American Snakes

Brimming with intriguing and unusual storiesof hognose snakes that roll over and play dead, blind snakes with tiny vestigial lungs, rainbow-hued dipsadines, and wave-surfing sea-snakesthe text is interspersed with scores of gorgeous full-color images of snakes, from the scary to the sublime. This proud celebration of a diverse American wildlife group will make every reader, no matter how skeptical, into a genuine snake lover. —Birdbooker Report [American Snakes] is an authoritative yet accessible guide that makes the world of American snakes attractive to even non-scientist readers. —Donovan's Literary Services This is an excellent book about snakes, well worth the price, and worthy of finding a home in the libraries of herpetologists and all naturalists. I anticipate pulling my copy off the shelf again and again. —Robert Powell, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation A valuable resource for a range of audiences. It is an attractive introduction to snake biology for beginning herpetologists and curious readers, yet even seasoned professionals will likely find items to interest them. Recommended for general and undergraduate collections as well as herpetology research collections. —K. M. Sheffield, Clemson University, Choice American Snakes is a wonderful book to read because it is replete with snake stories, personal stories, and stories about other herpetologists. It also has a lot of science about snakes in it. Sean Graham is a fine storyteller. He starts each chapter with a story that reveals something about human behavior, usually his, and snake behavior. The way he writes reads like his oral presentations to live audiences. His stories are engaging whether written or oral. —Copeia This thoroughly enjoyable book lets readers absorb the excitement of being a herpetologist who works with snakes while learning about the general and specific biology of the creatures. Any nascent or veteran field biologist will learn something new about snakes, and this volume is especially suitable for anyone who needs to be convinced that American snakes are an ideal group to focus on for a career. —J. Whitfield Gibbons, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, Quarterly Review of Biology Extremely pleasant to read . . . very profound, cutting-edge, exciting, and interesting . . . The highly recommended work is aimed at a very wide audience, from the layman interested in reptiles to the expert. —Kriton Kunz, Reptilia