American Wolf

What's the title? American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West

Who wrote it? Nate Blakeslee

When was it written? 2017

What star rating would I give it? 4.5/5

Would I recommend it? Yes. I mean, yes. YES. Look, it’s not like I pick up any book expecting not to like it, but I’ll admit the only reason I picked up American Wolf was to tick off a challenge for BookRiot’s 2018 Read Harder challenge. I thought American Wolf would be fairly harmless and educational, and, besides, as we know, I’m all about the wolves.

What I was NOT expecting was to fall in love with the wolves of the Lamar pack. This book read like part history (natural and political), part mafia tale, part character study. It’s at once gripping, measured, and accessible. I LOVED this book and EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ IT NOW.

What's it about? (non-spoilers) American Wolf follows the story of Oh-Six, an alpha female who gathered acclaim and notoriety as a “public figure” of sorts for Yellowstone’s wolf reintroduction project. While the book is Oh-Six’s story, it also follows her famous ancestors, the park rangers and wolf enthusiasts who tracked her, local hunters, as well as local and national politicians.

What did you think? (spoilers) Despite being “the world’s most popular wolf”, I didn’t know Oh-Six’s story. Still, it was pretty clear from the beginning that her end was going to be a tragic one. Despite being confident of her ending, my enjoyment of following her story was in no what hampered by such foreshadowing.

A difficulty I sometimes have with non-fiction is it reads as much more biased than fiction, ironically enough. It’s just so obvious the point of view from which the author is approaching the material that I can’t help but be skeptical of how objective the information I’m reading is. While I’m fairly certain of where Blakeslee lies on most of the issues addressed in the book, I never felt like he wasn’t giving the other side a fair shake.

754 is the best one, and he deserved so much more. (No, I will not explain that any further. If you want to know what I mean, then you’re just going to have to go READ THE FREAKING BOOK.)

Images: Goodreads

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