Chasing Kangaroos - by Tim Flannery (Paperback)

About the Book

In his most personal book yet, Tim Flannery, the internationally acclaimed author of "The Weather Makers," draws on three decades of travel, research, and field work to craft a love letter to his native land and one of its most unique and beloved inhabitants: the kangaroo. Crisscrossing the continent, Flannery shows us how the destiny of this extraordinary creature is inseparable from the environment that created it. Along the way he uses encounters with ancient aboriginal cultures and eccentric fossil hunters, farmers and scientists, kangaroo advocates and kangaroo hunters, to explore how Australia's deserts and rain forests have shaped human responses to the continent--and how kangaroos have evolved to handle the resulting challenges. Ultimately, "Chasing Kangaroos" is a captivating blend of memoir, travel, natural history, and evolutionary science--and further proof of Flannery's "offhand interdisciplinary brilliance" ("Entertainment Weekly").

Book Synopsis

The internationally acclaimed author of The Weather Makers crafts a love letter to his native land and one of its most unique inhabitants: the kangaroo.

Drawing on three decades of travel, research, and field work, Tim Flannery shows us how the destiny of the extraordinary kangaroo is inseparable from the environment that created it. Along the way he uses encounters with ancient aboriginal cultures, eccentric fossil hunters, farmers, scientists, kangaroo advocates, and kangaroo hunters, to explore how Australia's deserts and rain forests have shaped human responses to the continent--and how kangaroos have evolved to handle the resulting challenges. Ultimately, Chasing Kangaroos is a captivating blend of memoir, travel, natural history, and evolutionary science--and further proof of Flannery's "offhand interdisciplinary brilliance" (Entertainment Weekly).

"Absorbing, funny, and wonderfully learned." --Bill Bryson, New York Times-bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods

Review Quotes

"Flannery is the thinking man's Steve Irwin. . . . He makes anthropology, geology, biology, and physics not only readable, but also understandable and interesting." --Steve Giegerich, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Chasing Kangaroos is almost unclassifiable. It is partly about Flannery's formative years as a palaeontologist, partly a natural history of the Australian landscape, and partly a study of the evolution of kangaroos, which, I know, sounds like three reasons not to read it. In fact, from beginning to end it is absorbing, funny, and wondrously learned." --Bill Bryson, author of A Walk in the Woods

"Flannery is a playful Antipodean Stephen Jay Gould and Chasing Kangaroos an intellectually infectious recruiting pamphlet for the next generation of ecologists and paleontologists." --The Sydney Morning Herald

"Australian scientist/conservationist/explorer Flannery (The Weather Makers, 2006, etc.) tells the remarkable story of under-appreciated marsupials thriving Down Under. . . . Quite exhaustive, fired by boundless exuberance that leaps off the page." --Kirkus Reviews

"Having given us a real fright about global warming in The Weather Makers, Australian author Flannery hops right to it and tells us everything we wanted to know about kangaroos." --Library Journal

"Those who've had trouble sleeping since reading Flannery's book about global warming (The Weather Makers, 2006) may be surprised to learn that his true passion is not doomsday scenarios--it's kangaroos. . . . Written with both earthy humor and scientific precision, this book is almost as unique as its subject. . . . Readers who start out thinking that Flannery's mania for marsupials is a bit nerdy will soon envy his passion so much that they'll feel like they're the real nerd themselves. This delightful journey of discovery will appeal to fans of Bill Bryson and Mark Kurlansky." --Keir Graff, Booklist

"Fascinating. . . . Engaging." --Publishers Weekly

"Tim Flannery provides a fascinating account of the kangaroo's evolution and a natural ode to his beautiful homeland, Australia." --Chicago Tribune

"Chasing Kangaroos is an appealingly erudite yet utterly readable synthesis of memoir, travel, natural history, and evolutionary science--and further proof of Flannery's 'offhand interdisciplinary brilliance." --Village Books Newsletter

"Flannery's concluding argument for the kangaroo as a representative of Australia compels a reader to learn more about this remarkable animal." --Eliza McGraw, Washington Post

"Engaging . . . Part road trip, part nature show, and disguised memoir as well, Chasing Kangaroos takes the author to searing deserts, lush rain forests, and stark mountain ranges in search of kangaroos past and present, large and small." --William Grimes, The New York Times

"Vivid . . . A book so wild and entertaining it bounds out of easy categories." --Emily Carter Roiphe, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"Satisfying . . . Tagging along [with Flannery] is always informative, often fun, and frequently thought-provoking." --Brian Alexander, The San Diego Union-Tribune

About the Author

Tim Flannery is a scientist, explorer, and conservationist. He has published more than 130 scientific papers and several books, including the #1 international bestseller The Weather Makers, Throwim Way Leg, Here on Earth, and Among the Islands. He was named Australian of the Year in 2007, and from 2001 to 2013, he was Australia's Climate Commissioner.