A review by binxthinx
The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony

3.0

A really interesting story. The author is a fairly good writer, although at times a little overly casual and you can tell two people worked on it because the wording gets odd occasionally. He’s obviously a tough dude, handling what he does, and it’s rather impressive. He gets out of crazy situations and it’s really intense. Sometimes though he does assholish things and expects the reader to be on his side. He mentions how dangerous elephants are and how scary it is to be charged by one and how hard it is to hold your ground, but then leaves his rangers behind with the elephants when they get scared and flee??? He shoots out his accountant’s tires to force him to celebrate their opening a new lodge even when they’re drowning financially?? He glosses over stuff that makes him look less than amazing. Lots of cool stories but I think a book about the park itself would be more interesting than the elephant one, which would make a good chapter or two. He also overly anthropomorphizes them and makes lots of stupid choices that luckily work out. He spends a lot of time with them but says he doesn’t let anyone else, but then is mad when people are scared and don’t trust the elephants like he does?? He tries to be respectful of the local people, but sometimes he comes across as superior and condescending. I also hate how he thinks he’s so special to bond with the elephants, and if they behave normally they’re aggressive and worrying. He wants them to be wild but trains them to come when called and be habituated with him, but doesn’t want them to be habituated to people but does....very contradictory. How judgy he is about putting down dangerous animals, thinking he can solve the problem with his presence, and then doing it himself, after numerous red flags.

A really interesting read, but the author occasionally can be frustrating. But quickly has another fascinating story that distracts you from that. Learned a lot and you can really appreciate his concern and dedication to conservation.