A review by bookbirder
Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History by Dan Flores
3.0
4 stars for topic but only 2 for writing style.
I did not have any particular interest in coyotes before reading this book, but now I am engaged as soon as somebody references the species, or even Wile E. Coyote. The history of coyotes in the United States is truly fascinating, but I think there was some lost potential in this telling of the story.
One problem was that the book skipped between times a fair bit, and lost me in the process. I think that ordering the book by time period (not including the flash forwards to the author's personal experiences, which were a welcome addition aside from some of the weird details that were included) rather than topic would have made a better story.
My other issue with the book were references to Old Man Coyote. The first chapter of the book is all about Coyote stories from Native Peoples in the US, and these are often referenced later in the book, especially in the epilogue. I think that these stories are very important in the animal's history, but I am not convinced that they were shared appropriately. In the first chapter, stories are told one after the other, with no reference to where they were taken from. I am sure that the sources are listed in the selected bibliography, but I think that they should also have been mentioned in the retelling of the stories. Additionally, there were a few offensive sentences in the book's epilogue.
I did not have any particular interest in coyotes before reading this book, but now I am engaged as soon as somebody references the species, or even Wile E. Coyote. The history of coyotes in the United States is truly fascinating, but I think there was some lost potential in this telling of the story.
One problem was that the book skipped between times a fair bit, and lost me in the process. I think that ordering the book by time period (not including the flash forwards to the author's personal experiences, which were a welcome addition aside from some of the weird details that were included) rather than topic would have made a better story.
My other issue with the book were references to Old Man Coyote. The first chapter of the book is all about Coyote stories from Native Peoples in the US, and these are often referenced later in the book, especially in the epilogue. I think that these stories are very important in the animal's history, but I am not convinced that they were shared appropriately. In the first chapter, stories are told one after the other, with no reference to where they were taken from. I am sure that the sources are listed in the selected bibliography, but I think that they should also have been mentioned in the retelling of the stories. Additionally, there were a few offensive sentences in the book's epilogue.