Horn of the Hunter: The Story of an African Safari

"Horn Of The Hunter" is one of the best stories about African hunting and wildlife that has ever been penned. (My Opinion) Robert Ruark may have written between the two era's of Hemingway and Capstick, but when it comes to writing about Africa he took a backseat to neither of them and if you have read my other reviews you know that I have nothing but praise for them both. Ruark takes us on safari with him and his wife Virginia. The copyright is 1952 and though I couldn't find a definite time for the safari it was during the post WW II era. It is reasonable to assume that it would have been a short time prior to the copyright. He describes in great detail the African wilderness and wildlife along with the discomforts of insect bites and muddy river bottoms. Traveling through the Tanganyika wilderness in a Land Rover called Jessica with a professional hunter named Harry Selby, Ruark takes us with him on a grand adventure. Unlike many prominent writers Ruark not only tells of his successes, but his failures as well. Throughout the text Selby compares Ruark's marksmanship with a lady client named Harriet Maytag and Ruark's responses to his comments add depth and humor to the text. There are some spectacular long range shots taken, but there are also some clean misses at both long and short range. He admits his fear of Cape Buffalo and tells us of his love for wing shooting. He talks of Selby who is as sqeamish with snakes as a teenage girl, but is the living portrait of abosolute courage when following up wounded and dangerous animals. Ruark's delightful humor is on nearly every page as he describes various bits of unorthodox lore. Such as painting a juvinile baboon with flourescent paint to frighten off the band or Selby's advice to him to survive a buffalo stampede by shooting one of them and climbing on top of it to avoid being trampled. When I finished reading this story I was as sad to see it end as Ruark was to leave Africa. All in all this is a readers delight and will be a treasured gem in any hunters library.

One of the finest books ever written on Hunting period. Ruark odes Hemingway's Green Hills of Africa hands down. In this book we follow a man and his wife from New York's high life to the backwoods African bush. We discover what a buffalo really looks like, and how you feel when he looks at you! We discover fear, anxiety, restlessness, pride, truimph, and in the end respect and joy. A very highly recommended book.

Ruark was known as "the poor man's Ernest Hemingway". In "Horn of the Hunter", his prose and eloquent introspection out does Hemingway's "Green Hills of Africa".

Ruarke is rightfully called the master of outdoor writing. This is a fabulously written story of his first safari in Kenya and Tanganyika (now Tanzania). It is a must read for anyone who enjoys outdoor literature, hunting stories, or Africa.

Ruark's wit and irreverence sometimes remind me of Edward Abbey at his best. The book is filled with allusions to the pop-culture of post-WWII America which drove me, a child of the sixties, to learn more about the age. Ruark's love for the Miles and Miles of Bloody Africa is surpassed only by his love for his wife and safari companion, Virginia. A giraffe's head-and-shoulders better than anything Hemingway ever wrote about Africa.