Monster of God Audiobook By David Quammen cover art

Monster of God

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Monster of God

By: David Quammen
Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
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For millennia, lions, tigers, and their man-eating kin have kept our dark, scary forests dark and scary, and their predatory majesty has been the stuff of folklore. But by the year 2150 big predators may only exist on the other side of glass barriers and chain-link fences. Their gradual disappearance is changing the very nature of our existence. We no longer occupy an intermediate position on the food chain; instead we survey it invulnerably from above - so far above that we are in danger of forgetting that we even belong to an ecosystem.

Casting his expert eye over the rapidly diminishing areas of wilderness where predators still reign, the award-winning author of The Song of the Dodo examines the fate of lions in India's Gir forest, of saltwater crocodiles in northern Australia, of brown bears in the mountains of Romania, and of Siberian tigers in the Russian Far East. In the poignant and troublesome ferocity of these embattled creatures, we recognize something primeval deep within us, something in danger of vanishing forever.

©2003 David Quammen (P)2013 Audible, Inc. Animals Biological Sciences Endangered Species Environment Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Ecosystem

Critic reviews

"Rich detail and vivid anecdotes of adventure...A treasure trove of exotic fact and hard thinking." (The New York Times Book Review)

Featured Article: Finished Netflix’s 'Tiger King?' Here’s What to Listen to Next


Netflix’s wild documentary about a feuding group of big cat zoo owners arrived just in time to distract us from our quarantine blues. So after we finished the series and exhausted every meme, we did what we always do in times of crisis: We polled the Audible editors for listening recommendations. True to our persnickety tastes, some editors suggested stranger-than-fiction true crime with predatory twists; others, subjects the show left to viewers to decode.

Featured Article Finished Netflix’s Tiger King Here’s What to Listen to Next
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I am a fan of Quammen's books and this one is right in there with the rest. Its full of insight on local and global politics as they relate to conservation attempts for these large predators. If full of natural history and local history. Stories of native peoples interactions with large predators over many generations. And there are always Quammen's quirky comments that make you laugh as you follow the stories. I would recommend this book to any who have conservation interests and can tolerate historical details. Narrator is good, just takes a few chapters to get into his reading tone. I'd listen to this again.

Predators and people. Its a great book!

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Hated the narration - it made me feel like I was watching some old doco from the 1950s! With that sort of old fashioned, deep masculine, supposedly authoritative tone. No nuance given to a very nuanced piece of work. Too bad Quammen couldn’t have narrated this excellent book...

Great book, shame about the performance

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A wonderful mix of cultural anthropology, animal behavior, conservation biology, philosophy and more. Be prepared to engage your brain—not a read for the intellectually faint of heart.

Typically solid and engrossing D Quallem

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Loved the way this was written. Dense, yet extremely understandable.
If youre an animal lover, or just someone who wants to learn about important future ecological pressures.. this is the book to read.
Well explained issues, and conservation possibilities to come if we all play a part.

Excellent, written with a little humor.. and VERY informative. A must read in my opinion

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I had just finished reading Quammen’s other book, Spillover, which was deliciously written. This fell completely flat by comparison.

Expected Better

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