Customer Reviews

Damselflies of Alberta: Flying Neon Toothpicks in the Grass (Alberta Insects)

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From the only review written, I was under the impression that this was a great field guide. It does have its qualities and the author is most creative with his poetic pieces on each species spotlighted, however, the book is not nearly what I had expected from a near 40 dollars (more with 3.99 for shipping and handling). What made me even more disappointed was the price on back cover of this paperback book is listed as 29.99!!!! So why the near 10 more in cost?!?!?!?!? This book, in my opinion, is hardly worth the $29.99 list price and definitely NOT $37.44!!!!! I will undoubtedly return it and shame on Amazon.com for marking up a book's price to sell it! If you are interested in damselflies, I would recommend Dennis Paulson's fine guide of Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West as a much better guide that not only covers the damselflies of Alberta but the dragonflies as well....and for a lot less cost (a little over 20 dollars for the paperback).

Damselflies of Alberta.
John Acorn has created a masterpiece that transcends its subject. A title like "Damselflies of Alberta" would ordinarily place a book into the category of "local interest", but Acorn has exploited this limitation to cover his subject completely. He is on a first-name basis not just with damselflies, but with the scientists who have studied them; and by showing that a substantial number of substantial minds have devoted a substantial part of their intellectual lives to damselflies, Acorn teaches us what is important. Not who is President of General Motors, or how much money the movie stars make - but nature. Just nature.
The photographs are unbelievable in their clarity and beauty, and in their instructive value. The paintings illustrating both sexes of every species of damselflies in Alberta would be a lesson for any author of a field guide.
Acorn describes the fantastic mating process of the damselflies, and describes a species where the male hauls the female out of the water, pulling her free of the surface tension after she has laid her (and, now, his) eggs on plant stems beneath the surface. He describes the primitive flight anatomy of the damselflies. There are limericks about many species. Everything about the book shows the intrinsic worth of life and living things.
Every page lifts this beautiful book beyond the limits of damselflies and Alberta, making it really a universal example of what might be done with every genus, and every locality on Earth. All are fascinating to anyone inclined to take the time to look, and all are important in a way that transcends "biological indicators" or possible medicines. They are the stuff of life. Read this book, and read Acorns "Tiger Beetles of Alberta". In their pristine humanity, they are an example for the whole world.
-William L. Abler