Customer Reviews

Chasing the Panda: How an Unlikely Pair of Adventurers Won the Race to Capture the Mythical "White Bear"

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3 star:		(1)
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Kiefer provides an eclectic escape that covers nature, people, politics and history...and all within the confines of a true tale! I will never gawk at those cute bears the same way again, knowing the story of their "discovery" and what that story tells us of the specific times--and the general nature of people. The read is "light," yet one learns a bit along the way. This is my version of a nearly perfect summer read. A romantic "novel" for thinking persons.

If you are one of the many who has been smitten by our Baby Panda, Tia Shan, at the National Zoo in DC, and have read The Lady and the Panda, by V. Croke, or Ruth Harkness, here is a book that is a must read. Mrs. Harkness would have never been able to get the first panda to the US without help from the Young brothers, Quentin and Jack. Mr. Kiefer spent years speaking w/them, and they provide information and perspective that helps give more life & detail to very important characters that didn't get the recgonition they surely deserved. Great photo's wish there were more.

Although not exactly what I was expecting, this book was in interesting read about the Chinese naturalists and their involvement in how the West first came to know the giant panda. This book detailed many historical facts about how Western naturalists, with the aid of a couple of Chinese, moved through China and collected many specimens for display in the US. I recommend it to anyone who has a deep interest in the giant panda and the history behind our current love affair with these black and white bears.

Though a movie and a new book have been based on the story of Ruth Harkness, Quentin Young and the expedition to find the first panda have appeared recently, both were inspired by Michael Kiefer's book, which is the real McCoy. Originally commissioned as a piece for the New Yorker, the manuscript was ultimately published as this book. In the meantime, Kiefer's exciting story based on his unique access to one of the principals, Quentin Young,inspired the other two projects. The film, the name of which I forget, twisted the story into total fiction, and the latest book is derived in large part from this one. So if you want to read a well-written great escape of an adventure story set in the context of place, politics,and history and with the imprimateur of George B.Schaller himself, Michael Kiefer's " Chasing the Panda: How an unlikely pair of adventurers won the race to capture the mythical white bear" is the one to read. The photographs from Quentin Young's archives are awesome, beautiful, and illuminate the lost world or the patrician Chinese of the day, as well as the expedition itself.

The characters and their true to life tale of adventure keep this book going, but the author has watched too much Hard Copy or Entertainment Tonight and seems to dwell on the sex lives and personal failures of many of the principals, which have nothing to add to the overall search for the pandas. He seems to have exploited his relationship with Quentin Young, which takes away from the dignity of the story. Nonetheless, I would recommend the book as an interesting read and one of only a few on the subject.