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John James Audubon
The Making Of An American
by Richard Rhodes


10.0

based on 13 reviews
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Official Publisher Site

From the Pulitzer Prizewinning historian Richard Rhodes, the first major biography of John James Audubon in forty years, and the first to illuminate fully the private and family life of the master illustrator of the natural world. [Knopf]

Alfred A. Knopf, 528 pages
10/12/2004
$30.00

ISBN: 0375414126

Nonfiction
Biographies & Memoirs

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Booklist Donna Seaman

Full of passion and discovery, hardship and transcendence, Audubon's story is at once intimate and mythic, and Rhodes' fresh, comprehensive biography will capture the imagination of readers everywhere. [Aug 2004, p.1886]

Boston Globe John Gregory Brown

A superb biography that shares its subject's abiding interest in precise and complete representation.

Entertainment Weekly Wook Kim

Rhodes presents something more than a scrupulously researched portrait of a self-actualized genius: Through an understanding of the life and times of this flawed but likable character, we can trace the beginnings of our own complex national identity.

Kirkus Reviews

Outstanding.

Publishers Weekly

Rhodes succeeds in shedding light on how Audubon perfected his ability to capture in his depictions of birds so much life and emotion.

San Francisco Chronicle Jesse Berrett

Rhodes' sentences are, to coin a term, Mississippian, flowing with an unhurried and irresistible majesty toward their goal. Without reaching for obscure words or overly complex formulations, his prose conveys thorough mastery of the subject, limitless curiosity and an enormous range of knowledge.

The New York Times Book Review Jonathan Rosen

Rhodes...possesses tremendous technological and historical mastery, but it is his novelistic evocation, based on what feels a near complete identification with his subject, that gives his book its uplifting energy.

Washington Post Kenn Kaufman

Literally hundreds of quotes, short and long, bring to life the voice of that era. Rhodes has given us the most three-dimensional portrait yet of Audubon the man.

The New Yorker

Rhodes occasionally lingers too long on his subject's publishing difficulties (a pet peeve of many authors), but he conveys both the singular glories of the early American wilderness -- sycamore tree crowded with nine thousand swallows -- and the solitary desperation of Audubon's labors.

The Economist

Richard Rhodes's account is the more detailed of the two, and shows more prints. He sets Audubon in the political context of the day.

Los Angeles Times Avedis Hadjian

Rhodes' book might have benefited from only a passing reference to the strains on Audubon's family life caused by his prolonged absences from home -- on expeditions or in Britain -- and from less extensive quotations of letter exchanges with his wife. [10 Oct 2004, p.R6]

Chicago Tribune Katrin Schultheiss

Rhodes clearly has not only enormous admiration but also a deep affection for Audubon. At times he seems almost reluctant to admit that Audubon ever behaved less than honorably. [17 Oct 2004, p.C1]

The New York Times Janet Maslin

Even when drawing dead subjects, Audubon infused his work with vigor and empathy, with a keen anthropomorphic vision of what these lives were like. His birds were wild. This book shouldn't be tame.

The average user rating for this book is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
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Linda H gave it a10:
John and Lucy Audobon -a devoted couple brought to life through the empathetic eyes of Richard Rhodes. How determined they were! And the energy expended on pursuing their goals. And how 19th century America springs to life on the pages!

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John James Audubon The Making Of An American by Richard Rhodes

John James Audubon
The Making Of An American
by Richard Rhodes