Second Nature

What makes someone human? This novel deals with the essence of what it means to be human, the true stuff that makes us living, thinking, feeling people. Stephen, victim of a plane crash when he was a toddler, gets lost following the crash. He is raised by wolves and does not enter civilization until he is a grown man. How he learns to perceive the world he's left behind - his wolf family - juxtaposed with civili- zation, love, romance and sexual desire is the focus of this amazing novel. Stephen is confused by the many facades of civilization where what one thinks and feels is often masked by how one acts and presents oneself, so frequently at odds with true emotion. This book is moving and sad, always poetic and thought-provoking. It has an essence of true poetic mystery that characterizes the best of Hoffman's writing. I highly recommend this book.

I read this years ago, but figured I should add to the positive reviews of this really wonderful novel. Maybe it's my romantic side, but I absolutely loved it. It is blamed for being unrealistic. OF COURSE it's unrealistic. Men, brought up by wolves do not turn civilized in the matter of weeks. But SN does not claim to be an anthropology textbook. It is a love story, and an extremely beautiful one at that. It is also the best that Hoffman has written (I think)--the atmosphere of a little town where time stands still is done masterfully, as is the atmosphere of that same town when something goes dreadfully wrong. The romance between the main characters is wonderful. I highly recommend it to all you romantics out there (but NOT to those seeking to read a true antrhopological account).

I may be biased, because I just love this author, but this was truly a great book. You begin reading it like it is a fairy tale, and soon forget the unlikeliness of the story line -it becomes utterly real to you. This was truly an excellent book - I don't know if I would have read it if I was unfamiliar with the author, but I am so glad I did. I recommend it to all of my friends.

Reading over some of the other customer reviews, I notice that many people criticized this book for being too unrealistic. I think those people are missing the point. This is a modern fairy-tale, and fairy-tales are meant to be lessons about what it means to be human, and how we are supposed to live our lives. Using the "Wolfman", Stephen, as a metaphor, Hoffman manages to show how our modern world can cause us to forget our connection to the rest of nature. Using the events in the story, she shows how fragile and precious love is, and how grief and tragedy can cloud our vision and cause us to place blame on innocent people. This is the third novel by Hoffman I have read, and it is by far the most poignant and most philosophical. Hoffman is a magnificent writer, one whom I strive to emulate. If you are looking for a touch of magic, a story which might illuminate for you what it means to be human in the last part of the twentieth century, Hoffman is the author you should read. And this book would be a great place to start!

I've read several of Ms. Hoffman's books and enjoyed them all. Second Nature, however, stole my heart. I loved it.Then I read the reviews and comments from some of the other readers and had to sit back and wonder why it moved me so much while other readers clearly found it unbelievable. I'm a published author myself, and as such, a very critical reader. So, yes, there were plot holes, things that couldn't possibly have happened. But Ms. Hoffman's weaves a spell of magic with her writing that forced me to suspend disbelief. Her books take me back to when I read for the pure pleasure of the story rather than how she plotted a scene or developed a character. Her writing is simple and beautiful, and I couldn't have cared less whether Robin could have actually walked out of that hospital with Stephen. Or whether a she-wolf would in reality take in a human child and raise her as her own. I wanted to believe, and for the space of this very special book, I did. To me, that's pure magic.