Of Time and Turtles
Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell
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- 15,99 €
Publisher Description
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * AMAZON EDITOR’S PICK and BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * INDIE BESTSELLER * A SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE'S BEST SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR * THE WASHINGTON POST'S BEST NONFICTION OF THE YEAR PICK * A NEW SCIENTIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR *THE PERFECT GIFT FOR NATURE LOVERS * INCLUDES GORGEOUS ARTWORK *
"Montgomery's heart-tugging conversations with teammates and her commitment to helping an octogenarian named Fire Chief reveal turtles to be perfect conduits for meditations on aging, disability and chosen family.” —Scientific American
National Book Award finalist for The Soul of an Octopus and New York Times bestseller Sy Montgomery turns her journalistic curiosity to the wonder and wisdom of our long-lived cohabitants—turtles—and through their stories of hope and rescue, reveals to us astonishing new perspectives on time and healing. For fans of The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year and An Immense World.
When acclaimed naturalist Sy Montgomery and wildlife artist Matt Patterson arrive at Turtle Rescue League, they are greeted by hundreds of turtles recovering from injury and illness. Endangered by cars and highways, pollution and poachers, these turtles—with wounds so severe that even veterinarians would have dismissed them as fatal—are given a second chance at life. The League’s founders, Natasha and Alexxia, live by one motto: Never give up on a turtle.
But why turtles? What is it about them that inspires such devotion? Ancient and unhurried, long-lived and majestic, their lineage stretches back to the time of the dinosaurs. Some live to two hundred years, or longer. Others spend months buried under cold winter water. Montgomery turns to these little understood yet endlessly surprising creatures to probe the eternal question: How can we make peace with our time?
In pursuit of the answer, Sy and Matt immerse themselves in the delicate work of protecting turtle nests, incubating eggs, rescuing sea turtles, and releasing hatchlings to their homes in the wild. We follow the snapping turtle Fire Chief on his astonishing journey as he battles against injuries incurred by a truck.
Hopeful and optimistic, Of Time and Turtles is an antidote to the instability of our frenzied world. Elegantly blending science, memoir, and philosophy, and drawing on cultures from across the globe, this compassionate portrait of injured turtles and their determined rescuers invites us all to slow down and slip into turtle time.
Perfect gift for nature lovers.Includes a signature of photos plus stunning, photo-realistic full color paintings and black-and-white chapter opener art by wildlife artist Matt Patterson.Read more books by Sy Montgomery such as How to Be a Good Creature and The Soul of an Octopus.Don't miss The Book of Turtles for children.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this moving outing, National Book Award finalist Montgomery (The Soul of an Octopus) reports on the efforts of the Turtle Rescue League, a Southbridge, Mass., wildlife group that provides a permanent home for disabled turtles as well as rehabilitative care for those "recovering from illness or injury" or "who hatched out late or too small." Montgomery offers a fly-on-the-wall perspective of the group's daily operations, accompanying staff to provide water to nests at risk of drying out during a heat wave and return beached sea turtles to the ocean after a storm. Along the way, she profiles staffers, including "flashy extrovert" Alexxia Bell and "soft-spoken introvert" Natasha Nowick, who created the organization after bonding over their love of turtles, but the reptiles are the real stars, including Pizza Man, the red-footed tortoise rescued from a drug dealer's basement who roams the League's office, and Fire Chief, a massive snapping turtle nursed back to health after getting hit by a car. Montgomery captures the joy in the team's successes and the sorrow in their losses (a particularly grim scene depicts a mass burial for turtles who died of their various injuries), and Patterson's sketches of spotted and painted turtles in their natural habitats delight. It's an enjoyable if at times somber account of the everyday travails of dedicated conservationists. Illus.
