart wrote, "I wish I were in love again." "Let's do it, let's fall in love," advised Cole Porter. No other subject has inspired as many songs, poems, books or plays as ever appealing, sometimes elusive love. And here is Diane Ackerman to tell us all about it. "Love is the great intangible" is the way this volume begins, and it is equally unfathomable after we finish reading, but ...

Deep Play

24 reviews
Diane Ackerman

Vintage, 2000

Amazing Writing; Scattered Story
Deep play, sounds fun doesn't it? Ackerman's most recent book Deep Play is at times enjoyable, in some ways compelling but if it had not been for her beautiful writing and the way she sprinkles surprising human insights throughout the book I could not recommend this book to others. Readers beware, while Diane Ackerman's writing is wonderful - in this publication and others I have read - this ...

By Nature's Design (An Exploratorium Book)

4 reviews
Pat Murphy

Chronicle Books, 1993

Ideal for graphic designers
This book is a must for people who study or work in the field of graphic art. It reminds us the shapes and maths we use in computer programs originate from cosmos ;-). The subtleties of natural colour shape and composition remains an inspiration to my every day job as a graphic artist. Beautiful photography indeed.

Animal Sense

1 review
Diane Ackerman

Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2003

a wonder to read and share
I just discovered Diane Ackerman's work during an interview about her latest book, 'The Zookeeper's Wife' and wanted to learn more about this amazing poet, writer, animal lover. This book of poetry is wonderfully illustrated and is something one may share with a child or an adult. Just picked up two more copies to give as gifts. The words are beautifully woven together and it's easy to forget the ...

The Rarest of the Rare: Vanishing Animals, Timeless Worlds

9 reviews
Diane Ackerman

Vintage, 1997

Collection of essays on endangered species
I want Diane Ackerman's life. She gets to visit weird, remote, exotic locations, observe unusual flora and fauna, write about them - and earns enough money to go out and do it again. In The Rarest of the Rare, she gathers together 6 essays previously published elsewhere; all deal with endangered species such as the golden lion tamarind, the monarchs, monk seals, and others. But she's not just a ...

On Extended Wings: An Adventure in Flight (Scribner signature edition)

4 reviews
Diane Ackerman

Scribner, 1987

This book is my bible
I take this book whereever I go. It is a superb comment on life,placed in that wonderful aviation world. There is nothing that comes close to reading and learning from this book.

Traces of Time: The Beauty of Change in Nature: An Exploratorium Book

2 reviews
Pat Murphy, Paul Doherty

Chronicle Books, 2000

Traces of Time are all about us!
The Earth has many lessons to teach us. These lessons are written on the ground at your feet, on the mountains across the river from my house, in the rocks of a riverbed, in the trees all around us. Once you learn to read them, you'll see them everywhere. This inspired collaboration between Photographer William Neill and the Staff of San Francisco's acclaimed science museum, the Exploratorium, ...

A Convergence of Birds: Original Fiction and Poetry Inspired by Joseph Cornell

5 reviews
John Burghardt, Mary Caponegro, ...

D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, 2001

the blackbird whistling
I received this book from an old friend who I hadn't seen in nearly twenty years--she showed up unannounced, spent a few hours sitting in the sun, and then disappeared just as unexpectedly. I still don't know if she meant to leave the book behind, but I've decided that I won't give it up. Cornell's boxes have a strange beauty that seems to attract strange birds--deceptively simple, at first you ...

Jaguar of Sweet Laughter: New and Selected Poems

2 reviews
Diane Ackerman

Vintage, 1993

Sensual Worlds
Soon tea bouquet scents my mouth, hair, the room, washes up over my face, and through the porthole I watch night's crystal blackness settling in, then lightning begin to prowl the peninsula, as I sip the sweet violet-scented tonic, feel an elevator drop sideways in my chest, and drift from the river into a river of dreams. ~ pg. 27, At Brazil Where the Sun Dines Reading most of Diane ...

The Gathering
Diane J. Ackerman

BookSurge Publishing, 2008

The Giraffe, in its spiritual definition, represents one s potential to see beyond the obstacles of life. A lesson to gain from this magnificent animal is the ability to view our lives in a way that is both grounded and flexible. When we choose to grow spiritually, we experience our free will and release the past limitations that were set before us. Like the Giraffe, we must be willing to stick our necks out and see beyond the obvious. Once we ...

I Praise My Destroyer: Poems

5 reviews
Diane Ackerman

Vintage, 2000

Messenger of Wonder
If you love great poetry, read this book. If you love nature, and suffer to see it destroyed, and want to learn to suffer without hating, read this book. Diane, you are truly a messenger of wonder.

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