Books
Rhinoceros
Reaktion Animal Series
“Success here owes as much to author as to subject. The former, a cultural and environmental historian, acquits herself admirably, distilling fact from fiction, employing supple and incisive prose, and trailing casual acumen in her measured wake.” - The Atlantic
The rhinoceros’ horn and massive leathery frame belie its docile and solitary nature, causing the animal to be consistently perceived by humans as a monster to be feared. Kelly Enright now deftly sifts fact from fiction in Rhinoceros.
Enright chronicles the vexed interactions between humans and rhinos, from early sightings that mistook the rhinoceros for the mythical unicorn to the eighteenth-century display of the rhinoceros in Europe as a wonder of nature and its introduction to the American public in 1830. The rhinoceros has long been a prized hunting object as well, whether for its horn as a valuable ingredient in Asian medicine or as a coveted trophy by nineteenth-century big-game hunters such as Theodore Roosevelt, and the book explains how such practices have led to the rhino’s status as an endangered species. Enright also considers portrayals of the animal in film, literature, and art, all in the service of discovering whether the reputed savagery of the rhino is a reality or a legacy of its mythic past.
A wide-ranging, highly illustrated study, Rhinoceros will be essential for scholars and animal lovers alike.
Osa and Martin
For the Love of Adventure
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“Enright reminds us of a time when the journey really meant more than the destination...[and] illustrates both the remarkable feats and pioneering spirit of America’s past as well as the questionable attitudes that made those feats possible.” - Durango Herald
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“a thrilling and inspiring read” - Wichita Eagle
Osa and Martin tells the story of legendary filmmakers and adventurers Osa and Martin Johnson, who, from the 1910s through the 1940s, brought the jungles of Africa and the South Pacific to millions of Americans on reel after movie reel. All the while, Osa did her best to create a home for them in the wildest of places. But beyond their work, equally if not more fascinating is their relationship to each other. Instead of living predictable lives, Osa and Martin were always seeking the next daring exploit. Osa did not simply accompany her husband on his explorations—she was the heroine and the heart of those adventures. “I have had the right sort of woman to take along with me into the desert and jungle,” said Martin. “If ever a wife were a partner to a man, it is Osa Johnson.”
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Back in America, Martin found respect among the scientific community and was a member of the world-famous Explorers Club. Osa became one of high society’s most admired women, respected for her intrepid spirit as well as her inimitable fashion sense. Both became influential voices in the field of wildlife conservation.
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In Osa and Martin Kelly Enright brings this amazing couple fully to life. She chronicles their journey from a honeymoon among cannibals to safari camps in lion country. In doing so she captures the true spirit of two people who explored and delighted in the world around them as that world, in turn, transformed them.
The Maximum of Wilderness
The Jungle in the American Imagination
Danger in the Congo! The unexplored Amazon! Long perceived as a place of mystery and danger, and more recently as a fragile system requiring our protection, the tropical forest captivated America for over a century. In The Maximum of Wilderness, Kelly Enright traces the representation of tropical forests--what Americans have typically thought of as "jungles"--and their place in both our perception of "wildness" and the globalization of the environmental movement.
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In the early twentieth century, jungle adventure--as depicted by countless books and films, from Burroughs' Tarzan novels to King Kong--had enormous mass appeal. Concurrent with the proliferation of a popular image of the jungle that masked many of its truths was the work of American naturalists who sought to represent an "authentic" view of tropical nature through museums, zoological and botanical gardens, books, and film. Enright examines the relationship between popular and scientific representations of the forest through the lives and work of Martin and Osa Johnson (who with films such as Congorilla and Simba blended authenticity with adventure), as well as renowned naturalists John Muir, William Beebe, David Fairchild, and Richard Evans Schultes. The author goes on to explore a startling shift at midcentury in the perception of the tropical forest--from the "jungle," a place that endangers human life, to the "rain forest," a place that is itself endangered.
“In this engaging book, Kelly Enright explores a complex relationship: as encounters with tropical forests help to shape American ideas about wilderness and conservation, those same ideas reciprocally influenced the management and exploitation of forests far outside the borders of the United States.” - Harriet Ritvo, MIT
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Rocky Mountains and Great Plains
America's Natural Places Series
America's Natural Places: Rocky Mountains and Great Plains examines over 50 of the most spectacular and important areas of this region, with each entry describing the importance of the area, the flora and fauna that it supports, threats to the survival of the region, and what is being done to protect it.
Organized by state within the volume, this work informs readers about the wide variety of natural areas across the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains and identifies places that may be near them that demonstrate the importance of preserving such regions.
