Customer Reviews

Alligators, Prehistoric Presence in the American Landscape (Creating the North American Landscape)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I saw this at a used bookstore for about $2 and figured I couldn't go wrong being a large hardcover and me a reptile lover, but it's not even worth that much. The book is basically three essays written by three different people that have pictures placed throughout that have nothing to do with the essay. There are also fact pages on various subjects throughout the book that are not at all relevant to what is going on in the essays and don't really make any sense with the overall feel.

I won't even bother with reviewing the first two essays and just put one word to describe them--GARBAGE and move on. The third essay is titled "Living with Alligators" and is the absolute highlight of this book. If this essay were in a book alone this would be a 5 star rating, but due to details described further in this review it was only enough to bump the overall rating to a 2 for me. This essay is about how stupid people move next door to a swamp and then get mad when alligators come out of the swamp and people immediately want them killed, even though they are the ones in the wrong. It also tells of how people must test their manhood by killing alligators for no apparent purpose. This essay is something that should be read by any reptile lover or conservationist, but I would recommend skipping the rest of the book, if you must buy it. It's only about 10 pages long so just read it in the bookstore if you have time.

In the beginning of the book it states that the author has taken over 40,000 pictures of alligators but in my opinion the pictures in this book are pretty poor. They aren't of good quality and many have problems that should have edited out, if she really has taken that many..different ones should have been chosen to say the least.

Lastly, I completely agree with the other reviewer that this book is absolutely disgusting. Out of all the pictures in the book that are of alligators, over 50% of them are dead. Heres a description of some of the pictures---there are alligators being cut open, ones with blood everywhere, ones shot in the head, some hanging on a rope dead, some in bloody buckets full of them, some being gutted, some missing their hides, random pieces of alligators such as a big box of eyeballs, etc. etc. If my description sounds bad just imagine looking at the pictures, it's like the aftermath of a war.

To put that "This book is a real treat for 'gator lovers." is one of the biggest jokes i've ever seen, that should be changed to gator hunters! With the exception of J. Whitfield Gibbons essay "Living with Alligators" this book is a complete waste of paper, and disgusting.

If you really like alligators, this is not the book for you. Portions of the book concern hunting alligators and processing them for meat. The accompanying photos for these sections sickened me.If I had any idea the book would include page after page of slaughtered alligators, I would never have bought it.