Rating: 
Summary: Doug Peacock scores a touchdown, home run and a hat trick!!
Review: Mr. Peacock is able to grab the reader and subject them to his inner most experiences of war, wilderness and Grizzly Bears. You feel yourself walking and living with him. His prose is powerful, riviting, real, and refreshing. His personal deliverence is the wilderness and the bears. One can only hope that the Grizzly Hilton will never be discovered by those who wish to exploit it or by waves of tourists who with good intentions will destroy it. Some things in this world are just ment to remain pure. My final note salutes Mr. Peacock for his military service in a terrible war that nobody wanted but he did his job anyway. I'm glad that his wildersness experiences have made him whole again. Thanks, Doug.
Rating: 
Summary: There are few like him anymore.
Review: My interest was piqued by Jack Turner's "Abstract Wild" which stands alone as the most intense and vital book written on the experience of wildness. From Turner's comments I ventured to buy a copy of Peacock's book "Grizzly Years" even after having read some of the negative comments I found in the reviews given. There is some truth to these comments but they are far outweiged by honesty and boldness of the experiences of Doug Peacock throughout his `Grizzly Years' which of course are not simply the years Peacock spent studying and living near Grizzlies but rather the years of his own transformation from out of the nightmare that was the Vietnam War. I don't think it is an accident that as one proceeds through the book, which is interspersed with Vietnam war experiences, these experiences no longer command the full attention of Peacock as his healing takes place. More and more he assumes the life of a person living in the moment and can pass by the old nightmares for the realness of his life now. No doubt writing this book itself was a part of his cleaning out process and the leaving behind of past lives because they are no longer necessary. Rather than being excerpts to attract or hold the attention they are an integral part of the story, first the very real and immensly powerful experience of combat and the ever present horror of suffering which is always there confronting him, making his life moments which are full of life or death and nothing in between. Peacock came back no longer interested in anything except moment which involved life and death situations and the Grizzly offered just such an opportunity, being unpredictable, dangerous and fully capable of killing any human being, but choosing not to, the bears formed the backbone of his life for many years until gradually he found not only fear and danger and the vitality of life but also the beauty seemingly hidden in each moment no matter how perilous. Slowly Peacock finds his way back to earth so to speak and yet greatly transformed and his meeting Lisa, his wife to be, helped in the process. Peacock talks of bears as they truly are, far from the attention seeking, sensationalistic presentations of some so called nature programs which concentrate on the alienation of people from nature rather than allowing for the linkage that can take place as the human being realises he is part of the whole, that is, part not a piece of. Peacock's honesty and forthrightness is impressive, Terry Tempest Williams knows what she is talking about when she says the book does not lie. Unlike some who attempt to make the animal into some sort of cute creature to be oggled at and petted Peacock never forgets the bears are other and yet not altogether that different, he gives them the freedom to be themselves not only by being as inconspicuous as he can but also in his own mind. There are few like him anymore.
Rating:
Summary: There are few like him anymore.
Review: My interest was piqued by Jack Turner's "Abstract Wild" which stands alone as the most intense and vital book written on the experience of wildness. From Turner's comments I ventured to buy a copy of Peacock's book "Grizzly Years" even after having read some of the negative comments I found in the reviews given. There is some truth to these comments but they are far outweiged by honesty and boldness of the experiences of Doug Peacock throughout his `Grizzly Years' which of course are not simply the years Peacock spent studying and living near Grizzlies but rather the years of his own transformation from out of the nightmare that was the Vietnam War. I don't think it is an accident that as one proceeds through the book, which is interspersed with Vietnam war experiences, these experiences no longer command the full attention of Peacock as his healing takes place. More and more he assumes the life of a person living in the moment and can pass by the old nightmares for the realness of his life now. No doubt writing this book itself was a part of his cleaning out process and the leaving behind of past lives because they are no longer necessary. Rather than being excerpts to attract or hold the attention they are an integral part of the story, first the very real and immensly powerful experience of combat and the ever present horror of suffering which is always there confronting him, making his life moments which are full of life or death and nothing in between. Peacock came back no longer interested in anything except moment which involved life and death situations and the Grizzly offered just such an opportunity, being unpredictable, dangerous and fully capable of killing any human being, but choosing not to, the bears formed the backbone of his life for many years until gradually he found not only fear and danger and the vitality of life but also the beauty seemingly hidden in each moment no matter how perilous. Slowly Peacock finds his way back to earth so to speak and yet greatly transformed and his meeting Lisa, his wife to be, helped in the process. Peacock talks of bears as they truly are, far from the attention seeking, sensationalistic presentations of some so called nature programs which concentrate on the alienation of people from nature rather than allowing for the linkage that can take place as the human being realises he is part of the whole, that is, part not a piece of. Peacock's honesty and forthrightness is impressive, Terry Tempest Williams knows what she is talking about when she says the book does not lie. Unlike some who attempt to make the animal into some sort of cute creature to be oggled at and petted Peacock never forgets the bears are other and yet not altogether that different, he gives them the freedom to be themselves not only by being as inconspicuous as he can but also in his own mind. There are few like him anymore.
Rating:
Summary: Montagnards to Grizzlys
Review: Of all the characters created by Edward Abbey none interested me more than the Green Beret turned eco warrior George Hayduke. So it was a great surpise to find this book by the man who inspired the fictional charater. In this book Doug Peacock returns home from two tours in Vietnam as a SF medic. He immediatly buys a used jeep, lots of beer, and sets off into the American wilderness to get a grip on all that happened to him. As Peacock goes deeper into the wilderness he is also drawn back to Vietnam. The book has serveral flash backs to his days fighting with the Vietnamese hill people, the Montangards, that are as harrowing as you would find in any VN war book. Soon Peacock discovers the phight of the grizzly bear, a symbol of wild America barely hanging on. Peacock supports himself with low paying government jobs such as fire lookout and wilderness ranger or rural mailman, but his real purpose in life is to trek after the grizzly and attempt to protect their existence. Peacock finds a parallel between the Vietnam hill people and the embattled grizzly. This book will be read by many enviornmetalist who would never think of reading a Vietnam war book, but will find themselves doing just that. hopefully they will gain respect for veterans as they learn about our vanishing wilderness.
Rating:
Summary: Montagnards to Grizzlys
Review: Of all the characters created by Edward Abbey none interested me more than the Green Beret turned eco warrior George Hayduke. So it was a great surpise to find this book by the man who inspired the fictional charater. In this book Doug Peacock returns home from two tours in Vietnam as a SF medic. He immediatly buys a used jeep, lots of beer, and sets off into the American wilderness to get a grip on all that happened to him. As Peacock goes deeper into the wilderness he is also drawn back to Vietnam. The book has serveral flash backs to his days fighting with the Vietnamese hill people, the Montangards, that are as harrowing as you would find in any VN war book. Soon Peacock discovers the phight of the grizzly bear, a symbol of wild America barely hanging on. Peacock supports himself with low paying government jobs such as fire lookout and wilderness ranger or rural mailman, but his real purpose in life is to trek after the grizzly and attempt to protect their existence. Peacock finds a parallel between the Vietnam hill people and the embattled grizzly. This book will be read by many enviornmetalist who would never think of reading a Vietnam war book, but will find themselves doing just that. hopefully they will gain respect for veterans as they learn about our vanishing wilderness.
Rating: 
Summary: I wish I liked it more
Review: Peacock is a strong descriptive writer, bringing the reader along with him as he explores the woods seeking grizzly bears or as he recounts haunting episodes from his Vietnam War days. But while his stories are usually interesting, they're only occasionally compelling. I never had that can't-put-it-down feeling. Plus, there's only so many ways to describe a hike in the woods, and after awhile Peacock's bear quests begin to sound repetitive. This may be a book that's better read in small bites, rather than one gulp. Read a chapter or two, then put it down for a month or so. When you're ready to be transported back to the woods, pick it up again.
Rating:
Summary: Further reading...
Review: Rather than heap more deserved praise upon Peacock's searingly personal account of his experiences with North America's largest carnivore, I thought it more useful to offer a suggestion for those people wanting more. Rick Bass' _The Lost Grizzlies_ is as close to a sequel as one is likely to find, even featuring Peacock himself in the narrative. (Ed Abbey's truck shows up too!)
Rating:
Summary: Living with Grizzly Bears
Review: Think Jane Goodall and her chimps. Doug Peacock, a Green Beret medic in Vietnam, returned from his tour of duty in need of peace and healing. He wandered around the West and ended up in grizzly country. Lots of great stories and writing reminiscent of Edward Abbey. In fact, Peacock is the ecoterroist model for Hayduke in Abbey's novel, "The Monkey Wrench Gang." A good read!
Rating:
Summary: Living with Grizzly Bears
Review: Think Jane Goodall and her chimps. Doug Peacock, a Green Beret medic in Vietnam, returned from his tour of duty in need of peace and healing. He wandered around the West and ended up in grizzly country. Lots of great stories and writing reminiscent of Edward Abbey. In fact, Peacock is the ecoterroist model for Hayduke in Abbey's novel, "The Monkey Wrench Gang." A good read!
Rating:
Summary: Peacock's Grizzly Years
Review: This book describes Doug Peacock's bear-watching and travels through the American west during the 1970s and 1980s. The writing is fine. What is best about the book are the unique experiences and lifestyle of Peacock. Most chapters describe Peacock's activities while migrating up and down the Rocky mountains to observe bears in their own seasonal patterns. Other chapters cover his experiences living in an observation tower in Glacier National Park. For a humorous and gripping read about Doug Peacock, bears, and tramping through the woods, seek out The Lost Grizzlies by Rick Bass.
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