Jeff Campbell (2)

Some days one can't help hating humanity. On those days I strongly recommend this book full of well-verified stories about various non-humans who demonstrate empathy and creativity and save the lives of humans, whether the humans deserve it or not. That many of these fabulous critters are either wild or rescued just makes the whole thing that much better. Also, I like the illustrations. And I really like that Campbell never overstates the case for what the critters in question may have been thinking or feeling. He just reports the facts. Facts which make it abundantly clear that all social animals share an inclination to help, even at great personal risk, regardless of the species in trouble.

The most positive and affirming book I've read this year. These animals make me want to be a better human.

Library copy.… (mere)

The usual Lonely-Planet goodness for the Promised Land, but one who's usefulness is only marred by its, and America's, relative sizes. At 600-plus pages, Lonely Planet USA probably won't fit into your backpack; at 300 million people and four time-zones, neither would the US's scale and ambition fit into a backpack-friendly book.

The price-discerning backpacker, then, would be better served by going to a smaller, backpacker-friendly nation such as Thailand, or perhaps, Lonely Planet's other ode to the Promised Land, "USA on a Shoestring" (assuming there's a recent edition). All others would probably want to be ripped off by five-star hotels, strip-malls, tourist-traps, celeb-hunts and everything else Americana that the book _hasn't_ mentioned.

Full cred to this effort though, it's only when you take the book and get on the road that you realize US' jaw-dropping scale.… (mere)