The Tree Where Man Was Born

by Peter Matthiessen, Jane Goodall (Introduction)

Overview

A timeless and majestic portrait of Africa by renowned writer Peter Matthiessen (1927-2014), author of the National Book Award-winning The Snow Leopard and the new novel In Paradise

A finalist for the National Book Award when it was released in 1972, this vivid portrait of East Africa remains as fresh and revelatory now as on the day it was first published. Peter Matthiessen exquisitely combines nature and travel writing to portray the sights, scenes, and people he observed firsthand in several trips over the course of a dozen years. From the daily lives of wild herdsmen and the drama of predator kills to the field biologists investigating wild creatures and the anthropologists seeking humanity's origins in the rift valley, The Tree Where Man Was Born is a classic of journalistic observation. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction by groundbreaking British primatologist Jane Goodall.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780143106241
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/31/2010
Series:	Penguin Classics
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	404,888
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Peter Matthiessen was the cofounder of The Paris Review and is the author of numerous works of nonfiction, including In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, Indian Country, and The Snow Leopard, winner of the National Book Award.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction Jane Goodall xiii

Author's Note xviii

Maps xx

The Tree Where Man Was Born

I The Tree Where Man Was Born 1

II White Highlands 18

III Northwest Frontier 37

IV Siringet 72

V In Maasai Land 89

VI Rites of Passage 112

VII Elephant Kingdoms 129

VIII Great Caldron Mountains 161

IX Red God 189

X At Gidabembe 208

Notes 255

Glossary 261

Selected Bibliography 263

Index 267

Editorial Reviews

These dual Matthiessens, which launch the publisher's new "Nature Classics" line, profile the relationship between humans and nature in East Africa (The Tree, LJ 12/1/72) and in the United States (Wildlife, LJ 1/15/60). The latter volume has been expanded and updated for this edition.

Library Journal

Peter Matthiessen traveled around Africa, including the Sudan, Kenya, and Tanzania, to see its wildlife. His account of his travels starts with the tree of the title and weaves ancestral stories and local history into a travelogue. In the book's best moments, Dion Graham's deep voice adds a poetic quality to the author’s descriptive writing as he talks about watching wild elephants or buffalo. Graham also brings life to Matthiessen's meetings with Africans and Europeans. Still, some of the background comes across as dry. The author's introduction acknowledges that a lot has happened since the book’s original 1972 publication. With the help of Graham's strong reading, this is still an interesting look at the continent. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2010 - AudioFile