Customer Reviews

Tinkering with Eden: A Natural History of Exotics in America

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The great thing about this book is that it is not easily pigeon-holed (no pun intended), and I think it would appeal to all sorts of readers. People with an interest in the environment and wildlife, as well as people who just like a good story, will be fascinated by the author's accounts of various exotic species and their introduction into North America. My favorite is the chapter on the ladybug. Kim Todd's prose is fluid and easy to read; she's also got a great sense of humor and irony. I read the review in Outside magazine and ran out to buy the book - I certainly was not disappointed, and you won't be either.

It's hard not to buy this book, once you pick it up. It's rather hammily illustrated, kind of like a 1950s school textbook, which was what caught my eye. But the real reason to get "Tinkering With Eden" is that it features some of the best nature writing from a new author in some time. Oh, Ms Todd is a stylist and tends to get a bit florid or gimmicky at times, but she keeps to the subject pretty well. And the subject is one that affects us all: the way in which the environment is subtly (or not so subtly) altered by 'alien' creatures, whose impact no one expects. Where those aliens are commonplace critters like starlings, pigeons and ladybugs, not GMOs fresh from the sorcerer's lab...

Todd doesn't belabor you with unsubtle analogies like I just did. And she tells her stories even-handedly. One or two I've read before in other accounts (the gypsy moth, the starling), but you'll be knocked out by the fresher yarns about the 'Hessian' fly, the mountain goats, and the first-ever 'bio' solution, fighting scale insects with imported ladybugs. Don't go expecting any happy endings, though...

Hikers and backpackers, read this book before you hit the trails this spring. Kim Todd's book will change the way you look at the natural world. Her essays describe how many of our common animals, plants, and insects are not native to this continent, but were brought here--accidentally or on purpose. Todd has unearthed the stories and personalities behind these introductions of exotic species, creating readable narratives that are based on solid research. (The book also has an extensive bibliography.) One of my favorite aspects of this book: the attention Todd pays to the smaller creatures--not just charismatic megafauna but also mosquitoes, honeybees, and gypsy moths. This book is written with intelligence, humor, and style (it also happens to be beautifully printed and illustrated). One last word: This book doesn't just focus on nature as "wilderness." The author includes urban environments as part of the natural world, with investigations into pigeons and starlings.

It's such a good feeling knowing how things happen. Kim Todd has written an engaging, interesting, well researched eye opener of a book. And, just imagine, we (so called evironmentalists and experts) haven't yet learned the lesson of not "Tinkering with Eden". Truly a must read.

Tinkering with Eden: A Natural History of Exotics in America written by Kim Todd is a reading pleasure as the prose flow with a charm and delight. The book is written so well that each chapter feels like you've read a short story, but upon finishing the book you realize that everything you've reading the book all come together.

Ever since Europeans and others have been arriving in North America they've been bringing flora and fauna from where they came from and brought back flora and fauna from North America to their homelands. When this occurs, there can be some dire consequences, some native species are crowded out of their natural environments as the new species takes over with no natural predator... that is no checks and balances.

The author is a storyteller, as she brings us these tales and others she interjects humors along with the science making for a very enjoyable read. Reindeer, lamprey, gypsy moths, starlings mosquitoes and pigeons can all be traced to other locations, but are now part and parcel of the American landscape.

I've enjoyed reading this book as I know you will. The author's writing style is excellent and has won the Pen/Jerred Award, so I'm not alone when I say that this book is illuminating and entertaining and the author has a terrific storytelling technique. There are a few illustrations added to this book to give it just the right amount of detail.

All in all, this was a very profound read that is wonderfully written, indeed.

A wonderful work that combines diligent scholarship with a fluid and literary prose style. As each section informed me of the circumstances leading to and the effects resulting from the introduction of non-native species to a virgin environment, I found myself enchanted by the beauty of the language and the strength of the narrative flow. Each chapter reads like a literary short story.

This is a powerful statement of the intentional to the inadvertent introduction of exotic species in America- history, biology, botany, sociobiology, anthropology and entomology all expertly woven together to produce and outstanding mural of cause and effect of our penchant for tinkering with Nature and it`s all too often deleterious side effects.

Kim Todd has joined the long list of other fine scientist who have learned to package their important observations in an accessible, fascinating, flowing, down to earth, easy to follow format- and she did all of this in her first book!

This book is well researched with fascinating and profound conclusions that culminate in a strong note of historically learned caution about the efficacy and advisability of "Tinkering with Eden"- indeed, it's not nice [or smart] to mess with Mother Nature!

Picture Laurel and Hardy in that famous line of consternation from Ollie, "Well, here's another fine mess you've gotten [us] into!", and to that we might add: Now look at what they're eating, whose bright idea [of species introduction] was this?

There are so many potent observations in this book that my copy is thoroughly marked-up. Starting just inside the front-cover flap is the gist of where the introduced species problems began: "When Europeans arrived in North America they saw on the one hand, a paradise, and on the other, a place that needed some work. Far from home and seeking to recreate the landscapes they'd left behind, or determined to improve on what they found, they introduced to their[?] new terrain an amazing array of exotics-plants and animals not native to this continent".

Some exotics were fairly benign and some were disturbingly ravenous as we see in chapter after chapter filled with examples exotic species-caused boondoggles and the desperate attempts to balance the damage with further introductions thereby creating a never ending vicious cycle.

On pigeons introduced by the French and left behind, there is: "They flew from Atlantic to Pacific as the Americans took the aftermath of their own revolution and built a nation with liberty, justice, and pigeons for all" (p 23)- all too true, unfortunately.

The beautiful front cover artwork is done by illustrator Claire Emery as are the fine line drawings throughout the book.

This book is a great read. I'm not a biologist or an ecologist, but I found this thoroughly compelling. My guess is that it would be just as enjoyable if I were well versed in the subject. At the end of each chapter, I was desperate for the next. Can't wait for her next book!!

This excellent book illustrates the growing problem of exotic species in America and the shocking ammount of effort spent trying to contain some of them. A must read for conservationists and anyone interested in the world we live in and how we interact with it.

Todd's book is a great introduction to the topic of invasive species. The layperson can easily read through this book and not worry about dry scientific methodology getting in the way for the information Todd presents. Kim Todd writes a smooth account of various, some lesser known exotic species that have made a home for themselves in North America.