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Summary: I don't even like bugs, and it's an incredible page-turner.
Review: Grice is part Indiana Jones, part Robert Pirsig. It's adventure, it's philosophy, it's just plain riviting. Kind of like a darker Tim Cahill. Great book!
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Summary: Informative and Entertaining
Review: Grice portrays the predators of people in an enlightening and interesting way. I was so mesmerized by his experiences with such predators as the black widow, the pig, the tarantula, that I could not put the book down. The Red Hourglass was very well written, it provided factual information as witnessed by the author himself. It was so incredibly written, presenting the information not as a fact list, or text book style in leaving out description and emotion, but as a true literary masterpiece. I enjoyed this book immensly and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in nature, predation or wildlife biology.
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Summary: Wonderful
Review: His graceful prose makes the everyday lives of these critters into fascinating stories. Highly recommended, except to those with no intellectual curiousity.
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Summary: Interesting a 14 year old in nature.....
Review: I agree with the posted comments of other reviewers (at least the positive ones I have read). I bought this book on a review recommendation from Outside magazine. But, I want to add one slightly different perspective.... After I finished the book, I gave it to my 14 year old son, who enjoyed it immensely. He has a 14 year olds facination with things dangerous and odd. This book provides a perfect combination. And, best of all for me, he learned a bit about science, nature and evolution in the process.
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Summary: a wonderful, horrifying book
Review: I couldn't put this book down until, sadly, I finished it. The author puts a magnifying glass to a world of cold, horrific predators whose dramas take place, unnoticed, all around us.
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Summary: Outstanding style, interesting topic, compelling prose
Review: I haven't much to add to the glowing reviews, but will say this: It's a shame more non-fiction doesn't possess the obvious passion Grice has for his subject. Hard to recommend this book off-the-cuff to anyone but a reader that admires descriptive prose, but I'll continue to do so. A job well done--my hat is off to you, Mr. Grice!
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Summary: Surprised and Confused
Review: I picked up this book (its still on the shelves) because the author gave a really bad review to a book I really liked and I thought his book must then be lousy. Actually the Red Hour Glass is a great book-- it's slightly on the creepy side of riveting nature writing but Grice seems to deserve his accolades-- his absorption in the micro-world is incredible. However, the sensitivities of his book seem incongruous with his referring to the science topics in the recent Nabokov's Blues (Zoland Books) "trivial" and uncompelling. That is beyond me since they involved endangered species and questions of the origins of entire continents of animals and plants. Perhaps these larger issues are not his favorites or he was grinding some axe against those authors. Doesn't make sense; the Red Hour Glass is a good book but the book about Nabokov couldn't have been written in the same way-- its a different kind of topic. Well, read both and you'll probably find both compelling. "Trivial" endangered species are not, nor is working on these plants and animals before they go extinct.
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Summary: Surprised and Confused
Review: I picked up this book (its still on the shelves) because the author gave a really bad review to a book I really liked and I thought his book must then be lousy. Actually the Red Hour Glass is a great book-- it's slightly on the creepy side of riveting nature writing but Grice seems to deserve his accolades-- his absorption in the micro-world is incredible. However, the sensitivities of his book seem incongruous with his referring to the science topics in the recent Nabokov's Blues (Zoland Books) "trivial" and uncompelling. That is beyond me since they involved endangered species and questions of the origins of entire continents of animals and plants. Perhaps these larger issues are not his favorites or he was grinding some axe against those authors. Doesn't make sense; the Red Hour Glass is a good book but the book about Nabokov couldn't have been written in the same way-- its a different kind of topic. Well, read both and you'll probably find both compelling. "Trivial" endangered species are not, nor is working on these plants and animals before they go extinct.
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Summary: Great for a long weekend!!!
Review: I think that this book is the best at describing the life of different animals through the eyes of a person who loves them.
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Summary: Pick this book over Stephen King for your summer reading!
Review: It will give you more hair-raising thrills, and best of all, you learn lots of useful and fun information along the way! If you were once a child who wondered about what happened when you threw two insects into the same jar or have spent time observing critters at close range, this book will not disappoint you. At several junctures in my reading, I found Grice's writing too grisly but somehow could not tear myself away from continuing. Grice writes in a clear, unflinching style that often coupled humor with thought-provoking insights. I am disappointed to find out after finishing the book that this is his first and only book, for I will have to wait for him to write the next one.
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