Horn of the Hunter: The Story of an African Safari [Hardcover]

R. Ruark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 28, 1997

The story of the author and his wife's two-month safari in East Africa in the 1950s. Ruark's philosophies are intertwined in the hunting stories to make unforgettable reading.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Ruark's most sought-after book is back in print. In the early 1950s famous newspaper columnist Robert Ruark and his wife, Virginia, went to British East Africa (now Kenya and Tanzania) for a nine-week safari with their professional hunter, Harry Selby. The three of them, along with a group of native runners, a Jeep, and an old lorry, ventured into the bush for an adventure none of them soon forgot-and neither will you! In this book Ruark shares with you the ferocity of the wounded buffalo and the acid sweat of fear-no other book will give you the "feel" of Africa like this one can.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 315 pages
• Publisher: Safari Press (January 28, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571570233
• ISBN-13: 978-1571570239
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,931 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Hunting & Fishing > Hunting

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Horn of the Hunter, December 22, 1999

By 

Mike DiSalvo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Horn of the Hunter: The Story of an African Safari (Hardcover)

One of the finest books ever written on Hunting period. Ruark odes Hemingway's Green Hills of Africa hands down. In this book we follow a man and his wife from New York's high life to the backwoods African bush. We discover what a buffalo really looks like, and how you feel when he looks at you! We discover fear, anxiety, restlessness, pride, truimph, and in the end respect and joy. A very highly recommended book.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Writer on Safari, October 27, 2000

By 

Robert S. Clay Jr. (St. Louis, MO., USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Horn of the Hunter: The Story of an African Safari (Hardcover)

Robert Ruark's chronicle of his African safari in the 1950s. This is good reading for both outdoor buffs and readers of a more literary type. Ruark avoids the pitfall of turning his book into an extended article for "Field and Stream." Aside from the details of the big-game hunt, he sprinkles his narrative with recollections of his WWII combat experience, musings on the literary world of New York, books, movies about Africa, and life in America. The focal point of the book is the daily experience of fighting the African environment in the pursuit of the elusive prey. The descriptions of the wildlife are thrilling as the hunting party tracks across the primeval plains. Ruark gives full attention to the discomforts of safari life and the doubtful sanity of those who submit themselves to this type of "recreation." The killing is graphically described and not for the squeamish. Animal rights activists should steer clear of this book.

Ruark has great fun describing himself as an Ernest Hemingway "wannabe." Comparisons to Hemingway's "Green Hills of Africa" are inevitable. Ruark is more self-deprecating than Ernest Hemingway, and can see the outrageous humor of it all. The white hunter guide, Harry Selby, falls short of the Allan Quartermain ideal. Selby is afraid of snakes and scorpions, and manages to get the safari lost at least once. Just as Hemingway, Ruark takes his wife, Jenny, along on safari. She handles the discomforts very well, and doesn't wimp out.

This book won't be studied a 100 years from now in American Lit. classes, but it's diverting reading. It recalls the macho standards of a different era. Ruark's reputation has faded since his heyday in the '50s and early '60s. For those who remember, this book is an interesting footnote to his literary career. ;-)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bridging the gap between Hemingway and Capstick we had Ruark., January 1, 2007

By 

Frank J. Stone "Author of Ivory Hunter" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Horn of the Hunter: The Story of an African Safari (Hardcover)

"Horn Of The Hunter" is one of the best stories about African hunting and wildlife that has ever been penned. (My Opinion) Robert Ruark may have written between the two era's of Hemingway and Capstick, but when it comes to writing about Africa he took a backseat to neither of them and if you have read my other reviews you know that I have nothing but praise for them both.

Ruark takes us on safari with him and his wife Virginia. The copyright is 1952 and though I couldn't find a definite time for the safari it was during the post WW II era. It is reasonable to assume that it would have been a short time prior to the copyright. He describes in great detail the African wilderness and wildlife along with the discomforts of insect bites and muddy river bottoms. Traveling through the Tanganyika wilderness in a Land Rover called Jessica with a professional hunter named Harry Selby, Ruark takes us with him on a grand adventure.

Unlike many prominent writers Ruark not only tells of his successes, but his failures as well. Throughout the text Selby compares Ruark's marksmanship with a lady client named Harriet Maytag and Ruark's responses to his comments add depth and humor to the text. There are some spectacular long range shots taken, but there are also some clean misses at both long and short range. He admits his fear of Cape Buffalo and tells us of his love for wing shooting. He talks of Selby who is as sqeamish with snakes as a teenage girl, but is the living portrait of abosolute courage when following up wounded and dangerous animals.

Ruark's delightful humor is on nearly every page as he describes various bits of unorthodox lore. Such as painting a juvinile baboon with flourescent paint to frighten off the band or Selby's advice to him to survive a buffalo stampede by shooting one of them and climbing on top of it to avoid being trampled.

When I finished reading this story I was as sad to see it end as Ruark was to leave Africa.

All in all this is a readers delight and will be a treasured gem in any hunters library.