Amazon.com Review
Pink dolphins--and yes, in the Amazon River the flamingo-colored mammals do exist--are believed by Brazilians and Peruvians to take human form, impregnate women, lure lovers to an underwater paradise, and in various ways drive those who encounter them mad. They seem to have worked their magic on science writer Sy Montgomery, who journeys through rain forests and sunken cities in a mad-dash pursuit of the enigmatic creatures.
Despite encounters with piranha-filled waters, toxic ants, and large rats--not to mention boat failures, foreign language problems, and alternate blasts of sun and rain--the persistent Montgomery pushes happily on, offering a lyrical account as intoxicating as the subject itself. She eventually makes contact, swimming with them, even holding one in her arms, but that may be the least relevant aspect of the entire book. Montgomery turns nature into a bewildering drug, opening doors into cultural and biological worlds invisible to most, but which teem with as much unseen life as a drop of river water held under a microscope. --Melissa Rossi
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
In a deeply felt, magical voyage to the tropics, Boston Globe nature columnist Montgomery (Spell of the Tiger) pursues the pink dolphin, a rare freshwater species, in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon. This elusive creature, with bulbous gray forehead, tiny eyes, chameleonlike color changes and pink back or fins, has inspired much local lore. Brazilian natives believe "boto" is a shape-shifter that makes love to humans, embodies spirits and carries people to the Encante, an enchanted underwater city. Combining a journalist's cool objectivity with a dolphin lover's almost mystical ecological consciousness, Montgomery luxuriates in the myths and legends as she swims with pink dolphins or tracks down radio-tagged boto in twisty, dangerous waterways, but she also ably reports the scientific facts. Boto mothers and offspring maintain a close bond, and though hard to spot in the wild, pink dolphins can be boldly playful and interactive with people. The Amazon, notes Montgomery, is polluted with cans, bottles, plastic bags and toxic wastes, yet the region is still an incredible incubator of biodiversity, and she describes her encounters with a veritable Noah's ark of exotic animals. She also mingles with field biologists, expatriates, conservationists, community leaders and a shaman (with whom she ceremonially imbibes ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic potion). Montgomery writes passionately about the destruction of rain forests, the ongoing extinction of Brazil's tribes and her visit to MamirauraABrazil's largest conservation experimentAwhere local residents act as guardians over a vast realm of manatees, dolphins, fish, turtles and timber. Her rhapsodic book winsomely blends travel, reportage, adventure and natural history. Illus. not seen by PW. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
