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| John James Audubon: The Making of an American | 
| Author: Richard Rhodes
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $5.99
You Save: $10.01 (63%)
New (34) Collectible (1) from $5.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 254081
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 528
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 037571393X
Dewey Decimal Number: 598.092
EAN: 9780375713934
ASIN: 037571393X
Publication Date: April 11, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Expedited shipping is not available for this item. Items are mailed via USPS media mail within 2 business days and should arrive 4-14 business days later.
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 19 | | NEXT » |
MAGNIFICENT! April 25, 2008
This book is nothing short of MAGNIFICENT! Rhodes is an elegant writer who knows and loves his subject as well as history and gets it all right. This is more than the biography of one brilliant man; it is a history of frontier America in its early days and is populated with much more than birds. There are Indians, friends, enemies, 4-legged animals, and yes, loads and loads of American birds. The voyages back and forth from Europe to America are enlightening and amazing to think about. I knew next to nothing about birds when I bought this book; I bought it because of an interesting book review I read a couple of years ago.
There is another Audobon book that came out the same year, Under a Wild Sky by Souder, and I own that book, too. The Souder book was a finalist for the Pulitzer, but I really don't know how it could have been selected over this book by Richard Rhodes. For example, this book goes into all the details of Audubon's personal life right up to his last days on earth, whereas the Souder book covers most of it in a few paragraphs at the end of his book.
I LOVED this book! I had a couple of bird books next to my chair as I was reading (one, a condensed version of Audubon's Birds of America), and referred to them throughout reading, which was fun and very enlightening and educational. Audubon knew and loved his birds so well that he even wrote biographies of individual species, and indeed individual birds themselves! What could be more amazing than that?
This is a truly delicious book that I wish more people would read. Right now there are only 18 individual reviews, which is much less than this book should have. I always blame the publishers for not doing justice to the fabulous books they are entrusted with. Do yourself a favor and read this special book! It is about a great man, yes, but also covers so much more. In these days of being green, Audubon predicted (and saw the beginnings of) the sad ruination and ultimate demise of nature in all its forms, and that was in the early 1800s. He was a pioneer as well as a bright man, and a funny man, and a driven man who loved and adored his family and his birds.
Tenacity Incarnate June 19, 2007
In its own way, this book reveals as much about the early 'natural history' years of the nation's founding as "Roots" does about early 'social history' years of Americans' tangled involvement with its imported slave population. Just as a national audience sat transfixed before TV sets watching a human drama unfold, so too, a reader following Audubon's manic treks back and forth from the East Coast to Louisiana to capture and sketch American birds, and his inspired obsession develop and finance a folio of ornithological plates by selling subscriptions in England, would marvel first at his tenacity, second at his self-awareness, and finally recognize that we live in a much less fecund animal world than the one he captured.
Audubon was an innovator of the first rank, in devising a systematic methodology (wire-frame supports) for accurately posing the bird in its natural setting, and a keen observer of the world he was both illustrating and helping to eradicate. Throughout his collecting and drafting career, he noted the transformations of habitats and ranges, and recognized that the 'natural' world he knew would look very different after his death. Large-scale conversion of woodlands to other uses, and the relentless pressure of colonization, exerted a profound impact on the distribution and range of avian species, and Audubon watched it happen in real time. His descriptions of the 'bird counts' he conducted tell the story. Repeatedly, he describes flocks that 'blacken the sky' - something we'll never see today.
Rhodes' biography is exhaustive, and a review should note that there is quite a bit of superfluous detail brought into the description of his early years. Furthermore, Rhodes in this effort did not turn out to be a great prose stylist, so some serious editing for length would have helped. Those criticisms aside, the Rhodes biography succeeds in bringing to life a vanished world, one in which colonists, pioneers and settlers were surrounded by 'wild nature,' and most of the people could actually name the animals (and birds) they saw!
Fascinating, Encyclopedic Study of Audubon and Early America March 31, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
In the tradition of the great biographers, Rhodes leaves no stone unturned in his exploration of this remarkable fellow. The author carries us through the journey of the quintessential self-made man as he comes into maturity with his new country, the United States.
This is a study of a man, not an ornithological treatise. We all have seen the beautiful portraits of birds (terrific color plates in the paperback edition I have) and, through Rhodes efforts, discover Audubon's ingenuity in rendering them with the sort of lifelike quality he hoped to achieve. He earned his passage on many early excursions as the boat's hunter and trapper requiring lone forays into the hinterland. He clearly absorbed everything in his environment while he was making his way. His love for wildlife extended beyond avian society to all flora and fauna contained in the natural environment. He painted other animals and plants, as well. In his waning years, he executed a series of North American mammals with his sons. He had hoped to do much more.
Audubon's history is entwined with early America. He surely enjoyed his notoriety in European courts but always longed for his wild territory. In his later years (he died a decade before the Civil War), his assessment of the burgeoning nation was that it was becoming too crowded, overpopulated; ruined. THAT America was gone before Audubon died but Mr. Rhodes allows us an almost palpable glimpse at it as he illuminates one of it's most colorful citizens. Who would be a better guide into the young U.S. than this great naturalist, so skillfully revealed by this delightful writer?
Excellent book not just for birdwatchers! January 22, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you want to really gain a great deal of insight into the forming of the American Frontier...read this book! It is really far more about that than it is about JJ Audobon although he is a very interesting character all by himself. A fascinating person at a fascinating time in history. I highly recommend it.
James James Audubon: The Father of American Ornithology chronicled in a fine biography by Richard Rhodes January 21, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
John James Audubon (1785-1851) was born illegitimate in what is today the nation of Hati. He grew up in Nantes but his father sent him to Pennsylvania as a way to escape service in the army of Revolutionary France. Audubon came from a prosperous family and lived on a Pennyslvania farm owned by his family. He wed Lucy Bakewell an English girl who had immigrated to the United States from England.
The biography tells how Audubon operated a mill in Henderson,Ky. which went bankrupt. He was a constant traveler in the eastern United States drawing his beloved birds. Audubon traveled widely in Europe seeking to sell his lifework "The Birds of North America." Along the way he became famous meeting President Andrew Jackson; his literary idol Sir Walter Scott and being the second American to become a member of the Royal Society. Audubon was a complex man who loved America becoming a naturalized citizen. He was generally kind but could become volatile. Late in life he enjoyed drinking and profanity.
Audubon's life with Lucy was a great love story. His constant travel did put a strain on the marriage. His two surviving children were John and Victor. Audubon loved his family and was faithful to his wife.
Audubon pioneered painting birds in their natural habitat. His monumental "Birds of North America" shows him to be a supreme artist.
Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Rhodes quotes several journal entries and letters sent by Audubon during his lifetime. The book is well illustrated containing a section of beautiful Audubon prints.
This was a very interesting book for me and for anyone interested in
American history; art; ornithology and pioneer life. Recommended.
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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