Product Description

The story of the author and his wife's two-month safari in East Africa in the 1950s. Ruark's philosophies are intertwined in the hunting stories to make unforgettable reading.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #61612 in Books
• Published on: 1994-01-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 315 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781571570239
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Publisher
Ruark's most sought-after book is back in print. In the early 1950s famous newspaper columnist Robert Ruark and his wife, Virginia, went to British East Africa (now Kenya and Tanzania) for a nine-week safari with their professional hunter, Harry Selby. The three of them, along with a group of native runners, a Jeep, and an old lorry, ventured into the bush for an adventure none of them soon forgot-and neither will you! In this book Ruark shares with you the ferocity of the wounded buffalo and the acid sweat of fear-no other book will give you the "feel" of Africa like this one can.

Customer Reviews

Horn of the Hunter
One of the finest books ever written on Hunting period. Ruark odes Hemingway's Green Hills of Africa hands down. In this book we follow a man and his wife from New York's high life to the backwoods African bush. We discover what a buffalo really looks like, and how you feel when he looks at you! We discover fear, anxiety, restlessness, pride, truimph, and in the end respect and joy. A very highly recommended book.

A Writer on Safari
Robert Ruark's chronicle of his African safari in the 1950s. This is good reading for both outdoor buffs and readers of a more literary type. Ruark avoids the pitfall of turning his book into an extended article for "Field and Stream." Aside from the details of the big-game hunt, he sprinkles his narrative with recollections of his WWII combat experience, musings on the literary world of New York, books, movies about Africa, and life in America. The focal point of the book is the daily experience of fighting the African environment in the pursuit of the elusive prey. The descriptions of the wildlife are thrilling as the hunting party tracks across the primeval plains. Ruark gives full attention to the discomforts of safari life and the doubtful sanity of those who submit themselves to this type of "recreation." The killing is graphically described and not for the squeamish. Animal rights activists should steer clear of this book.

Ruark has great fun describing himself as an Ernest Hemingway "wannabe." Comparisons to Hemingway's "Green Hills of Africa" are inevitable. Ruark is more self-deprecating than Ernest Hemingway, and can see the outrageous humor of it all. The white hunter guide, Harry Selby, falls short of the Allan Quartermain ideal. Selby is afraid of snakes and scorpions, and manages to get the safari lost at least once. Just as Hemingway, Ruark takes his wife, Jenny, along on safari. She handles the discomforts very well, and doesn't wimp out.

This book won't be studied a 100 years from now in American Lit. classes, but it's diverting reading. It recalls the macho standards of a different era. Ruark's reputation has faded since his heyday in the '50s and early '60s. For those who remember, this book is an interesting footnote to his literary career. ;-)

terrifically written, great story.
Ruarke is rightfully called the master of outdoor writing. This is a fabulously written story of his first safari in Kenya and Tanganyika (now Tanzania). It is a must read for anyone who enjoys outdoor literature, hunting stories, or Africa.