23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A tour of the world, the heart, and life, June 3, 2003
Daniel Glick's book might become a classic. While mourning the death of his brother and his rather sudden divorce from his wife, Glick finds himself alone with his two children for almost the first time. He chooses to take them around the world in an effort to see some of the planet's endangered species before it's too late. One gets the sense that it's also his effort to become a father before it's too late.
Monkey Dancing works on many levels: environmental journalism, a travelogue, a lesson in parenting. Using the metaphor of world travel, Glick journeys into the heart of fatherhood, marriage, family, loss, conflict, change, and life.
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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An epic journey, both inwardly and out, May 27, 2003
Whether you're looking for an escapist adventure, soul-searching memoir or a captivating close-up of natural wonder, Monkey Dancing will not disappoint. Dan Glick's account of his half-year global journey as a newly single dad with two kids is a humorous and moving story, full of reflection and insight about human relationships, with each other and with the planet.
After his wife left him unexpectedly for a woman and his brother died of cancer at 48, Glick sought perspective and healing through traveling and nature -- not unusual modes of solace, but decidedly different when you take 9- and 13-year-old siblings along to the python-infested jungles of Borneo or leech-laden trails in Nepal. Acutely aware that life can be short and unpredictable, Glick wanted to show his kids some of the world's endangered treasures while there was still a chance to do so
The entertaining narrative will amuse anyone who has traveled to challenging places (or wants to), especially those intrepid parents who have experienced both the exasperation and joys of discovery with children in tow. And it may well inspire parents who haven't to give it a go, even -- or maybe particularly -- in a world that currently seems so uncertain.
Monkey Dancing is also a stark tale of the grim conditions facing many of the earth's most spectacular ecosystems. Glick, who covered the environment as a journalist, weaves solid reporting among personal anecdotes for a tale that is as much about our wider connections with the natural world as our ties to our fellow humans.
When Glick learned that 40 percent of the world's coral reefs are gone, Australia's Great Barrier Reef became a top destination on his itinerary. As a father with a passion for nature, he wanted his kids to float among the technicolor fish and flora submerged beneath a turquoise ocean. As a journalist, he saw a story in the fact that even here, in a developed country where the environment is relatively protected, this reef is still gravely threatened. It wasn't inconceivable that the remaining coral reefs could disappear in his children's lifetimes.
He also chose destinations with "charismatic megafauna" that would appeal to his kids: orangutans in Borneo, rhinoceroses in Vietnam and Nepal, and the tigers of the Nepalese lowland plains. Those species, however, are on the verge of extinction, a fact apparent in how difficult it was to locate these animals.
Yet the family's observations were not without hope. Glick shares conservation success stories among the tragedies, offering encouragement that some of the marvels his children encountered may be available to their grandchildren one day as well.
It's not every kid that gets a first-hand look at the earth's vanishing wild places, let alone a chance to bond with their dad in such environs for months on end. Kolya and Zoe Glick are blessed indeed. In the pages of Monkey Dancing, fortunate readers can travel with them, gleaning inspiration to embark on journeys of their own toward deeper, more meaningful connections with the people, the creatures and the remarkable natural places we love.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's the story, stupid..., January 1, 2004
I love just about anything written by a seasoned journalist ... this includes Glick. However, as I am also a Buddhist, quasi-environmentalist, adventure lover, traveler, writer/journalist with two kids and a wife, I can't find a thing wrong with this book. If you're a teetotalling Xian who can't stand that a father introduces his son to drugs/alcohol instead of letting him learn on his own under the pressure of other teens, then you might not like this. But, I must point out, that this is merely a single episode in the book. And it also demonstrates that smart people know how to parent.
The book brings together episodes of adventures in other countries, learning to cope with loss, enjoying the weird brilliance of being human, understanding the threats to our environment, and appreciating life in a developed country. And it's written by someone who knows how to write. Glick isn't someone without talent and/or skills that happens to take a fiction writing seminar and gets lucky with a publisher; he knows how to write.
This is my favorite book of 2003.
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