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51 reviews for:
The Daily Coyote: A Story of Love, Survival, and Trust in the Wilds of Wyoming
Shreve Stockton
3.84 AVERAGE
51 reviews for:
The Daily Coyote: A Story of Love, Survival, and Trust in the Wilds of Wyoming
Shreve Stockton
3.84 AVERAGE
This was my second "wild animal raised by a human" story in as many weeks, and I enjoyed this one as much as I did Wesley the Owl. Shreve Stockton's writing style is engaging, and I had a hard time putting this down once I got into it. The story of Charlie the coyote is fascinating, all the more so because of Stockton's frankness about the problems she faced in trying to domesticate him. In addition to the 'woman and her coyote' story, there's also a nicely told love story as well. Best of all, unlike many wild animal stories, this one has a happy, hopeful ending.
I've been enjoying the memoir genre quite a bit in the past few years and this was sort of a mini-memoir spanning a year or so. The author has an enjoyable writing style but I did find a few themes to be somewhat repetitive. Also, the concept of domesticating a coyote was slightly strange at times. There are pictures of the coyote the author adopts throughout the book and some show the coyote head-on with wild eyes. This made me think, "Is this really the kind of animal you want as a pet?" She addresses this question by exploring the concept of being the alpha in an owner-pet relationship, which I found interesting. A quick read and worth the time in my opinion. Overall a feel-good kind of book.
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Coyotes are generally considered a nuisance. Not a pet. So when Stockton adopts an orphaned coyote, she doesn't quite know what she's getting herself into. But she's willing to try.
Stockton fell in love with Wyoming while driving across the country on her vespa. After seeing it, she knew that was where she had to end up and so found a small rental and a way to make a living and moved. She quickly met the acquaintance of a local land manager/rancher and ends up renting property off of him in addition to dating him. And then he decides to give her a coyote puppy. Something made him save it out of all the other ones he was putting down for his job and Stockton decides to raise it. The book covers the first year of the the pup Charlie's life and the different challenges Stockton faces in raising him.
Stockton is pretty open about her life and the people around her. Even her boyfriend she gets pretty candid about. Telling when she's upset with him or the personal aspects of his life. But she does the same for herself as well. Charlie gets the most description of course, and since he's the star of the show that just makes sense. I enjoyed reading about his personality and his antics, and even his bad quirks. Stockton took a long look at herself to see why she might be having troubles with him and wasn't afraid to admit her mistakes and failing and try to do something about them; which is admirable.
This book moves kind of slow for only covering a year. A lot of time is spent on Charlie as a puppy and during the times where he and Stockton were having personality conflicts. I find it interesting, but honestly would have preferred to hear a little more than that year as the last third of the book just seemed to be about her struggles with him and it barely got to being better before the book was ended. I suppose this is due to the timeline she had to write it in, but I wish they would have let her have a little more time to expand on the story. Otherwise the description is good, the pictures are lovely and adorable and I really did enjoy reading Charlie's (and Stockton's) story. The only warning I would give is that there is quite a bit of description about coyote killings. It's reality unfortunately, but if you can't handle that kind of stuff, don't read the book.
If you like animal stories this is a good one. Stockton does a great job with Charlie and it's a pleasure to see the pictures and read the book.
The Daily Coyote
Copyright 2008
287 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2014
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
Stockton fell in love with Wyoming while driving across the country on her vespa. After seeing it, she knew that was where she had to end up and so found a small rental and a way to make a living and moved. She quickly met the acquaintance of a local land manager/rancher and ends up renting property off of him in addition to dating him. And then he decides to give her a coyote puppy. Something made him save it out of all the other ones he was putting down for his job and Stockton decides to raise it. The book covers the first year of the the pup Charlie's life and the different challenges Stockton faces in raising him.
Stockton is pretty open about her life and the people around her. Even her boyfriend she gets pretty candid about. Telling when she's upset with him or the personal aspects of his life. But she does the same for herself as well. Charlie gets the most description of course, and since he's the star of the show that just makes sense. I enjoyed reading about his personality and his antics, and even his bad quirks. Stockton took a long look at herself to see why she might be having troubles with him and wasn't afraid to admit her mistakes and failing and try to do something about them; which is admirable.
This book moves kind of slow for only covering a year. A lot of time is spent on Charlie as a puppy and during the times where he and Stockton were having personality conflicts. I find it interesting, but honestly would have preferred to hear a little more than that year as the last third of the book just seemed to be about her struggles with him and it barely got to being better before the book was ended. I suppose this is due to the timeline she had to write it in, but I wish they would have let her have a little more time to expand on the story. Otherwise the description is good, the pictures are lovely and adorable and I really did enjoy reading Charlie's (and Stockton's) story. The only warning I would give is that there is quite a bit of description about coyote killings. It's reality unfortunately, but if you can't handle that kind of stuff, don't read the book.
If you like animal stories this is a good one. Stockton does a great job with Charlie and it's a pleasure to see the pictures and read the book.
The Daily Coyote
Copyright 2008
287 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2014
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
A soft, anti-climatic story of moving from the city life into the wilds of Wyoming.
Five stars because of the beautiful photographs. I am so glad the publisher didn't get stingy on them because I am sure they weren't cheap to reproduce. The book itself is maybe four stars. I was definitely intrigued... I especially enjoyed the coyote/cat interactions.
Some of the author's insightful comments reminded me so much of my thoughts and feelings. Highly enjoyable read!
This is the book from Shreve Stockton, who moved from New York to San Francisco to New York to Wyoming, adopted a baby coyote, and started a website. She's a talented photographer, and this book about her first... year and a half or so in Wyoming is generous mixed with her photographs. (Hopefully later editions will solve the colorfast problem.)
I mentioned earlier that it took far too long for the coyote to show up. And I maintain that, but not as strongly as I did. But the first half to two thirds of the book is an enjoyable read. Eventually, it started to creep in that we were progressing along, moment to moment. The analogy of snapshots occurred to me, with her photography angle. There are interesting things going on, but the story feels (as can happen when you're writing about real life) like it wanders a bit, lacking in direction. If she writes more story-related books (she's written a cookbook already) then she may be able to hone her skills.
There we have it. I enjoyed the book, but not without a note of disappointment.
I mentioned earlier that it took far too long for the coyote to show up. And I maintain that, but not as strongly as I did. But the first half to two thirds of the book is an enjoyable read. Eventually, it started to creep in that we were progressing along, moment to moment. The analogy of snapshots occurred to me, with her photography angle. There are interesting things going on, but the story feels (as can happen when you're writing about real life) like it wanders a bit, lacking in direction. If she writes more story-related books (she's written a cookbook already) then she may be able to hone her skills.
There we have it. I enjoyed the book, but not without a note of disappointment.
Wonderful photographs, and an unusually thoughtful text about learning to live a rural life, and to live with a coyote.
This was a truly remarkable story of the development of both human and animal. Stockton's imagery filled writing, paired with her beautiful photography, really painted the story of her first year with her coyote nicely. It was nice to learn so much about coyotes (granted, domesticated ones) without a textbook-feel. This book warmed my heart.