On the Edge of the Wild: Passions and Pleasures of a Naturalist

by Stephen J. Bodio

Steve Bodio has always been on the edge of the hunting since he was young--and eating all that he kills; leaving Boston to travel west, ending up in Montana, then New Mexico; falling entranced with raptors and becoming a falconer; traveling the world for other hints of wildness--in lifestyle, landscape, and food.
These thought-provoking essays are broken down into six The Country, Raptors, Sport, One Review, Three Books I Live and Why, and Food and Life. As Bodio "This book is a collage in essays about the kind of life I found worth living so far." Read this book and enter Bodio's life--you'll find it enviable, outrageous, funny, sad, and breathtaking. It is a life that must be touched.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

Reviews

[Patty Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, maybe. It's good writing, but I wasn't expecting it to focus almost entirely on hunting. The author equates "being a naturalist" with hunting/fishing but rather than focusing on the beautiful places he does those things, and the joys of nature in those locations, he spends a lot of time defending being a hunter and sniping about vegetarians/environmentalists/animal rights people/catch-and-release fishermen, all of whom he thinks ruin everything.

[John Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well-written with some memorable anecdotes, but unless you're a hunter or an angler I don't think it holds enough interest. I only read about half of it, before I tired of the hunting and angling stories.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read. Master essayist Stephen Bodio introduces more thoughts on living closer with planet earth, as well as provides other insight into his life-philosophy.

[Neal Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays written by Bodio for some of the magazines that he writes for.
He also adds some others not previously published.
All of these give his perspective of the things he has experienced as a naturalist and a writer.
This is a broad range and varies a lot from discussions of life in Montana vs life in New Mexico,falconry,dealing with what your specific environment offers you,grouse hunting and a discussion of his personal firearms.
I didn’t find it nearly as well written as “Querencia “,
“Eagle Dreams” or “An Eternity of Eagles”;
However,his multiple discussions of “meat”vs “purely vegetarian”diets(Essays on”The Great Debate “&”Meat”)and relating St.Francis of Assisi to Ghandi of India(both professing vegetarianism—-page 150 in this book and it’s discussion by Gary Paul Nabhan reinforces my agreement with Bodio that “a good writer must be a good reader”;