Monarch of Deadman's Bay: The Life and Death of a Kodiak Bear

by Roger A. Caras, Christopher Frace

Life and Death of a Kodiak Bear

Genres: Animals, Nonfiction, Wildlife, Nature

185 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Roger A. Caras was an American wildlife photographer, writer, wildlife preservationist and television personality.

Known as the host of the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Caras was a veteran of network television programs including "Nightline," "ABC News Tonight" and "20/20" before devoting himself to work as president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and to becoming an author.

Reviews

[varsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a beautiful visual composition of such a magnificent creature. The author does an incredible job with his visual descriptions, it almost feels like a camera lens bringing a scenery into focus. It really feels like we're sitting there at Kodiak Island ourselves.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy going, visually entertaining

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful creatures and a point of view I've never considered. Bears are cool and this work makes my fear of them all the more valid (except 747)

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this book because it was on the shelves of a wonderful Arts and Crafts house my family rented together in Bozeman, Montana in the summer of 2004. Admittedly it was a thinner choice (185 pages), and time was limited since we were renting... AND it was about nature and an animal which appeals... But I did NOT finish the entire book during our week's time and was enjoying it so much that I ended up calling the owner of the house and asking to take it with me. So this means that I really liked this book, although too much time has passed to remember specific details - other than the painful awareness that these magnificent beasts are hunted relentlessly and deserve better. They are smart, cunning, show incredible skills in crossing their terrain to escape predators (human); but needless to say the hunters have some pretty amazing odds in their favor. I was definitely rooting for the Kodiak.

I'm going to cheat (since memory fails) and get a few ideas from the cover blurbs. The story is definitely told from the point of view of Monarch, a magnificent Kodiak bear of seventeen hundred pounds. Ironically, it is the legend and magnificence of this intelligent beast that draws hunters to kill rather than protect and esteem him. Wonderful and evocative descriptions of the this Alaskan Bay island's ecology and natural processes are icing on the cake. Except that stories of our disappearing wilderness and beasts aren't exactly the stuff of cake anymore...

[Luis Martinez jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really is a five-star novel. Written in a close-third, brief moments of stream-of-consciousness, and intense zooming in and out between natural scenes as tiny as a single cell or massive like the sea. Really beautiful prose. Sympathetic but never sentimental. And don't pass up on the preface. This guy had a pretty interesting carer leading up to this book.

The only part of it I didn't like was the man as ecological party pooper cliche that the first half-dozen chapters finish with. But Caras even redeems these by the close of the novel, where he contextualizes the drive to hunt within a deep and timeless tradition of bear-worship.

[Tim Painter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating. It covers the life of a Kodiak bear living on Kodiak island in Alaska. The bears there are massive (2000+ lbs) and this one is one of the biggest. An incredible tail, makes you wonder how they knew all of the things about the bear that they knew.

Well worth reading if you like stories about bears who kill things.

[Scott Eaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dad asked me to read this book when I was in the fifth grade. It's not a hard book to read, but it's not a kids book either. He wanted to challenge me to read something he appreciated himself. It was a struggle for a fifth grader, but it was a great triumph when I finished. It became a favorite then and remains a favorite now for both the story and the memories associated with it.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know parts of it were a little slow for me, but I love reading the stories of impressive wild animals like this.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating journey through a bear's life from a bear's eye view.

[David Rainey · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best little books I have ever read. The Kodiak bear mesmerizes you and one can almost feel the emotions the bear is having. My words cannot do it justice.