Book cover of The Presence of Whales: Contemporary Writings on the Whale

Book description

Frank Stewart, an observer, writer, storyteller, and lover of whales gathers the most compelling contemporary essays on cetaceans in the first anthology to bring together many of the foremost  marine scientists and nature writers, including Diane Ackerman, Barry Lopez, Farley Mowat, Faith McNulty, and Jonathan White.   

The essays are organized…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Presence of Whales as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The Presence of Whales includes more than twenty different articles, essays, and excerpts about whales, including work from famous nature writers like Diane Ackerman and Farley Mowat, as well as seminal pieces from whale scientists Hal Whitehead and Roger Payne. Barry Lopez’s story about 36 sperm whales stranding on the Oregon coast alone is worth the price of this book—if you can find it. Here’s Lopez describing a sperm whale: “Imagine a forty-five-year-old male fifty feet long, a slim shiny black animal with a white jaw and marbled belly cutting the surface of green ocean water at twenty…

From Jim's list on cool facts about whales.

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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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