An award-winning nature writer takes us on a thrilling journey deep into the domains of strange—and often dangerous—animals.
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Jul 21, 2010
Richard Conniff, a winner of the National Magazine Award and writer for Smithsonian, National Geographic and other magazines has collected many of his best travel and nature writing essays in Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals. He takes the reader from Botswana to the Amazon to Madagascar to the top of his head as he chronicles his adventures in the wild. Yes, he does swim with piranhas and no, they do not eat him, in fact all piranhas are not alike a
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Jun 14, 2009
Jason
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Who knew that baboon social behavior resembles Jane Austen novels? Or that the ants in kid’s ant farms are among the most venomous of all arthropods? From big cats to horseshoe crabs and snapping turtles to termites, Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time is an adventurous and uncommon tour of the animal kingdom.
Richard Conniff writes with vibrancy and verve. His prose crackles with the leaves on an African savannah and shimmers with the sun on a Louisiana bayou. He’s self-deprecatin More...
Richard Conniff writes with vibrancy and verve. His prose crackles with the leaves on an African savannah and shimmers with the sun on a Louisiana bayou. He’s self-deprecatin More...
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Jun 01, 2010
Linnae
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Essays on everything from quantifying the pain of various insect bites, to tracking African wild dogs, to some of the absurdities of the scientific naming system. An entertaining writing style, coupled with profiles of some of the best known members of the animal kingdom (with a few lesser-knowns thrown in), make this a winner.
The same tarantula hawk's venom has a totally different effect on humans. "If you get stung by one," Schmidt says, "you might as well lie down a More...
The same tarantula hawk's venom has a totally different effect on humans. "If you get stung by one," Schmidt says, "you might as well lie down a More...
Mar 09, 2011
Gretchen
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I've enjoyed reading Richard Conniff's articles in the New York Times and decided to check out his books. Conniff leads an interesting life of adventure and natural history study to many parts of the word most people never have an opportunity to visit, such as Africa, and places close to home such as the coastal U.S. and New Orleans. In Swimming with Piranhas... Conniff uses dry wit and humor to engage the reader in his adventures to study natural history. Who wouldn't be intrigued by "W
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Jul 03, 2009
Melody
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Well-written, insanely informative and lots of fun. Conniff is wry, self-deprecating and endearingly goofy. For me, the standout chapter was The Value of a Good Name. If you have the slightest interest in nomenclature and science, you owe yourself this slice of real-life hilarity. I learned things about Piranhas (including the fact I've been pronouncing it wrong all these years), how to find spiderwebs (fill a sock with cornstarch- shake gently over your yard- boggle at the fecundity), what happ
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Sep 08, 2010
David
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It sounds like it should be some kind of 60s personal revelation story or poetry collection, but what it actually is is a collection of essays by one of the leading natural history writers. From wild dogs in Africa, to jellyfish in Monterey Bay and, yes, pirhanas in South America (and many points in between, including your very own head), it's an entertaining look at the world we live in.
Jul 10, 2009
Betsy
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Some of the essays I’ve enjoyed quite a lot but I tend to get fidgety when too much technical information is included, with the exception of the chapter on termites! I would enjoy reading essays here and there much more than reading the collection straight through. Some of the writing is in the same humorous vein as Mary Roach, the author of Stiff, Spook and Bonk. I had hoped that more of the essays would stress the high danger aspect that seems to be promised by the subtitle but with a few exce
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Feb 11, 2012
g-na
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The title of this book is a bit misleading as it is not strictly about the author's adventures with wildlife, but more like his encounters with wildlife and the people that study animals. He goes into detail about various researchers and their subjects, but I do wish he had included more amusing/amazing anecdotes.
Dec 30, 2009
Turi
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Richard Conniff's live has taken him around the world, reporting on animals and the people who study them. He's had some opportunities to do "dumb stuff" (as he puts it), like allowing himself to be bitten by fire ants or stung by jellyfish. But he also presents his experiences in a way that is not only entertaining, but gives us some of the fascinating science behind the creatures.
Jul 27, 2009
Elizabeth
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this collection of previously published essays about the animal world is quite interesting. conniff's informal tone pulls you into each situation without the distraction of scientific jargon. he has essays devoted to jellyfish, hummingbirds, wild dogs, insects! i found some of the information quite enlightening. an easy read. you can read the essays out of order and still come away with a sense of cohesion.
Nov 10, 2009
Beth
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Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time is a wonderful collection of natural history essays, but some stories are definitely more entertaining than others - sometimes Conniff gets caught up in "just the facts" and at other times, his writing just shines and he has such a nice turn of phrase.
Aug 15, 2010
Rachel
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The title of this book is misleading. The author didn't really do that many dangerous things but he does travel for scientific reasons and shares a lot of interesting information that he found out. He is very humorous with some great turns of phrase that are laugh out loud funny.
May 19, 2011
Brett
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This book was soooo amazing. Growing up all i did was watch animal planet. This book brought me back to my childhood with all the authors encounters and stories. Definitely a must read for those with an interest in science, animals, or frankly nothing else to do.
Oct 13, 2009
Lynda
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I have always enjoyed Richard Conniff's stories in Smithsonian magazine so I bought this book. It is a series of essays that he wrote telling tales from his writing adventures. I now have a new appreciation for the mites that live in my eye lashes.
Jul 09, 2009
Myke
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My only complaint is that I was hoping he would go into some detail about the box jellyfish and its lethality, but that's ok. Great book to pick up, read, put down, and repeat as it's broken up in to perfectly sized portions each regarding a different animal or experience.
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Nov 23, 2010
Liz
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This book is a great study of man's quest to do dumb things even though we are supposed to be the most evolved species. This book made me laugh out loud and thank God my kids didn't do this dumb stuff.
Nov 17, 2010
Foggygirl
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I read this book over a year ago and couldn't put it down for two days. It was both absolutely hilarious and informative. The title says it all.
Aug 11, 2009
As seen in the <a href="http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/oh-sting-where-is-thy-death/>New York Times</a>.
Aug 17, 2011
Skedatt
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So lewd in some places that it was hard to appreciate the adventure or the science. Couldn't finish it.
Apr 26, 2010
Christina
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Essays from a travel writer for Smithsonian and National Geographic. Mostly set in Africa and South America.
Mar 04, 2011
John
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Fun series of short essays on various critter-focused trips the author has taken. African wild dogs, cheetahs, piranhas, etc. A mix of anecdote and fact - sort of a Gerald Durrell lite.
Jan 29, 2010
Sarah
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I sure wish I had this book for a textbook back in the Biology days. Conniff really knows how to teach readers about science. He's been through so much with animals for research for writing his articles. Each chapter is about a different animal. My favorite was the first one about wild dogs in Africa and I think the chapters about monkeys were close behind. Who doesn't want to learn more about termites, leopards, cheetahs, and dung beetles? I'm not really sure if I can find any students to read
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Jul 17, 2009
Jennifer
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Extremely accessible and interesting animal essays that were not only fun to read but full o' facts. Good stuff, this. If you like travel essays or popular science nonfiction, this is for you.
Mar 28, 2011
Cat
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This is one of the most enjoyable pieces of nature writing I have read in a long time. Each essay was incredibly interesting and often funny. I really appreciated the variety as well, he covers everything from charismatic megafauna like leopards and lemurs to cringe inducing aniamls like mites, ants and jellies. I would recommend this book to anybody who has an interest in the natural world.
Jun 22, 2009
Elisha
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Bill Bryson is better... It was just a little hard to get through. Didn't finish.
Nov 06, 2011
Brett
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Misleading description of this book makes the reader assume it will be about encountering dangers in the wild. This is not the case. It is more of an account of one man's small adventures and the wonders of the animal kingdom from spiders to wild dogs. Not a page turner but had an interesting highlight here and there.
Jan 16, 2011
Barbara
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Love the individual chapters on different animals, especially--of course--the cheetah one. I never thought I could be so entranced by a description of a spider spinning a web, but Conniff has a way of making it fascinating.
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Oct 23, 2011
Sarah
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i would have read more of this (skimmed it) but i had to return it to the library. i will say that i was expecting more of an "adventure" book, and it wasn't really that, at least what i got through. it was more of a memoir.
