{"product_id":"the-song-of-the-dodo-island-biogeography-in-an-age-of-extinctions-9780684827124","title":"The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions","description":"David Quammen's book, \u003ci\u003eThe Song of the Dodo\u003c\/i\u003e, is a brilliant, stirring work, breathtaking in its scope, far-reaching in its message -- a crucial book in precarious times, which radically alters the way in which we understand the natural world and our place in that world. It's also a book full of entertainment and wonders. \u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Song of the Dodo\u003c\/i\u003e, we follow Quammen's keen intellect through the ideas, theories, and experiments of prominent naturalists of the last two centuries. We trail after him as he travels the world, tracking the subject of island biogeography, which encompasses nothing less than the study of the origin and extinction of all species. Why is this island idea so important? Because islands are where species most commonly go extinct -- and because, as Quammen points out, we live in an age when all of Earth's landscapes are being chopped into island-like fragments by human activity. \u003cbr\u003e Through his eyes, we glimpse the nature of evolution and extinction, and in so doing come to understand the monumental diversity of our planet, and the importance of preserving its wild landscapes, animals, and plants. We also meet some fascinating human characters. By the book's end we are wiser, and more deeply concerned, but Quammen leaves us with a message of excitement and hope.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-276974\"\u003eDavid Quammen\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Scribner Book Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/14\/1997\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 704\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.71lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.22h x 6.20w x 1.22d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780684827124\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0684827123\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-NAT\"\u003eNature\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-NAT011000\"\u003eEnvironmental Conservation \u0026amp; Protection | General\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-SCI\"\u003eScience\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-SCI026000\"\u003eEnvironmental Science (see also Chemistry | Environmental)\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-SCI\"\u003eScience\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-SCI008000\"\u003eLife Sciences | Biology\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDavid Quammen \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e David Quammen was born in 1948, near the outskirts\u003cbr\u003e of Cincinnati, Ohio, and spent much of his boyhood\u003cbr\u003e in an eastern deciduous forest there. His interest in\u003cbr\u003e the natural world -- hiking through woods, grubbing in\u003cbr\u003e creeks, collecting insects, taking reptiles hostage and\u003cbr\u003e calling them pets -- was so all-consuming that he\u003cbr\u003e would eventually, during adolescence, need remedial\u003cbr\u003e training in basketball. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e At an early age he learned the word herpetologist and\u003cbr\u003e decided he might like to be one. But he had always been\u003cbr\u003e interested in writing; and at the age of 17, he met Thomas G.\u003cbr\u003e Savage, a Jesuit priest. Savage was to become a life changing \u003cbr\u003e teacher, fostering Quammen's literary ambitions and\u003cbr\u003e prospects, and encouraging him to attend college at Yale.\u003cbr\u003e He knew that at Yale Quammen would find a superb English\u003cbr\u003e department, and encounter people such as Robert Penn\u003cbr\u003e Warren, a great American novelist, poet, and critic. Despite\u003cbr\u003e his not having heard of Penn Warren, Quammen followed\u003cbr\u003e the priest's advice and enrolled at Yale. Fools luck was \u003cbr\u003e smiling on him, as were generous and trusting parents, and\u003cbr\u003e three years later he found himself studying Faulkner at the\u003cbr\u003e elbow of Mr. Warren, who became not just his second life \u003cbr\u003e changing teacher but also his mentor and friend. Quammen\u003cbr\u003e never forgot Thomas Savage's encouragement: \u003ci\u003eThe Song of the\u003cbr\u003e Dodo\u003c\/i\u003e is dedicated to this vast-hearted curmudgeon, who\u003cbr\u003e died young in 1975. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In 1970, Quammen published his first book, a novel titled\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eTo Walk the Line\u003c\/i\u003e, which had been steered toward daylight by\u003cbr\u003e Mr. Warren. Also that year, he began a two-year fellowship at\u003cbr\u003e Oxford University, England, where he continued studying\u003cbr\u003e Faulkner, loathed the climate, loathed the food, loathed the\u003cbr\u003e vestiges of upper-class snobbery, met a few wonderful\u003cbr\u003e people, and spent much of his time playing basketball (the\u003cbr\u003e remedial training had helped) for one of the university\u003cbr\u003e teams. Promptly after Oxford, Quammen moved to Montana, \u003cbr\u003e carrying all his possessions in a Volkswagen bus to this state\u003cbr\u003e in which he had never before set foot. The attractions of\u003cbr\u003e Montana were 1) trout fishing, 2) wild landscape, 3) solitude, \u003cbr\u003e and 4) its dissimilarity to Yale and Oxford. The winters are\u003cbr\u003e too cold for ivy. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Quammen made his living as a bartender, waiter, ghost\u003cbr\u003e writer, and fly-fishing guide until 1979. Since then he has\u003cbr\u003e written full time. In 1982 he married Kris Ellingsen, a\u003cbr\u003e Montana woman even more devoted to solitude than he is. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e His published work includes two spy novels (\u003ci\u003eThe Zolta\u003cbr\u003e Configuration, The Soul of Viktor Tronko\u003c\/i\u003e), a collection of short \u003cbr\u003e stories about father-son relationships (\u003ci\u003eBlood Line\u003c\/i\u003e), two\u003cbr\u003e collections of essays on science and nature (\u003ci\u003eNatural Acts, The\u003cbr\u003e Flight of the Iguana\u003c\/i\u003e), several hundred other magazine essays, \u003cbr\u003e features, and reviews, as well as \u003ci\u003eThe Song of the Dodo\u003c\/i\u003e. From\u003cbr\u003e 1981 through 1995, he wrote a regular column about science\u003cbr\u003e and nature for Outside magazine, and in 1987 received the\u003cbr\u003e National Magazine Award in Essays and Criticism for work\u003cbr\u003e that appeared in the column. In 1994 he was co-winner of\u003cbr\u003e another National Magazine Award. In 1996 he received an\u003cbr\u003e Academy Award in literature from the American Academy of\u003cbr\u003e Arts and Letters. He remains a Montana resident, despite the\u003cbr\u003e arrival of cappuccino. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In 1998 Scribner will publish \u003ci\u003eStrawberries Under Ice\u003c\/i\u003e, a new\u003cbr\u003e collection of Quammen's magazine essays and features, subtitled \u003cbr\u003e Wild Thoughts from Wild Places. The wild places in\u003cbr\u003e question, from which he has drawn observations and\u003cbr\u003e inspiration in recent years, include Tasmania, southern Chile, \u003cbr\u003e Madagascar, the Aru Islands of eastern Indonesia, Los\u003cbr\u003e Angeles, suburban Cincinnati, and of course, Montana. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReading Group Discussion Points \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOther Books With Reading Group Guides\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Scribner Book Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42702411596013,"sku":"9780684827124","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_90250717-2cf5-443b-bd22-008cefa94098.jpg?v=1649960986","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/the-song-of-the-dodo-island-biogeography-in-an-age-of-extinctions-9780684827124","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}