Description: Flannery travels to the unexplored regions of New Guinea in search of species that science has yet to discover or classify. He finds many -- from a community of giant cave bats that were supposedly extinct to the elusive black-and-white tree-kangaroo -- and along the way has a wealth of unforgettable adventures. Flannery scales cliffs, descends into caverns, and cheats death, both from disease and at the hands of the local cannibals, who wish to take revenge on his "clan" of wildlife scientists. He eventually befriends the tribespeople, who become companions in his quest and whose contributions to his research prove invaluable. In New Guinea pidgin, throwim way leg means to take the first step of a long journey. The journey in this book is a wild ride full of natural wonders and Flannery's trademark wit, a tour de force of travelogue, anthropology, and natural history.
Review Quotes:
"Readers of Throwim Way Leg, a gripping tale about the most remote areas of New Guinea, will be grateful they're spared the discomforts and dangers the author describes in hair-raising detail. But they'll be catapulted into exhilarating and adventures rarely chronicled in such vivid verbal pictures. . . . At the end of this wild adventurous literary ride, readers will feel blessed that a writer of such insight has recorded this remote environment of animal and human cultures on the verge of possible extinction."-Marjorie D. Hamlin, The Christian Science Monitor
"[Throwim Way Leg] is an enthralling introduction to the mountain people of New Guinea--unimaginably remote, charming, cunning, cruel, subtle and appealing--and to their magnificent land. . . . [Flannery's] evocations of the New Guinea landscape carry you away."--D. J. R. Bruckner, The New York Times Book Review (front cover review)
"Throwim Way Leg tells the story, in a disarmingly wry and unpretentious way, of how Flannery made his great discoveries. . . . All of this makes for great reading--the thrill of the unknown, rare enough these days, combined with a scientist's true passion for his work and for the creatures he studies."--The Washington Post
"Whether literally going out on a limb to capture an 'extinct' bat, nearly getting killed when a hostile group identifies him as a member of the hated 'wildlife' clan, or solving the mystery of a tree-kangaroo with a white man's face, Flannery combines diligent science, heart-pounding adventure, and a respect for ancient cultures to create a compelling tale."--Sierra, The Magazine of the Sierra Club
"Exciting, exotic book, one that introduces the reader to a world far more mysterious than we might have imagined."--William R. Wineke, Wisconsin State Journal
"Reads like a collection of adventure stories."--Lucille M. Boone, Library Journal
"[An] energetic fusion of natural science and anthropology . . . The title comes from New Guinea Pidgin; referring to a first step, it means "to go on a journey." Readers would do well to follow Flannery on this one."--Publishers Weekly
"This book combines an irresistible author with an irresistible subject: Tim Flannery, a great zoologist and writer about science, relating his explorations of New Guinea, a vivid tropical universe. . . . The result is a dangerous book that you pick up at your peril, because it is so hard to put down."--Jared M. Diamond, professor of Physiology, UCLA, and author of Guns, Germs & Steel
"Australia has found its own Stephen Jay Gould."--Matt Ridley, The Times Literary Supplement (London)
"One of the world's greatest zoologists . . . who's probably discovered more new species than Darwin. He's a remarkable man."--Redmond O'Hanlon
"Tim Flannery is in the league of the all-time great explorers like Dr. David Livingstone."--Sir David Attenborough
"What an extraordinary book this is. . . . Flannery provides a magical polychrome of [New Guinea]. You can hear the cataclysmic thunderstorms, smell the hunting dogs, taste the roast possum. No one else could have written this book. . . . The themes he elucidates are the largest themes available to any writer: life and death; religion and questions of belief; greed and the havoc that the pursuit of money can wreak; the politics of colonialism and oppression; the cultural specificity of morality. . . . Flannery is a fiercely intelligent and perceptive guide. He is also courageous. This is a journey through and beyond fear. . . . Flannery's book is as fertile and fascinating as New Guinea itself. I