|
Back in Keith County
Copyright © 1984
by John Janovy, Jr.
U of Nebraska P
|
[Janovy,] far from
going to the same well once too often, has produced his best book. He has
reined in his previous excesses of tone and occasional wantonness with
language and developed instead a more controlled voice and a surer grasp
of his subject....All in all, Janovy has given us a
superb example of nature-writing and of life in the Great Plains....[He]
takes us on a journey of intellectual serendipity, deriving extraordinary
thoughts from ordinary circumstances. — Washington Post
Good biologist though [Janovy] is, he's an even better nature writer,
with a special affinity for the mysterious and the mystic.
— Noel Perrin
John Janovy has produced his best book. ... He
gives us a superior example of
nature writing and of life in the Great Plains,
perhaps surpassing such
admired works in the genre as Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac
and William Warner’s Beautiful Swimmers. Janovy takes us on a journey
of intellectual serendipity, deriving extraordinary thoughts from ordinary
circumstances. — Washington Post
This "human need for wilderness" is
the trail winding through Back in Keith County ... [to] the streams
of John
Janovy’s "inner cowboy country." The fourteen essays are a very human
mix of biology, sentiment, wandering observation and personal
philosophy. — Smithsonian
Janovy’s earlier Keith County Journal met
with astonishing success, and some reviewers compared the author to
Henry David Thoreau. Back in Keith County returns to the part of
Nebraska that Mr Janovy knows and loves. ... The book shows the
area’s wildlife —
tiger beetles, toads, swallows, owls and a variety of
fish—to be as special as its people. ... The author also reflects on the
intangible aspects of life. ... The rich ramblings of these 179 pages are
fascinating. — Kansas City Star
|
|
Dunwoody Pond
Copyright © 1994
by John Janovy, Jr
St Martin's P
|
Janovy (U of Nebraska) explores the molding of
young people into scientists and the early
experiences of some of his most
successful students in their studies at a small pond at the Cedar
Point Biological Station in Nebraska. — Book News
|
|
Keith County Journal
Copyright © 1996
by John Janovy, Jr
U of Nebraska P
|
To learn from nature, not about nature, was the imperative
that took John Janovy Jr and his students into the sandhills, marshes, grasslands, canyons,
lakes, and streams of Keith County in western Nebraska. The biologist explores the web
of interrelationships among land, animals, and human beings. Even termites, snails, and
barn swallows earn respect and assume significance in the overall scheme of things. —
from the jacket
John Janovy, Jr's essays celebrate nature at all levels, from the
smallest and most obscure parasite
to the most complex of all species, the human being.
Janovy's essays, many of which originate from
field studies he conducts as a life sciences professor at the
University of Nebraska, have been ranked
with the writings of such renowned essayists as EB White and
Lewis Thomas. — Contemporary Authors
Like Blake seeing a world in a grain of sand, Professor Janovy discerns
universes in the creeks, bogs and fields of the Sandhills country. —
Peter Stoler, Time
He speaks in a narrative voice both youthful and wise. He elucidates small
wonders with abundant charm. — National Review
Keith County Journal has already invited comparison with such lapidary
works as Lewis thomas's Lives of a Cell and Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at
Tinker Creek. The book belongs in that company like Blake seeing a world in a
grain of sand. Professor
Janovy discerns universes in the creeks, bogs, and fields of the Sandhills country.
He makes the reader care for creatures as large as the great blue heron,
as small as the inch-long plains killifish. ... [A] jewel of a journal. — Time
A gracefully written, horizon-expanding book. — New York Times Book Review
A very different look at the wonders of nature, fascinating, well written, and
enlightening. — Library Journal
|
|
On Becoming a Biologist
Copyright © 1996
by John Janovy, Jr
U of Nebraska P
|
We share a common bond with even the most bizarre beetle of the Peruvian
rain forest," asserts John Janovy Jr. "A belief in that common bond might,
in fact, be the most fundamental characteristic of a biologist." And
biologists see the worth of a plant or an animal not in monetary terms
but in its contribution to our understanding of life. The famous naturalist
brings a humanist's vision to this superbly written book. On Becoming a
Biologist is grounded in reality, cognizant of practical matters
(education and jobs) as well as the ideals that inform the profession
— a reverence for life and a responsibility to humankind and its
future. Throughout, Janovy draws on his experiences as a graduate and
postdoctoral student, on his rewarding relationships with teachers, and on
his field work as a naturalist. — from the jacket
A concise, readable picture of biology as it is practiced in the field,
the laboratory and the classroom. [Janovy] moves easily from philosophy to
politics to petri dish. ... This book will be appreciated by biologists
as well as those who want to know how a scientist's mind works. —
New York Times Book Review.
A charming book. ... frank, open and a pleasure to read. — Noel
Perrin, Civilization
|
What the Critics Say
Bibliography
