Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intense and wondrous., March 30, 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I loved this book for it really opened my eyes to a sport that I have admired but never really looked into. What really stayed with me was the intensity and absolute devotion displayed by Steve Chindgren, a real fighter and unique individual. Though I've long loved Peregrines and Kestrels, I still learned so much more about them. In fact all the data in this book fleshed out this sport and made me realize how serious it is.
One thing that remained in the background of my reading this book was a disquieting sense of urgency and helplessness at habitat destruction and human sprawl. I fear that this will destroy this unique and spectacular sport. It appears that the masses are mindlessly trampling over yet another endangered and beautiful, not just sport, but a way of life.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insight into Falconry in the West, April 23, 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Rachel Dickinson explores the sport (or art) of falconry in the western US by profiling Steve Chindgren, a man who has been using falcons to hunt for almost his entire life. The book covers the technical aspects of the hunt, as well as the bond between the birds and their handlers, some of the history of falconry and the laws surrounding it, and the biology of the sage grouse- an important prey item for falconers out west. Dickinson relates first-hand accounts of her experiences with Steve and other falconers and also provides a lot of back story for Steve's life based on her extensive interviews with him.
I went into this book knowing absolutely nothing about falconry, and now I feel like I have a basic grasp of what it is and how it works. I'm not sure how interesting it will be for people who are already familiar with the sport, but for anyone wanting to learn more about this esoteric sport that combines modern technology with anachronistic hunting techniques, I'd certainly recommend this book.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating book that puts you into the heart of falcrony, May 3, 2009
"Falconer on the Edge" is a fascinating look into a subculture that most people probably know very little about. It's a world filled with hardcore falconers whose lives revolve around their birds and the art of the hunt, an ancient practice that a few passionate souls like Steve Chindgren are keeping alive even in these modern times.
Rachel Dickinson spent time with Chindgren in southwestern Wyoming, capturing the heart and soul of this "small, wiry middle-aged man" sporting a "great shock of reddish blond hair and a craggy, ruggedly handsome face with black-plastic-framed glasses perched on his small nose."
The book is a wonderful narrative that doesn't simply describe Chindgren and his birds; it puts you right into the field with them. After reading "Falconer on the Edge," you'll swear you've been to Wyoming and seen it for yourself. The descriptions are that vivid. I'm glad Dickinson has taken the time to write this book, because the western landscape and falconry itself is changing, thanks to mining, agriculture, and gas industries.
I'll leave you with this passage, describing the scene after Chindgren's bird Jomo has flown directly into a grouse "like a pile driver":
"The soft explosion of feathers falls like a dusting of early-winter snow on the predator and his prey. Disney might portray this whole scene as the circle of life, but this isn't a cartoon, and when we witness it, it pulls on some coded prehistoric gene that still remains from the time when we were hunters and killed because we had to. Steve runs toward the birds to watch the falcon cling to the body of the slain grouse and calmly rip hunks of bloody meat from the still warm breast."
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