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Book Review: The Snake Charmer
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by roadkruzer on June 12, 2008
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Hey Karl, It was kinda strange to see you write about this book as I just bought it last week and am about half way through it. It's a very candid look at another herpers life and tragic end. I've really enjoyed it so far and definately recommend it.
Jason Clark
SnakesAreUs.com
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Great review, Karl...
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by RepFan on June 16, 2008
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That was a great review, Karl. I am glad to see someone finally write a piece on this remarkable herpetologist.
~ Todd
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RE: Book Review: The Snake Charmer
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by Sal on June 23, 2008
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I have already read this book too. I thought it was great! It was nice to see my prof mentioned in there a few times. The book was well written and was easy to read. I highly recommend this book for any herpetologist or even people wanting to be an herpetologist. So when is the movie coming out?
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Book Review: The Snake Charmer
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by Cro on July 6, 2008
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I just finished reading the book "The Snake Charmer."
It is an interesting book, and worth reading.
It brings some interesting history about Joe Slowinski to light. Many herpers have heard of him, but most probably do not know much about his life history.
The book was written by Jamie James, who is not a herper, but a professional writer. James took the information from Slowinski`s journals, and interviews with his relatives and folks who knew Slowinski, and tried to piece together a biography.
He even traveled to Burma, and met the folks that Joe Slowinski was involved with. Overall, he did a pretty good job of producing a readable book.
In the book, we learn that Joe Slowinski allways liked attention, and wanted to be in the spotlight, and that he was reckless, and did not mind breaking laws and rules to get what he wanted. We also learn that he got by with a lot because of his personality. Apparently, it was difficult for folks to not like him. He had a reputation of talking his way out of trouble.
Joe Slowinski managed to get bitten by venomous snakes 3 or 4 times before he was 21 years old. He liked free handling snakes, and liked to push the limits with them. In the book, it is stated "In Louisiana, Jom became habitually cavalier about handling venomous snakes."
A lot of Slowinski's advancement in the field was due to being in the right place at the right time. He just happened along when the new mDNA science was brand new, and he gained a lot of recognition for re-organizing the South and Central American Coral Snakes.
He managed to get a grant from National Geographic, and helped collect specimins of a undescribed spitting cobra from Berma.
Slowinski got involved in leading a trip to Burma for the California Acadamy of Sciences, and it involved bringing along scientists of many different fields, which doomed the expidition to conflict from the very start. They also traveled there at the height of the rainey season, making logistics very difficult. The trip was poorly planned from the start. They did not bring along much of the equipment that an expidition should have had along. And they ventured into areas that were supposed to be off limits. That later on became a large factor in the rescue efforts when Slowinski got bitten by a Banded Krait.
While on the expedition, on an early morning, Slowinski was sorting specimin bags from the previous nights collecting. He reached into a bag without looking, and grabbed a 10 inch Banded Krait, which bit him. First hand reports said that he allowed the snake to remain attached for 10 seconds. He should have never allowed the snake to stay attached that long. He also did not use compression bandaging until several hours later when the venom started having an effect. The compression bandaging should have been started within minutes following the bite. He had been drinking rum heavily the night before, and should have not been working with venomous snakes that morning.
The others on the expedition spent hours heroically trying to keep Slowinski alive, and trying to arrange a rescue.
That was hampered by the fact that they were in a very primative area, and an area they were not supposed to be in. Also, it was hampered by the rains in the mountainous area. Evenutally, the krait bite won, and Joe Slowinski died on an expedition doing what he loved.
It is unfortunate that the professional career of Slowinski only lasted about 10 years. He could have contributed a lot to future herpetology looking for new animals in distant lands. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to speak badly of Slowinski. I am just trying to point out some of the conflicts and events in his life. You should make your own decisions after you read the book. Perhaps this is the way things were meant to be for Joe Slowinski. Shooting Star .......
Now back to Jamie James, like I said before, he is not a Herpetologist. And he lets a lot of inaccurate things get through when he tries to add natural history facts about snakes to take up space in the book. Overall, though, he does OK.
I will give a few examples, just for the sake of this review. They are not major errors, and often a matter of his interpretation of information, but still, a good review by a herpetologist before publishing should have caught some of these.
He states:
"Micrurus fulvius, the most familiar venomous serpent in the eastern United States, is known to consume prey with a body weight that far exceeds its own."
I would question if the coral snake is the most familiar venomous snake in the eastern US. Also, I would question coral snakes feeding on prey that far exceed their body weight.
He states:
"Boa Constrictor. The snake's preferred prey are bats, which it catches by hanging from branches of trees or the mouth of caves and snatching the flying mammals right out of the air."
Well, boas that are lucky enough to live near bat caves probably do this, however, I really do not think that this applies to all boas.
He states:
"American Copperhead. They are social species, frequently found sunning in groups near hunting sites and watering holes."
How many of you have found groups of copperehads lounging around in groups near water holes ?
He states:
"the king cobra, the longest venomous snake on Earth; adults range from fifteen to nineteen feet in length."
Umm, adult king cobras also range from 7 feet to 15 feet. The way it was stated in the book makes one think that king cobras over 15 feed are usual.....
He states:
"when it is threatened the king cobra raises the upper third of its body from the ground and expands its hook. In this posture, the snake is five to six feet high, tall enough to stare into a man's eyes."
Well, that mythical 19 foot king cobra might do that, however, other king cobras do not raise their heads that far off the ground.
He states:
"the LD-50 standard, which expresses the amount of venom in milligrams required to kill mice weighing one-half kilogram"
Wow, a half kilo mouse. That is about 1.2 LBS. Mighty big mouse. He shuld have said a group of mice whose combines weights is one half kilogram.
He states:
"Most intriguing, Htun Win had caught a Dendroaspis, an elapid closely related to the infamous black mamba of Africa. Joe was delited."
Umm..... An Dendroaspis in Burma ????? Just what Dendroaspis did they catch in Burma ?????
He states:
Folks like "George Zug, Brian Crother, and Woldgang Wuster read extended exerpts of the manuscript, and made many factual corrections and excellent suggestions for improving the book's overall accuarcy."
I am not trying to be nit-picky, however, there are enough scientific errors in the book to make me wonder just how carefully it was reviewed.
Overall, the book is a good read. Unlike a bibliography of Raymond Ditmars or Bill Hasst, who worked with (and in Hasst's case, are still working) reptiles for many many years, this book is about a short carere of a herpetologist. Still, in a short time, Joe Slowinski accomplished a lot.
This book is one that some herpers will keep in their libraries,( I will )however, many will read it once and sell it. The price has allready fallen from $24.00 new, to $13.00 used on EBay. So, pick up a used copy at EBay or Amazon once the price drops into the $10.00 range. It is an interesting read.
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RE: Book Review: The Snake Charmer
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by Cro on July 12, 2008
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A science writer at the NY Times has written a review of this book that does a very good job of describing the life of Joe Slowinski.
"No matter how hard James tries to make Slowinski sound roguishly charming, how often he mentions his “disarming, gap-toothed smile,” how earnestly he swears in the epilogue that he sorely feels the loss of someone he never met, I could not help reading between the lines: intentionally or not, he makes his subject sound like a Class A jerk."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/books/review/McNeil-t.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin
Best Regards John Z
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RE: Book Review: The Snake Charmer
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by Cro on July 12, 2008
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This link will take you to two more reviews of the book, one written by the author with actual exerpts from the book.
If you read these two reviews, and the previous one, there is really no need to spend $10.00 to $24.00 on the book, as the 7 pages of reviews in the NY Times sum up the book completly, and tell you all you need to know about Joe Slowinski, and will save you about 150 pages of reading.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/books/chapters/chapter-snake-charmer.html
Best Regards John Z
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RE: Book Review: The Snake Charmer
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by Cro on July 12, 2008
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I do not have a vendetta against this book, as has been suggested by some. I just changed my mind.
I have posted links to 3 reviews in the NY Times. One is by the author of the book and has many exerpts from the book. Perhaps those exerpts will cause you to want to read more, or buy the book, if you like his writing.
One review is nutural, and really not for / or against the book.
The other review is by a science writer, and he says things in it about Joe S. that I wanted to say, but chose not to, as I believe it is not good form to speak badly of dead folks.
I posted the links because I thought they would be usefull to folks in learning about this book, and deciding if you want to spend money on it.
After reading those NY Times reviews, and Karl's review, I decided that I like the "Cliff Notes" version of the book from those reviews better than the full length version of the book.
This does not mean that I have an vendetta against the book, or any of the reviewers, or against Joe S.
It just means that I thought there was a lot of "extra" material in the book that took a lot of time to read, and that I did not find it worth the $24.00 price.
If you have a couple of weeks to spare, then I still recommend reading the whole book, and buying it used at $10.00. However, if you have limited time, and limited money, the "Cliff Notes" version you get by reading Karl's review, and the 3 NY Times reviews is just about as good. You will just miss some details.
Best Regards John Z
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Book Review: The Snake Charmer
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by supsarap on August 13, 2008
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I found this compelling. To say "get the Cliff notes" is like saying "get the score" of the last Super Bowl. See the game. Spend the bucks! You can't beat a 24 dollar trip to Burma with "all the snakes you can eat."
The childhood, life and death of a devoted herper give insight to the field and the science of something obscure and unrelatable to most. The author made this relatable to all.
Additionally I learned more about Darwinism and Phyllology in this short bbiography than in my entire college biology course.
Get it for your family...it will help them understand your serpentine ways...
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