The book of deadly animals - Gordon Grice

Wry, gripping and simply unbelievable, The Book of Deadly Animals is the world's most authoritative compendium of animal attacks on human beings by nature writer and expert Gordon Grice, author of The Red Hourglass: Lives of the Predators.

Consider, if you can, the case of Jacob Fowler, who heard what he thought was the sound of his own skull cracking between the jaws of a grizzly bear - only to discover that it was.

Or the Arizonan jogger who ran a mile back to her car with a rabid fox clamped to her arm before driving to hospital for live-saving inoculations.

Or the woman who was attacked by a hyena, dragged from her tent by her face, and survived to tell of her ordeal.

The dangers of the animal kingdom are the stuff of legend, from the Champawat tigress of 19th century India, the world's most prolific killer of human beings on record, to the shark attacks of Matawan Creek, New Jersey, that are supposed to have inspired Jaws. But the reality of man's vulnerability and of nature's savage power is far more various and improbable than even the most inventive mind would imagine.

In this unique work of nature writing, you will encounter the most formidable predators on land and sea - as well as the most overlooked, bizarre and surprising hazards that mother nature has to offer. Meet the cougar that can leap 40 feet and clear 8-foot fences with a fully-grown deer in its jaws, the tapeworm that's been known to grow as long as 82 feet in the human gut and the elephant that single-handedly destroyed an oil tanker. Now marvel at the power of the Malayan tapir, the hidden dangers of the oriental rat flea, the unexpected perils of the eviscerating sloth bear and many, many more.

Drawing on an enormous host of true encounters between man and beast, The Book of Deadly Animals is the world's most authoritative compendium of animal attacks on human beings. With mordant wit and expert timing, Gordon Grice provides a gripping journey to the dark side of the animal kingdom and a celebration of its humbling, savage glory.

'I read The Book of Deadly Animals with my dog in my lap and my heart in my throat. It's a wonderful, slightly terrifying, utterly captivating encounter with the animal world - not quite like anything I've ever read before. I think the only way I could possibly have enjoyed this more is if I happened to be an adventurous twelve-year-old boy, but still, even for a fully domesticated forty-year-old woman, it was both a thrill and an education'
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

'A fresh, strange, and wonderful new voice in American nature writing'
Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma

'Did he say repugnatorial gland? What a wealth of information Gordon Grice is, and what a fine, beguiling writer. This book is a must for anyone even remotely thinking of getting a monkey, a sea lion, or, heaven forbid, a dog'
David Sedaris

Gordon Grice is one of the world's leading authorities on the dangers of the animal kingdom, having dedicated a lifetime's study to the subject ever since a cougar wandered onto his family's farm when he was six. He is the author of The Red Hourglass: Lives of the Predators, and his writing has appeared in Granta, the New Yorker, Harper's and other magazines, and has been anthologized in The Best American Essays. He lives with his family in Wisconsin.
www.deadlykingdom.com