NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, KIRKUS REVIEWS, AND CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

"Fascinating . . . [Becoming Wild] gives the reader a sense of being near these creatures and experiencing some of the most seductive environments on Earth. . . . Safina's prose achieves the elusive goal of being both informative and luminously evocative."
--The Wall Street Journal

"Combining the knowledge of a seasoned scientist with the skills of a good storyteller, Safina invites us to leave our cultural worlds and enter animals' ones. . . . Becoming Wild deserves to be remembered."
--NPR

"[Safina] turns the human view of animal cultures on its head. . . . Becoming Wild demands that we wake up and realize that we are intrinsically linked to our other-than-human neighbors."
--The Telegraph (UK)

"[Safina] shows us something too often overlooked in research and in conservation: who animals are, and how they live. . . . [And] it's the stories of Safina's days with these animals that move us."
--The New York Times

"Engrossing. . . . In addition to fascinating dispatches from the ecological front lines [and] first-rate nature writing . . . Safina imparts a naturalist's sense of unending wonder."
--The Christian Science Monitor

"Engaging and eye-opening. . . . Safina's enthusiasm for the animal kingdom is contagious, and his clear writing makes his wide-reaching subject both approachable and tangible."
--Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"Safina's lovely account of his travels with researchers . . . reveals majestic, closely knit communities. . . . And few readers will doubt that these magnificent creatures need urgent attention. Enthralling."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"[A] bracing and enlightening book. . . . Safina's writing on the watery depths and its denizens is sublime . . . [challenging] us to be more acutely aware of species whose social lives have much to teach us."
--Science

"Full of rich observations . . . Becoming Wild offers readers a window into the complex and curious lives of the three species it depicts and invites [us] to observe the beauty and joy of each species's nuances."
--BookPage

"[A journey into] the wonder of life itself. . . . Becoming Wild is a warm and beckoning paean to our natural world."
--The East Hampton Star

"Safina writes with passion and a sense of humor . . . reminding readers to contemplate the natural world as they think about their own points of vulnerability and resilience."
--Washington Monthly

"An immersion in nature."
--AARP The Magazine

"Seminal. . . . By drawing attention to the importance of regional variation and acculturated behavior, Safina raises important issues for environmentalists."
--Natural History

"Eloquent. . . . This revelatory work sheds as much light on what it means to be human as it does on the nature of other species."
--Publishers Weekly

Praise for Carl Safina

"Dr. Safina is a terrific writer, majestic and puckish in equal measure, with a contagious enthusiasm. . . . He draws out haunting resonances between animal lives and our own. . . . Captivating."
--The New York Times

"[Safina] felicitously combines lambent writing with dazzling facts . . . illuminating our knowledge of significant and engaging subjects."
--The Washington Post

"Brilliant . . . Each of Safina's beautifully limned animal portraits is the weight of human influence and a challenge to exercise the power of empathy. . . . [Safina] is a font of research, his wonder contagious."
--Elle

"Safina's engaging writing takes readers along on his journey, so that we learn about these creatures as he does. . . . His adventures with researchers observing wild animals in the field are fascinating . . . entertaining, and informative."
--Slate