Customer Reviews

Four Wings and a Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly

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Author Sue Halpern has written a book about her time spent with people across North America who follow the supposed migration of Monarch Butterflies through the United States to Mexico. Entitled Four Wings and a Prayer - Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly, the book chronicles her journeys throughout the US and Canada in pursuit of knowledge about the Monarch butterfly while detailing her interaction with the various butterfly enthusiasts (lepidopterists) that she meets along the way. Superficially, the book's subject would seem to hold much promise. Interesting people, little-known facts, sweeping vistas described in stirring detail; there would seem to much that this book could offer the reader, sadly, not much of it is here. Like far too many writers today, Halpern can't seem to keep herself out of the story. In the context of this book, which indeed includes some fine passages, Halpern's New Age navel- gazing is largely unwanted and often tiresome; "What is passion? I asked myself again." Halpern writes (and the reader cringes) and then goes on to wax philosophically about `knowing before understanding' or some other such airy-fairy mysticism. It's unfortunate that in a book that offers glimpses of some true characters Halpern can't help interjecting herself. The reader is told that Bill Calvert is a legend among Lepidopterists not only for his research but for his passion and unique character, yet description of that character is largely limited to repeated references to his messy truck and trite answers to the questions of others. The reader can forgive Calvert this though after having been subjected to Halpern's rhetorical wonking - by the end of the book the reader suspects that Calvert might not have been so taciturn had the company been less vocal. Like so much literature today Halpern's Four Wings and a Prayer unfortunately attempts to serve up commonplace events as mystic happenings. Worse still, the story is overlaid with the trappings of New Age mysticism at its worst: the reader is treated to the writer's account of her attempt to think like a butterfly and to experience flight as known by a butterfly via a convenient flight in a glider. These events, which are silly and romanticised in themselves, in the context of the book enmesh the reader in a sickly treacle of breathless prose from which it is frustratingly hard to escape. Hard fact is confused with psuedo-intellectual fancy, buried beneath a style of writing which encompasses so much forced gravitas that the reader is wont to think that the appropriate response would be to cry while reading this book.

At 29.95 CAN and at 207 pages this book is certainly not a good buy for everyone. Those that ponder this book should do so at length. Contrary to the heartfelt testimony printed on the cover this book will probably not "change your life" nor is it "a book we have needed whether we knew it or not". This book may be life-affirming and transcendent to a crystal-wearing, latte- guzzling "wind spirit" but to the average reader, even to the inveterate naturalist, this book is bound to be a disappointment. If you want to read of one woman's spiritual awakening in the world of butterflies this might be the book for you; but for those truly interested in the fascinating sub-culture of the lepidopterist and their pursuit of the Monarch, your money is better spent elsewhere.

Sue Halpern has a gift of composition to describe the wonder of the Monarch Butterly that practically takes your breath away. The book begins with her journey with a butterfly tracker real life "Indiana Jones" character as they drive to the butterfly preserves in Mexico. Her description of her first visit there which happened earlier with her tiny daughter and the truly awesome, almost religious experience of the sound of millions of butterflies rustling wings and of butterflies alighting on her daughter walking up her arm, the child watching without fear takes you into this book like a lover invites you to be with her. This is a book for all ages, and will be a standard to invite readers to the mysteries and beauty of nature. It is also hoped that the book serves to help advocacy to preserve this miracle of nature which is taken foregranted by so many. Sue Halpern is a writer in the same pantheon as Barry Lopez and Farley Mowat in her research skills, her love of nature and her literary abilities.

Halpern has the precision of a scientist, the grace of a poet, and the passion of someone truly informed and alarmed by humanity's headlong tilt against the beauty and variety of our natural world. Never shying away from the complexities of her subject--scientists and nature-lovers from a rich and profligate country demanding preservation sacrifices from the peasants of a poor one--she writes a seamless, and ultimately very moving, tale of wonder.

Sue Halpern has written a wonderful, balanced book of one of nature's magnificent, enigmatic phenomenon - the migration of the monarch butterfly. Each winter the monarchs stay, by the millions, in a relatively small area in the forests of the Michoacan mountains, to the west of Mexico City. In the spring they migrate north, covering much of the area east of the Rockies. No single butterfly makes the entire journey; rather they complete the entire journey in two or three generations. They fed on milkweed, extracting toxins that make them poisonous to many species of birds. Halpern logged many a mile in pursuit of the butterfly migration, including stays in Cape May, NJ, Kansas, Texas, rough rides in Mexico, and as far removed as Hawaii, glimpsing the elusive albino monarch. Halpern has an excellent grasp of the current science on the monarchs, and is able to explain it to the non-lepidopterists, which is most of us. Mainly though, science still has far more questions than answers, which is part of the fun.

But as the subject quote indicates, the book is very much about passion, the force that motivates the many people involved in studying the monarchs. Halpern devotes an equal measure to describing the people involved with these butterflies. She starts with laconic Bill Calvert, in his `50's, driving an old pick-up truck, and she accompanies him on one of his pilgrimages to Mexico. Naturally there are serious, and essentially petty funds among the long-time "leadership" in the monarch field, captured when Fred Urquhart, a Canadian professor who was one of the first to start the tagging of monarch, refused to shake the hand of Lincoln Brower, another professor who had deduced, with Calvert's help, the place of the monarch's over-winter refuge. There is a wonderful website, "Monarch Watch," whose inspiration and driving force is Chip Taylor, which facilitates the collaboration of so many amateur monarch watchers. Their website contains an article raising the issue of the sites long-term viability in the current economic downturn, saying they could not survive a 30% reduction in revenue.

Although Halpern does not quote him, few have better expressed the passion involved in the pursuit of butterflies than Vladimir Nabokov, who chased them as a young boy around his home near St. Petersburg. He said in his autobiography, "Speak, Memory": "... when a protective device was carried to a point of mimetic subtlety, exuberance and luxury far in excess of a predator's power of appreciation. I discovered in nature the non-utilitarian delights that I sought in art. Both were a form of magic, both were a game of intricate enchantment and deception." Like cholesterol, passion seems to come in "good" and "bad" forms. There is the good "passion," the type that motivates the many unnamed volunteers studying the monarchs, as opposed to the "bad passion" of the colliding egos of the "big boys" in the field, and although Halpern struggles to be balanced in describing them, clearly Urquhart, who refused to share his priceless data, and is tellingly not thanked by Halpern in the Acknowledgements, had his share of the "bad passion." Alas.

I think Halpern suffered from some bad reviews at Amazon. Some are from students who would be bored with any pursuit of this nature. But others, like the one denouncing her for some form of "New Ageism," since she discussed the "passion" behind the science, which seems all too appropriate to me, appear to be coming from one of the various monarch "factions" perceived to be wronged by the book - and, of course, exhibits a fair dollop of passion in its own right.

Overall, I think the author did a great job, with the science, and with the people, describing this intriguing subject, which seems only about 5% explored. As she indicated in more than one place, when a few questions are answered, many more appear, and so I'd like to ask one: Why the mountains of Mexico, so much further, and high, with the danger of snow, and freezing. Wouldn't the bayous of Louisiana, with the moisture, and the warmth, (not to mention much shorter distance) serve these creatures just as well?

This wonderful little book has opened my eyes to so much more than I ever expected. I have just returned from Mexico and the Monarchs. Sue Halpern's book was like my road map into this magical, mystical and transformational experience

I liked this book because of the facts it includes and the connections it makes between science and human feelings. Over the ages many people have been amazed by the monarch butterfly's migration every year; however very few are interested enough to understand their complexity. Sue Halpern is one of the few who is interested enough to attempt to solve the mystery. In her book Four Wings and a Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly she reports her findings, in a fast-paced interesting research narrative. Halpern gives the reader a plethora of information while telling her story of how she became fascinated with the Monarch Butterfly. Even though she was not a biologist, the story she told of her adventures was chronologically organized and seemed like a field journal that a biologist would have written. Her field journal (the book), was filled with scientific facts, interviews, personal experiences, and the special feature of maps to trace the monarch migration. In addition to facts, she pours out her feelings about the issue of conserving the monarchs and the importance of their survival. Connecting human feelings to science is one of the strong points of Mrs. Halpern's writing. This is one of the strongest points of the book. Another related point that Halpern makes is that passion and science lay hand in hand. Halpern reminisces, "As a child I collected rocks. . . I did remember the single mindedness through which I picked through the woods behind my house, and the pure joy of finding something . . . It seemed reasonable to call this passion, and to think of myself - and everyone else - as a collection of passions" (9). This is one of many of the comparisons Halpern makes between passion and science. Passion plays an important role in the world of science because it drives scientists to continue looking, just like Halpern continued to look for her rocks. This book is strong in communicating the connection between science and human feelings. I hope this review was helpful to you in choosing a book.

I read a brief review of this book in the NYT Book Review and it sounded exciting and enlightening . . . alas, it's quite dull and offers surprisingly little information whether or not you're a butterfly fancier. To tell the truth, I read the second half of the book just to find out what in the world she could possibly fill all those pages with! There are a few neat facts about monarchs, and intriguing portraits of a few eccentric lepidopterists, but the rest is statements like "we really don't know [fill in blank] about these butterflies" and vague, unsatifying rhapsodizing by the author about her seemingly inexplicable passion for winged creatures--not to mention rather unremarkable mutterings about the nature of passion itself. This type of nonfiction can really sing--"The Orchid Thief," for example, though it definitely has its flaws, is nevertheless a fascinating read. Diane Ackerman's "Natural History of the Senses" is totally engaging as well. Or on a slightly different note, Judith Hooper's "Of Moths and Men" is a riveting portrayal of the controversy and scientific backbiting surrounding the peppered moth and Darwin's theory of natural selection. Contemporary nonfiction has come a long way, but "Four Wings" just falls flat.

I suppose if you are extremely interested in monarch butterflies you will find this book fascinating. I must admit I read only 100 pages. I enjoyed the beginning, when Halpern traveled to Mexico, but after page 100 the book was too academic, filled with the points of view of various monarch afficionados. Pretty dull stuff. I didn't think the writing was all that great, either. I suppose it was an academic success, but it didn't draw me in to the adventure.

I had read this book for school, and by the first page I knew it was going to be a painful experience. The first fifty pages weren't so bad, after that, everything went downhill. I was never less interested in butterflies in my life. At first, the topic of the story was clear- going to a convention in Mexico about saving the monarchs. After that, nothing made sense- the storyline no longer had any real point. The author jumped around from date to date in no particular order. At one point, I wasn't sure if continuing the book would get me any further than I was before I strarted. Unless you have an extreme love of monarch butterflies and being extremely bored and confused, do not buy this book.