Graeme Gibson (1) (1934–2019)

A beautifully produced book, but much more gruesome than I realized when I bought it--sorry Mom!!! The selections are fascinating and well written and the illustrations are lovely and unusual, but the singular focus on the carnivorous nature of "beast" is just too much for me. I would expect that to be part of such a book, but it's really the central theme and because I don't have any affinity with the spiritual nature the author seems to ascribe to the taking and "offering" of life, it makes for generally disturbing nighttime reading. I can't imagine what Gibson has to say about birds...

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Gave this to my mom for Christmas. She loved it, so I'm borrowing it. Can't wait to start it tonight.… (meer)

"The Bedside Book of Beasts: A Wildlife Miscellany," by Graeme Gibson, is a compendium of writing about animals ranging from the ancient Greek writer Aelian to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Barry Lopez and beyond, along with occasional commentary by the author. It is arranged in a series of chapters concerning the relationships between predator and prey, animals and environment, mythology and animals, creatures and humans. Most gloriously, it is generously supplied with illustrations going back as far as the upper Paleolithic, which are absolutely gorgeous. Printed on heavy paper, this is a volume to be savoured slowly, dipping into it a page at a time, the better to draw out its pleasures. A complete delight.… (meer)