Rating: 
Summary: Freshwater Dolphin at Shedd Aquarium
Review: "I can't believe how many people (including myself) had never heard of freshwater dolphins before seeing this book." Visitors to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago for many years saw a fresh water dolphin named 'Chico'. He was a nice critter despite suffering from a chronic skin rash. We were lucky enough to have visited Chico behind the scenes. Like other dolphins he was inquisitive and came over to see us. My wife scratched his face and head and Chico asked for more. In fact I had turned my back and was talking to the curator when I had the sense someone was looking at me and turned to look into Chico's eye. He seemed to want me to beat it and leave the lady to him. Although he lived a long life the Shedd did not replace Chico when he died. It's likely they were worried that they had never understood why he had a skin problem and didn't want to take the chance it was aquarium related.I am giving my wife the book, so the number of stars I awarded in this review is simply to please the system which won't accept a review that doesn't rate the book at all (hard to do with a book one hasn't read yet). Buying a book is a pretty good vote of confidence, I think. jc
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Summary: Advance Praise for Journey of the Pink Dolphins
Review: "I started to read this book at six in the morning, and did not move out of my chair for the rest of the day. I did not lose a day, I gained a whole world. I invite you to share this extraordinary tale of magic beings who touch us in ways we can only begin to understand." --JEFFREY MASSON "Surely one of the most brilliant books of our time, this enthralling account of the rare and beautiful pink river dolphins of the Amazon is clearly in a class by itself. Montgomery weaves zoology with myth, natural history with poetry, anthropology with the supernatural, and the result is perfection, a picture not only of animal life but also of human life the Amazon Basin. Montgomery has found a new and very perceptive way to present the natural world." -- ELIZABETH MARSHALL THOMAS "It's a breathtaking book. This account of a naturalist's experiences in the Amazon turns its own pages, drawing the reader deep into the world of pink river dolphins...Exhilarating, vivid, and often horrifying, this is a serious report on the real and mythical life of an enchanting Amazon species and the sumptuous flooded rain forest that provides its several habitats." --KATY PAYNE, DISCOVERER OF THE SONGS OF HUMPBACKED WHALES AND AUTHOR OF SILENT THUNDER "A delightful and insightful tale of the Amazon. Here is Montgomery at her best, beckoning us to follow her in search of one of our planet's most mysterious creatures, and introducing us to a wonderful cast of characters along the way...No one is better than Sy at making you fall in love with nature all over again!" --MARK PLOTKIN, ETHNOBOTANIST AND AUTHOR OF TALES OF A SHAMAN'S APPRENTICE "Sy Montgomery brings an adventurer's daring, an artist's sensibilities, and an ethicist's wisdom to field biology. She also, luckily for us, writes beautifully." --SUE HUBBELL, AUTHOR OF A COUNTRY YEAR, BROADSIDES FROM THE OTHER ORDERS and WAITING FOR APHRODITE "Encantado is like reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez-with natural history!" --JONI PRADED, DIRECTOR AND EDITOR, ANIMALS MAGAZINE
Rating:
Summary: Good but could have been better...
Review: As a huge fan of cetaceans and river dolphins in particular...I just had to get this book. It was full of interesting accounts about the dolphins and the Amazon...but at time the story moved a little slow...and at times the language got a tad flowery and a bit cliche....I'd read it again though if i had to do it over!
Rating: 
Summary: Enthralled by the Encantado
Review: As a nature writer myself, I find Sy Montgomery's latest foray into the wildlife world ranks as her most poetic and enchanting work of all. Not only does the mystical Amazonian realm of the pink dolphins spring to life, but Sy brings the reader into one of our planet's most exotic and little-known locations through the eyes of some of its most fascinating individuals. This is a must-read for anyone interested in marine mammals, nature's mysteries, and the Amazon. Her book is also graced by the traveling companionship - and the remarkable photography - of Dianne Taylor-Snow.
Rating:
Summary: Enthralled by the Encantado
Review: As a nature writer myself, I find Sy Montgomery's latest foray into the wildlife world ranks as her most poetic and enchanting work of all. Not only does the mystical Amazonian realm of the pink dolphins spring to life, but Sy brings the reader into one of our planet's most exotic and little-known locations through the eyes of some of its most fascinating individuals. This is a must-read for anyone interested in marine mammals, nature's mysteries, and the Amazon. Her book is also graced by the traveling companionship - and the remarkable photography - of Dianne Taylor-Snow.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating but Frustrating
Review: As someone who's interested in the Amazon, its people, culture, geography, fauna, flora and other subjects, I read this book for its fascinating topic. However, this is a very mixed bag. There are moving sections, as when she describes the genocide perpetrated against the native peoples by Europeans (you would not believe the atrocities and torture they visited the Indians, whom they considered lower than animals - much worse in its ferocity than the Holocaust of WWII). The writing can be quite bad at times (at one point, her powers of description comes up with a fruit she tried, "bitter as semen"). But the worse is, she seems to be a very bad science writer and researcher. Who edited this book? Certainly not people versed in science or Portuguese. She gets everything in Portuguese wrong. The scientific names and terms are often misspelled. Proceed with caution.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating but Frustrating
Review: As someone who's interested in the Amazon, its people, culture, geography, fauna, flora and other subjects, I read this book for its fascinating topic. However, this is a very mixed bag. There are moving sections, as when she describes the genocide perpetrated against the native peoples by Europeans (you would not believe the atrocities and torture they visited the Indians, whom they considered lower than animals - much worse in its ferocity than the Holocaust of WWII). The writing can be quite bad at times (at one point, her powers of description comes up with a fruit she tried, "bitter as semen"). But the worse is, she seems to be a very bad science writer and researcher. Who edited this book? Certainly not people versed in science or Portuguese. She gets everything in Portuguese wrong. The scientific names and terms are often misspelled. Proceed with caution.
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't agree more
Review: David Marsland's review is right on the money. I couldn't say it better myself so I won't try. :)
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Summary: The wonderful pink dolphins and the incredible Amazon
Review: For everyone who cares about dolphins, who enjoys superb natural history writing, who is fascinated by and dreamed of travelling the Amazon - this book is both delightful and insightful. It is also a fast-paced, witty, and racy adventure-travel story that I found entertaining from start to finish. Journey of the Pink Dolphins is not only about a compelling scientific quest but also reports the myths about pink dolphins that the human inhabitants repeat if not believe. The result is a luminous tribute both to the wisdom and lyricism of local Amazon peoples and to this amazing species of freshwater dolphin. Lots of great photos in both color and black and white, along with its easy-to-read style make this book an inspired gift choice for young adult readers as well as one's friends.
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Summary: Subtitle: 1,001 similies
Review: I agree with other reviewers who, on the whole, enjoyed this book, but I am surprised that no one mentioned the author's distracting writing style. Though I did not undertake an exact count, there are approximately 3-4 similies per page on average, and often 2 or 3 in a single sentence. Even in the most comepelling sections of the book I found myself suddenly distracted and jerked back to "reality" by such a sentence. One particularly egregious example: ". . . You can feel the eys of men slide over your body like a tongue licking an ice-cream cone. ....... " (p.35)
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