Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Offer Frazier's (Travels in Siberia, 2010) latest brilliant essay collection to anyone who agrees, or even disagrees for that matter, since they will be refuted by the evidence found here, with the adage that good writing transcends genre. In this case, good means interesting subject matter articulately presented in exciting language. Frazier gives his curiosity about people and places full rein on a vast number of topics, and with his wide-ranging depth of knowledge and joyous powers of observation and reasoning, his essays pique, teach, and entertain, all that any reader can ask for. The title essay is a masterpiece; after all, who but Frazier could make us sit up and take notice of the country's problematic infestation of wild pigs? Hungry Minds explores a writing workshop held every Wednesday afternoon in a New York church. And The Unsettling Legacy of General Shrapnel offers a compelling revelation of the man after whom exploding projectiles were named. Readers will want to read the collection straight through and then go back and reread favorites, which just might mean the whole collection.--Hooper, Brad Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
New Yorker contributor Frazier (Travels in Siberia) presents a selection of varied, compelling articles dating from 2000 onward. Known for his keen wit (which does appear, to great effect), Frazier also grapples seriously with societal issues: homelessness and the shelter system in New York City, the opioid addiction epidemic, and the environmental effect of invasive species such as Asian carp and the titular feral hogs. He also charts the landscape of the city, surveying both its marvels (the Croton reservoir system, harbor seals) and its plagues (a danger-filled bus route in Brooklyn, Hurricane Sandy's toll). Several pieces, such as one about an apparent meteorite that fell into a bathroom in a New Jersey home, defy easy classification but display Frazier's trademark curiosity about the world and the people who inhabit it. Frazier gives a human dimension to his research with probing, evocative profiles of the people he meets, whether the subject is the care and preservation of a horseshoe crab population or a start-up that is making substitutes for plastic out of mushrooms. This is a journey that both admirers and readers new to Frazier's work will not want to miss. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Frazier (staff writer, The New Yorker; -Travels in Siberia) creates compelling reportage, and the 23 pieces collected here reveal his eclectic choice of topics. The stories vary in length; while some can be read in a few minutes, others, such as those typically encountered in The New Yorker, are the sort that tend to give one pause, forcing the reader to debate the merits of a 30-page article on feral pigs. The book-length format somehow takes away the longer pieces' ability to intimidate. This is a good thing, as Frazier has made all of the writings interesting, a testament to his curiosity, engaging style, and abiding sensitivity to the dignity of the people about whom he writes. His diverse subjects include shrapnel, fly fishing, criminals of hip-hop royalty, meteors, horseshoe crabs, drug overdose, Strandbeests, and a soup kitchen, yet recurring themes are apparent. They frequently explore death (both human and animal), or the consequences (both good and bad) of humanity's impact on the environment. VERDICT Frazier shows real empathy for his subjects and-despite often dealing with loss-remains restrained, never maudlin, while frequently imparting an understated, droll humor into the overall tone of his work. This collection of informative, entertaining journalism will appeal to fans of Michael Paterniti (Love and Other Ways of Dying). [See Prepub Alert, 12/21/15.]-Chris Wieman, Univ. of the Sciences Libs., Philadelphia © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The veteran humorist and reporter for the New Yorker presents a collection of pieces that record his pursuits of wild hogs, hermit crabs, Asian carp, a Styrofoam substitute, and numerous other quarry.Most of these pieces date from the previous decade and are arranged in an order that reflects not so much chronology as rhythm (shorter ones are sprinkled in among the longer), though some do relate more or less thematically to those surrounding. A piece on beach art, for example, precedes one on Hurricane Sandy's assault on the beaches and inland territory of Staten Island. Frazier (The Cursing Mommy's Book of Days, 2012, etc.), who recently wrote about his journeys in a famously remote land (Travels in Siberia, 2010), ranges here over terrain more familiar to himManhattan and environsalthough he does venture elsewhere, including Arizona and the Netherlands. In pieces previously published (and now slightly revised) in the New Yorker and other publications, the author gives readers a clear look at his research methods, fearlessness, vast curiosity, clear style, and unusual ability to get away with telling us things that would sound boring and unnecessary from a lesser writerfor instance, the routes and modes of transportation he took to arrive at relevant sites. His approach will remind readers of his great New Yorker colleague John McPhee: he seeks out the quirky and interesting people involved in his story (e.g., others who, like him, were seeking the place in Death Valley where Charles Manson was captured), gives us rich background derived from his deep reading of his subject (like an antidote to heroin overdoses), offers interviews with the principals in his cases (the family in New Jersey who thought a meteorite had punctured their bathroom ceiling), and so on. His celebrated humor glows rather than erupts in these more expository pieces. Pieces that show Frazier's ranging curiosity, lucent style, and capacious heart. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
