Anyone thinking of writing a book-length piece of nonfiction journalism needs to see how Vaillant does it, because he's much more successful than many other writers (I'm looking at you, Marty), even though his method is ultimately predictable. It's not unputdownable, this book, but Vaillant has again done a great job of wrapping a complex array of thorough background elements around a gripping but ultimately brief story. (Maybe his third book will be subtitled A True Story of, and his fourth simply A True Story. Now that I've sat down to read it, I can tell you that I had a really tough time interrupting myself while reading The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival. Mind you, I was unpleasantly surprised while teaching the book to my fourth-year class in literature and environment to discover, mid-lecture, that the chapter sequence is quite different between the hardcover and softcover first editions! I haven't seen an explanation for the difference, but maybe I should just ask him.Īnyway, his second book came out last year, again to considerable acclaim, and perversely I've deferred reading it for months after being loaned a copy. I've read John Vaillant before, and I really enjoyed his first book The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed.
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