Margaret Mittelbach

I enjoyed this one despite the narrative choice of using the second person plural. It made the authors sound like conjoined twins - or was it the royal "we"? - it was a consistent irritant throughout the book. Luckily the trek around Tasmania was interesting as an introduction to some of the nifty places and critters of that island. We've planned it as part of our trip to Oz next month (me and my conjoined twin) and I made notes and got ideas on where to go when we get there. Wombats - Old growth forest - Quolls - The Nut - Here I come!… (mer)

A kind of gonzo nature book, with a group of New Yorkers traipsing around Tassie getting high and trying to track down the Tasmanian tiger. It's filled with great characters, fun anecdotes and plenty of fascinating facts. The writing is clear and funny at times, but the collective first person pronoun style of narration ('we almost fell', 'we dreamed about Tassie devils' etc) grated a bit. It's ultimately a sad story, about the ways in which humans destroy the environment - the sections at the end really drive home the point that we've barely learned any lessons from the disasters like the extinction of the thylacine.… (mer)