1.5 stars.

Who can make a book about bear attacks unbearably dull? Lamar Underwood is your man (should you need him.) This was so, so disappointing. I was hoping for “Grizzly Man” in print and, instead, got looooong section of Lewis and Clark’s diaries where they mention each. And. Every. Animal. They. Saw. Which made sense at the time, but doesn’t really make for fascinating reading today, and then a bunch more historical stuff that is also more about hunting with a quick note that the bear came after them or something. I thought this would never be over and I only kept reading because I was hoping there was good stuff to come. There wasn’t. The two only slightly interesting articles were at the beginning. Go rewatch (or watch) “Grizzly Man” instead….dont waste your time here.

Bears are a powerful concept and worked with this type of book, I was invested in the real people getting in encounters with bears. Lamar Underwood wrote this perfectly and was glad I was able to read this.

After having lived half of my life in areas frequented by bears, I sometimes wonder why I find books on the subject of bear attacks so interesting. Luckily, I've never appeared in one of these books as a victim. My husband and I both have read this book reecently and both found the stories realistic. The drama has NOT been increased to make the stories better. A bear attack story is not only horrifing, it should be at least a little educational. When you enter bear territory, you roll the dice. Great stories that we enjoyed immensely. Easy 5 stars.

I had to rush to review this while it was all fresh in my mind. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book about animal behaviors that was so compelling that I literally couldn’t put it down. The author extremely gifted in recounting both bear encounters and attacks and paints a vivid and occasionally painful picture with a deft hand. No one can ever fully understand what it is to be the the jaws and claws of a large predator at their mercy unless you have survived the experience and many don’t, but even so I want to praise the writer for presenting facts instead of sensationalism . Grizzlies are not out to attack and eat us. As stated many times, they will flee when given a chance and almost every attack recorded indicates someone being aggressive towards them or a starving or injured animal or a protective mother with cubs that lashes out defensively. Unfortunately we are fragile beings by comparison to their raw and overwhelming power that has adapted to keep them alive over thousands of years from their even larger ancestors and when we become a threat, the threat is met with an awe inspiring force of nature or a loving and protective mother. Given how often we overreact and see these animals as something to mindlessly destroy, it’s honestly surprising there aren’t more casualties and that is not to disregard the suffering or the people who are killed or survive being killed by grizzly bears. Over all this is a very well written and informative book. It’s the first one I’ve read about bear attacks that doesn’t paint the animals in a negative light and acknowledges we should not be encroaching on their territory . And when we do we take our lives in our hands and must accept the possibility that we will startle and incite an act of protective aggression from an animal that tries to avoid us. Beautiful, powerful words.

The first story about a horrific bear attack on a lone female camper was completely gripping and very well written. When I started the second story, it was a little disappointing to find the tone had changed completely and it was instead diary excepts from a time long past, the perspective of bear hunters. It was interesting enough and I read on. There was another completely fascinating story about a male hiker/ photographer who made a tragic error of judgement when trying to get the perfect picture. A fictional short story was added to the mix, not sure why but I initially thought it was non fiction.

Then lots more 1800s bear hunting stories which were not as interesting as the 2 bear attack stories mentioned above. I found it pretty sad to be honest. The relentless hunting of bears, even female sows and cubs. What an awful history bears have with humans.

Overall I thought this would be better than it was. If it had of focused on the bear attack stories, it would have been far more interesting. It didn’t seem as coherent as it could have been as the different types of beat stories were a bit mish mash.

2.5 ⭐️This had some interesting parts and many parts that felt like they didn’t really fit with what I was expecting. The, historical, parts were informative, but felt a little more drawn out and harder to stay focused on. I also felt that the title was a little misleading based on the content in some of the chapters. The kid in me that grew up watching nature documentaries about close encounters and reading animal books enjoyed many of the stories in this book, but overall I was expecting more current/recent stories of bear encounters. One thing is for sure, I definitely don’t want to cross paths with a polar bear! Thank you to the author, The Globe Peqot Publishing Group, and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a very informative book about true stories involving bears and attacks. However it was nothing truly original as many of these stories have been published in other magazines or books. I wish there had been more recent stories and less information about Roosevelt that I already knew.

I enjoyed this to begin with, but I found it quite repetitive. I enjoyed the Lewis and Clarke but there was entirely too much from Roosevelt. I was expecting more varied and up to date accounts