Product Description

As anyone who has patted a dog, smelled a rose, taken a walk, or even had a drink in the garden well knows, humans have a soul-deep need for non-human forms of life. This book is about pushing our birthright of wildness just that little bit further.

In How to be Wild, Simon Barnes takes us on a breath-taking journey through a year, from one raucous spring to the next, with elephants and mosquitoes, dolphins and flying squirrels, giraffes and butterflies as his companions. And again and again, he helps us realise an essential truth: that by enjoying the wild world, and by seeking to understand the wild world, our own lives become infinitely richer and more satisfying.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26240 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author

Simon Barnes is the multi-award-winning chief sportswriter for the Times. He is also a novelist, nature writer and horseman, and the author of a dozen books, including the bestselling How to be a Bad Birdwatcher and The Meaning of Sport (Short Books). He lives in Suffolk with his family.

Customer Reviews

A masterpiece
This book contains the answer of how to save life on earth. Simon Barnes presents a series of snapshots of his experiences of nature. This is not a tale of dramatic adventures in the wilderness - this is a tale of the small things that are glimpsed from the kitchen window, on an evening walk, in a short break from the hotel on a foreign work tripp. Barnes manages to find beauty and meaning in all these encounters with wilife - both the spectacular and the ordinary. Best of all the style is not preachy - he just seeks to inspire us by sharing his own feelings. A great read!

a new convert
This book will convert you to a new appreciation of all things wild. Barnes, with his love of whisky, literature and sport, is a natural story-teller. And the story he tells is about his own experiences with birds and animals - whether near his Suffolk home or in the wilds of Africa - and what nature and its preservation means for the world and our future. His mixture of personal reminiscences, anecdotes and extensive knowledge is combined with an irrepressible enthusiasm and humour to create a compelling read. I am a convert - now I need to get out there and experience more of the wild, as we all do.