The World of Farley Mowat: A Selection from His Works

by Farley Mowat

Presents thirteen selections which concern the animal nature of man and range from the humorous to the indignant to the adventurous

Genres: Biography, Nature, Short Stories, Nonfiction

338 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Farley McGill Mowat was a conservationist and one of Canada's most widely-read authors.

Many of his most popular works have been memoirs of his childhood, his war service, and his work as a naturalist. His works have been translated into 52 languages and he has sold more than 14 million books.

Mowat studied biology at the University of Toronto. During a field trip to the Arctic, Mowat became outraged at the plight of the Ihalmiut, a Caribou Inuit band, which he attributed to misunderstanding by whites. His outrage led him to publish his first novel, People of the Deer (1952). This book made Mowat into a literary celebrity and was largely responsible for the shift in the Canadian government's Inuit policy: the government began shipping meat and dry goods to a people they previously denied existed.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship RV Farley Mowat was named in honour of him, and he frequently visited it to assist its mission.

Reviews

[DJMikeG]

Excellent collection of Mowat's writings from many of his books. If you haven't read Mowat, this would be a great place to start. Excellent stuff.

[Vicky Mertz]

I was first introduced to Farley Mowat by the film, Never Cry Wolf as a kid. Loved the movie! As an adult I have read bios about him and then found this book at a rummage sale. Love reading about Mowat's adventures, discoveries and feeling his humanity as he encounters humans and animals around the world.

[Jake Jaqua]

Mowat is a good writer, and this is a collection of some of his most impressive tales. A couple of the selections are some of the best tales I've seen anywhere - especially the recreation of the horrors went through by a starving Eskimo group - gasp! It would have better if some more of the context of the excerpts would have been given. For example, we don't know what eventually happened for good or ill to the whale trapped in the bay, and it is not mentioned, I believe, in the starving group of Eskimos account that they were forcefully moved by the gov't to the barren wasteland they found themselves in, from their traditional hunting grounds.

[Chuck]

Farley Mowat was a Canadian author who passed away in 2014. This book is a selection of stories from thirteen of his published works. Mowat was a natural storyteller who had the gift of making you feel part of the action, and his stories are full of action! He has been accused of exaggeration and has admitted that his style is somewhat short of factual, but certainly not fiction.

This is an excellent collection of works from many different periods of his adventurist life. Stealing them would make for some of the best fireside tales on a stormy winter night. He had a piercing perception of humanity and was a champion of wildlife and the native Canadian peoples.

I loved reading about his adventures and enjoyed his vivid descriptions of nature, people, and places from a life very well lived!

[Taraya]

I enjoy Mowat’s style of writing and keen perception on humanity’s interaction with nature, but I oftentimes find myself questioning whether some of the things he has experienced and writes about are true. Are these instances true, or true with a bucket of embellishment? I view his writing only as stories, not necessarily as an accurate representation of a lived experience.

[John Benson]

I have read many of these selections over the years as I have really enjoyed Farley Mowat's writings. The selections work well as a kind of autobiography from pieces about his childhood in Saskatchewan; his wartime years; research in the Arctic and life along the ocean and in Newfoundland. A satisfying selection.

[Lydia]

Well, I feel sort of torn about this book.

On the one hand, Mowat was a fantastic writer of nature as well as humanity. I genuinely enjoyed reading this book.

On the other hand, he has all but confessed to manipulating the truth in order to tell compelling stories. But, I admit, I am compelled.

This particular volume is a compilation of some of Mowat's works. This book seems to be somewhat obscure, but Mowat himself is prominent in Canadian environmentalism. It's unfortunate he felt that the truth about his wolves and the native people he lived among was not convincing enough on its own. At the same time, I'm not sure he's wrong.

[jack]

selections from mr mowats various works.

[Rainer Salahub]

This is just a test

[Huguette Larochelle]

lots of killing of animals,