Customer Reviews

Monkey Dancing: A Father, Two Kids, and Journey to the Ends of the Earth

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

A book about travel, wonderful places to see, a book about environmental problems, an environmental journey, a book about parenthood, expectations, a book about the realities of family life. Realistic and funny. A wonderful combination. Still every part of it quite complete.
I had doubt about going on holiday with my 1 year old daughter: will she be disturbed, will she create problems, are we going to have the very necessary rest? (first travel with her!). Then I read this book and said to myself if this dad has managed to go around the world, in the most difficult countries, with two teenagers I can go to the South of Turkey with my one year old and finally had lots of fun!

If you like travelogues (this one takes you around the world through Australia, Indonesia, India and Europe), intimate moments of other people's lives, struggles with loss, death and illness, then this book is for you.
Daniel Glick, journalist and seasoned traveler, takes his two children, Kolya, 13 and Zoe, 9, on a five month trip around the world to see four disappearing species and their habitats. At the same time he is creating personal space to deal with a divorce and a brother's death, he is renewing his relationship with the two kids.
His ability to be a single Dad is just one of the traits you will admire in the author, as well as his honesty, vulnerability and his tendency to weep. I personally would have preferred more on the endangered species encounters and less with the squabbling kids, but that's just me who has had twenty years of squabbling experience and zilch in traveling around the world.
But in any case, thanks for the trip, Glick!

I recently chose this book as a selection for a book club that I am a member of. I bought the book on the basis of the editorial reviews found here at amazon, and based on the fact that it was a top book from 2003. Daniel Glick is a writer of such ease, grace, and intimacy. I felt that i was on this journey with Glick and his young children. The book sparked great discussion in my goup, such topics as loss, tolerance, accountability, conservationism, and parenting. Daniel Glick should be very proud of this work of art and of his most important two works of art, his children!

This was a lovely book, beautifully weaving together personal tragedy and our place in the world. I thoroughly enjoyed the author sharing his fatherly moments with his kids, both the closeness and the bickering. Incidentally, while I was backpacking in Africa about 8 years ago, my group was joined for a time by a single father and his two kids from Colorado (hi Ari and Anna!), traveling around the world in the aftermath of a personal tragedy. What a brave and original way of forming a new bond, new memories and experiences.
At times, this book was so personal, I almost felt like a voyeur into their private life. Thank you, Daniel, for sharing your experiences and adventures with us, the readers. I was deeply touched, and wish you and your loved ones only all of the best.

Let's start with what I liked about this book. In contrast to many of the readers, I enjoyed hearing the details about the author's children and their day to day life. I have read accounts of so called family travel where it seems that the children of the family play a very small part---they are along for the ride, but seem to be farmed off often. Here, the children are omnipresent. I also loved hearing about various cities in the Far East---what the hotels are actually like, what is eaten, the nitty gritty travel details.

However, the book is really at least 5 books intertwined. One is the travel story. Another is the sad story of the author's brother's death from breast cancer. The third is the story of of the author's divorce, which he seems far from over. Still another focuses on endangered animals. There is of course also the part about the perils of raising a 13 and 9 year old as a single father. I often found it jarring to move suddenly from one focus to another---shifts sometimes even involving a change of fonts.

Although I appreciate the author's true honesty, I know I'm probably not alone in disagreeing with many of his parenting decisions, especially involving drug use and his young son. I also kept wanting to reach through the pages and tell his children to be a little more grateful for the unbelievable experience they were having---they both seemed world-weary and easily bored beyond their years. Did they realize how few children would belong to families with the inclination AND funds for such a trip??

All in all, I'm glad I read this, and I did feel it was well written, with an honest voice.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was impressed how quickly the dad adapted to his new responsiblities such as making soccer snacks and other jobs traditionally held by "mom."
Reading about the different countries they went to was fascinating. I thinks it's good for children to see that some countries are poorer than us so they might appreciate how good it is here (in the U.S.A.)
What made the book even more interesting was the author's inclusion of the conversations he had with his children. It was evident to me how truly in touch he was of his kids' feelings as well as his own. I felt like I knew all of them personally by the end of the book. I could tell they were beginning to slowly heal from the divorce and Uncle Bob's death.
The message that I got was uplifting -- that it takes time
but yes, one can move on if bad things happen.

This was a pretty neat book, and I found Mr. Glick's willingness to take two very American kids on a trip around the world very brave. The book shed some light on the tragic plights on different endangered species. Species that most of us will never get to see outside of a zoo. I admired the honesty of this book, including the parts about his son's dabbling in drugs-it's life after all, that stuff happens, at least he made a point to show his son the negative effects of the stuff. Not too many parents do that.

The parts I enjoyed most were about what they saw on their travels, and how unique each country was. I got sick very early on about him talking on and on about his wife leaving him. Tragic yes, but to write each time he told a person on the trip what had happened between him and his ex, was repetitive and almost pathetic. I wasn't able to connect with the author because of that.

Overall, I like the book and would suggest it to friends. It's worth reading.