Rating: 
Summary: Truly a love affair with butterflies
Review: Before reading An Obsession with Butterflies, a butterfly was something that caught my attention as it flitted across a meadow. Russell's beautiful writing and in-depth research makes high level science accessible while still keeping the focus on the wonder of nature. This book not only increased my knowledge about the life events and diversity of butterflies but gave me insight into the what butterflies have meant to mankind across cultures and to individuals both obsessed and enthralled with these beautiful creatures. This is a great book for expanding your perspective on many fronts.
Rating:
Summary: Truly a love affair with butterflies
Review: Before reading An Obsession with Butterflies, a butterfly was something that caught my attention as it flitted across a meadow. Russell's beautiful writing and in-depth research makes high level science accessible while still keeping the focus on the wonder of nature. This book not only increased my knowledge about the life events and diversity of butterflies but gave me insight into the what butterflies have meant to mankind across cultures and to individuals both obsessed and enthralled with these beautiful creatures. This is a great book for expanding your perspective on many fronts.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: I approached this book with keen anticipation. The topic looked promising and the writer, according to the cover blurb, has "the allure of a poet and the clarity of a scientist". Which serves as a reminder never to believe cover blurbs.I have to admit that I did not read the whole book, not even most of it, and that is unusual for me. I found it to be so badly written that I couldn't maintain focus. Anecdotes that might have been pure delight were bland and meaningless. I'm appalled that this woman is teaching English at the university level. Part of the problem is that she overuses short sentences and even short paragraphs and this robs the text of continuity. The writer appears too have done a great deal of research. It would have been better for the reader if she had handed it all over to someone who could have made an interesting book out of it.
Rating:
Summary: Fine Book But Over-Cute Writing
Review: I enjoyed this look into the world of caterpillars, butterflies, and moths, yet the author's much-ballyhooed writing style was both the major strength and weakness of the book. Her prose can be clever and pithy, but too often it's over-cute with short, incomplete sentences; transitions that are sometimes so choppy they left me wondering if a manuscript page had fluttered away; and a narrative that flew from subject to subject like the flitty flight of a butterfly. In the end, I was left with an overall feeling of disappointment: The story didn't seem fully fleshed out, as if this was just an outline and notes for the real story, dashed off to meet a deadline or cash in on a big advance check.
Rating:
Summary: A Pleasure to Read Such Smart and Stunning Prose
Review: I love this book! Where else would I learn that most butterflies taste with their feet, that a stage of caterpillar life is an "instar," and that ghost plants really do exist? As a poet, I appreciate the rhythm of Russell's lines. I learned not only about butterflies but also about the eccentric characters, Lepidopterists, that explore the world in search of new species. However, it is the way Russell connects us with the Painted Lady and the sex life of the Sharp Whites that I most admire. She bridges our daily lives with that of artful instruments of flight in such a way that we can't help but be changed for the better by the wisdom this book brings. An Obsession with Butterflies makes me glad to be alive.
Rating:
Summary: A Pleasure to Read Such Smart and Stunning Prose
Review: I love this book! Where else would I learn that most butterflies taste with their feet, that a stage of caterpillar life is an "instar," and that ghost plants really do exist? As a poet, I appreciate the rhythm of Russell's lines. I learned not only about butterflies but also about the eccentric characters, Lepidopterists, that explore the world in search of new species. However, it is the way Russell connects us with the Painted Lady and the sex life of the Sharp Whites that I most admire. She bridges our daily lives with that of artful instruments of flight in such a way that we can't help but be changed for the better by the wisdom this book brings. An Obsession with Butterflies makes me glad to be alive.
Rating:
Summary: Rewarding and entertaining read
Review: I picked up this slim volume for a quick read and was treated to a meditation on the subject of butterfly species, as well as the insect and plant world. The book overflows with information, but the wealth of details never seems dry or textbookish. I laughed out loud at times with the insights about the subject's mating and survival behaviors revealed with wonderfully wry comparisons to everyday events. I'm left with the feeling that while seemingly a fluke of nature ("if all butterflies disappeared so would a few flowers-but not many"), the butterfly fits in nature's web through complex relationships with the plants and insects that inhabit its domain: Ants that become the children to the caterpillar's Pied Piper and plants whose leaves mimic the appearance of ones that have been ravaged by the caterpillar. And perhaps, most telling our own relationship to these singular creatures: as eccentrics, as collectors, as art appreciators, as naturalists, and as scientists. I count myself among a select group of those who have taken the time to learn about the natural world from the point of view of the butterfly. This is the rare book that is greater than the sum of the details due to the author's exceptional, wide-angle approach to a multifaceted puzzle. A pleasure to read for the humor and insight.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!!
Review: I thoroughly loved this book - it had interesting butterfly information, stories from the early times of butterfly collecting, and other great insights. It usually takes me awhile to read books due to usually being exhausted after work and only getting through a few pages per night but this one I just couldn't put down. I admit it, I do have an obsession with butterflies, but that goes for all of nature and the gifts of mother earth - so the subject matter was right up my alley. It gives good history and good interesting facts about butterflies. Loved it!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!!
Review: I thoroughly loved this book - it had interesting butterfly information, stories from the early times of butterfly collecting, and other great insights. It usually takes me awhile to read books due to usually being exhausted after work and only getting through a few pages per night but this one I just couldn't put down. I admit it, I do have an obsession with butterflies, but that goes for all of nature and the gifts of mother earth - so the subject matter was right up my alley. It gives good history and good interesting facts about butterflies. Loved it!
Rating:
Summary: Invitation to a Winged World
Review: Naturalist Sharman Russell once again leads the reader into territory where few humans tread, in this case into the realm of butterflies and moths. Using extensive research, including interviews with experts, literature reviews, and facts culled from scientific papers, Ms. Russell explains secret lives of butterflies and their habitats. She also reveals the characters of some humans who devote their lives to study and to preserve this often-overlooked member of the insect realm. The author's gentle grasp of humor, irony and poetic language makes often-complex information accessible--in short, lyrical chapters-- to the layperson. This book brings all the wonder and fragile beauty of butterflies into your mind.
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