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Informationen zum Autor Philip Hoare is the author of ten works of non-fiction. His Leviathan won the Baillie Gifford Prize, and the New York Times praised his last book, Albert & the Whale , as the result of ‘the forceful weather system that is Hoare’s imagination’. Writing in the Observer , Laura Cumming called his writing ‘the animating magic that brings people of the past directly into our present and unleashes spectacular visions along the way’. He lives in Southampton, on the south coast of England, and swims every day in the sea. Klappentext The story of a man's obsession with whales, which takes him on a personal, historical and biographical journey - from his childhood to his fascination with Moby-Dick and his excursions whale-watching. Zusammenfassung The story of a man’s obsession with whales, which takes him on a personal, historical and biographical journey – from his childhood to his fascination with Moby-Dick and his excursions whale-watching.
Report
'This singular, magnificent book inspires both awe and shame - awe of the whales, shame of the human species that has tried to destroy them. In the end, Hoare's virtuosic sympathy for his subject makes you believe in the better angels of our nature.' Alex Ross, bestselling author of 'The Rest is Noise'
'This history of man's dealings with whales is respectful, even mystical.' Daily Mail
'A scintillating, scattershot, blunderbuss of a book. Throughout the book, Hoare's unbridled enthusiasm for his subject is infectious...this thoroughly engaging, rigorously researched and often revelatory book is a joy to read and one which Melville, surely, would have appreciated.' Independent on Sunday
'So compelling and all-encompassing that it cast a spell on me that endured for days after I had done turning its beautifully illustrated pages...This is the book he was born to write, a classic of its kind...What poetry there is here and what a balm for the soul.' Observer
'Enjoyable trawl through the history, literature and lore of whales...As well as being a showcase for descriptive prose of great beauty, "Leviathan" is full of fascinating facts.' Guardian
'An elegant writer with a sharp eye for quirky detail...A lyrical and timely reminder of what we have to lose if we don't change our greedy ways.' Mail on Sunday
'In Hoare's hands, whales are almost limitlessly strange and interesting.' Sunday Times
'Hoare's idiosyncratic mingling of autobiography, anthropology and archaeology has reached its zenith...an enthralling volume. Hoare has the skill and humility to make this work, to him, great art and the Leviathan are both inexplicable, unknowable forces from the deep, wherein lies their wonder.' Daily Telegraph
