Description: Forbidden Creatures chronicles Laufer's worldwide quest to penetrate the underworld network of hunters, traders, and customers who constitute the nefarious business of animal smuggling.
Review Quotes: "Forbidden Creatures addresses an important issue with major environmental and ethical consequences--the alarming spread of animal smuggling. Let's hope it helps stem the tide." -Allison Chin, president, Sierra Club
"This book is a wild romp through backyards and bedrooms full of exotic--sometimes dangerous--creatures. And it is an exploration of the human psyche: What drives some people to become outlaws just to satisfy their desire to subjugate nature's other beasts? Laufer has hit another home run."--Mark Bauman, National Geographic Society In praise of The Dangerous World of Butterflies: "[A] compelling, all-angles examination. . . . Laufer delivers an absorbing science lesson for fans of the colorful bugs." --Publishers Weekly "Recommended for scientists and lay readers who enjoyed Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief." --Library Journal "Like The Orchid Thief, The Dangerous World of Butterflies takes us deep into the dark heart of obsessed collectors and the passionate activism of people working to repopulate species like the Palos Verdes blue. Worlds within worlds: Laufer, a veteran reporter on cultural and political borders, understands how these worlds cross and collide. His book is a Venn diagram of the beautiful and bizarre." --Los Angeles Times "[Laufer's] book is charming and his attention to detail, combined with a real gift for describing these fascinating characters -- like calling entomologist Arthur Shapiro "an endless litany of intriguing butterfly stories" -- made me want to read everything else he has written." --Andrew Ervin, Washington Post "...Laufer's The Dangerous World of Butterflies packs real entertainment wallop in a book filled with informed tidbits custom-designed for cocktail hour." --P. Joseph Potocki, The Bohemian "A charming . . . meditation on butterflies and the people who love them." --Kirkus "The Dangerous World of Butterflies: the Startling Subculture of Criminals, Collectors, and Conservationists by Peter Laufer is an eye-opening peek into the world of butterfly collecting. From true crime to heated debates between butterfly conservationists and butterfly farmers, this book reads like a novel." --Pittsburgh Post-Gazette