The Grizzly Maze: Timothy Treadwell's Fatal Obsession with Alaskan Bears

This is a compelling book. Far above just another bear mauling tale. Nick Jans has done his homework; in interviews and on location--and more impressive to me-years in the proximity of bears. I'm a friend of Nick's, and as a result both more supportive and more critical of his work than the average reader. I was lucky enough to watch his process. In October 2003 he started with the exact information all us Alaskans had-that generic and ungenerous initial buzz: Hey, hear about the blond Californian eaten by a brown bear? Within days he'd been to the site by floatplane. In a week he knew the last words uttered by this eaten man, Treadwell; he was following tracks to hundreds of stories that had taken place over decades, from one end of the country to the other, from the David Letterman Show to down the way Kodiak Island. And in that time something essential to crafting a story of this quality took place: Nick's generous nature merged with his driving curiosity. He genuinely wanted to know Treadwell. He liked him for who he was. He accepted a range of perspectives of Treadwell--as a freak, as a shaman, as a man braver than the one-in-a-million of us regular folk-to figure out who this eccentric human had been. While I couldn't necessarily agree with these perspectives, (I never met Timothy Treadwell, nor had previously even heard of him) I believe this generosity shines through as the foundation of this excellent book. I'm envious of Nick, blending research with hard-earned time out on the land with brown bears, and in the process leapfrogging a bunch of us, actually becoming an expert on these creatures. This became obvious when he'd ask me an occasional question. I found my typical response-- Oh, I guess the bear acted a little strange trying to get in the door...seemed to taste fine though.-as one-dimensional, narrow, really not informed at all. Nick Jans wove it all together-Treadwell with his real smile and fake past, bears and more bears, and his own experiences--with deftness and dedication.

I live in Kodiak Alaska and am proud to associate myself and my fellow islanders as good neighbors to the Brown bear. Unfortunately Mr. Treadwell did not feel the same and felt it was appropriate to intrude on the these wild but magnificant creatures. This turned out to be a deadly mistake to both human and bear alike. When Timothy Treadwell and his friend, Amie Huguenard were killed in October 2003 at the Katmai National Park most people from Kodiak had no idea who he was. The conservationist and the Park personnel however did. A lot of anger erupted over this incident due to Treadwell's encroachment of the bears and I found myself getting angrier and angrier the more I learned about this man who felt he was a "bear whisperer" when in fact he was self serving and obviously ignorant of the fact that if he was killed the bears would pay the ultimate price. Jans does a fantastic job telling this story. He is a very good writer and the book is an easy read. He is fair and balanced and he goes a long way to put closure of this incident for many people. He tells it all. The good, bad and ugly. He approached his research in a respectful and scientific way. He was able to gain the trust of the locals here (no easy feat) who shared with him their knowledge of bears and the people involved. Jans does a magnificant job telling the story and due to his prior experiences in Alaska he was able to explain much of Treadwell's actions which helped me channel much of the anger I had over this incident into a deeper understanding of Mr. Treadwell's actions. Jans does this the same way Jon Krakauer did with the main character from his best selling book, Into The Wilds. I felt the negative emotions I had over this experience disappearing and learned even more about our neighbors, the bears and have even more respect for them now. I very rarely give a book 5-stars but I read this book in a single day and just couldn't put it down. The afterward requires the reader to pay very close attention to the material Jans presents on black and brown bear attacks. One can gather lots of useful information by reading this closely and studying the graphs. Jans seems to be empathetic to the reader knowing he is dumping a lot of material on us but in the end it is worth it. The reader just needs to be patient. He even summarizes the chapter which really helped put it together for me and should be required knowledge for all who trek in the wilds. I was very fortunate that I got to meet Mr. Jans at a local presentation and this really added to the overall enjoyment of the book. He is very friendly and speaks well and a wonderful story teller. I highly recommend this book to those who want to learn more about bear behavior and what happens when humans interfere with the laws of nature.

More than any other book that is out there, Nick Jans maintains a journalistic approach to Timothy Treadwell. Jans does occasionally throw out theories but for the most part he tries to professionally report both sides of the story which seems hard when it comes to Treadwell. Certainly he uses far less conjecture than Mike Lapinski does in his "Death in the Grizzly Maze." Another thing I liked about this book is that it can stand on it's own. "Among Grizzlies" is by it's nature not a fully honest book, it is more an attempt to project the vision that Treadwell and Pavolak wants to create. "Death in the Grizzly Maze" is almost a book report based on "Among Grizzlies." This book tells the whole story in a fairly unbiased, fact based way. If you want to know the whole Treadwell story, this is the best out there. If you want a better chance to make up your own mind on Treadwell, see the Werner Herzog documentary "Grizzly Man." Again it is an edited presentation, but you can see and hear Treadwell which for me, gave me a much better look into his phyche.

The Grizzly Maze by Nick Jans is an excellent treatment of a the life and death of Timothy Treadwell. I have been reading Jans's essays and articles for a long time and have always found his writing to be both thoughtful and thought provoking. In The Grizzly Maze, he delves deeply into the life of Treadwell to seek to understand Treadwell's "fatal obsession." I lived in Alaska for many years and when I first heard of Treadwell and Huguenard's deaths, my first reaction was, "What do you expect?" And I thought Jans might have a similar attitude - being also a long time Alaskan and a man experienced in the ways of bears. I was wrong about Jans. He wrote with a grudging admiration of the courage Treadwell must have had to survive as long as he did among the bears of Katmai. The book is extensively researched. It seems Jans talked with everyone connected in any way with Treadwell and the investigation of his killing. The chapters dealing with Treadwell and Huguenard's last days and the discovery of their deaths are particulary well done. Jans provides the reader with a gripping moment by moment tale of what might have happened to Timothy and Amie. Although the story culminates in a tragedy - two humans and two bears killed - Jans's wry sense of humor and narrative skill made the read very enjoyable. A few examples - (Reflecting the attitude of the Park Service) "And there's Timothy Treadwell, alone, plunked down at the epicenter of bear town, like he's home on the Barcalounger." "You don't crowd or habituate bears and contaminate your study area by interacting with them. You don't treat them like people in furry suits. You sure as hell don't sing or talk to them." The second half of the book surprised me a bit. Jans leaves the Treadwell story to deal with the issue of human/bear relations in general. And here Jans not only draws on what history and the experts say but his own nearly three decades of experiences and reflections on man and bears. His own journey seemed to mirror the last couple of hundred years of man's attitudes toward bears. From "shoot now!!" to a respectful coexistence. Jans's account is very personal and informed by years of encounters with grizzlies. And again, his wordplay made me look forward to every page. (Writing about bear safety) "The problem is that food is one hell of a motivator to your average bear, who's totally capable of peeling the door off an SUV like a hunk of foil off a candy bar if something inside smells tasty enough." "But still, many people have avoided bears, especially brown/grizzlies, by climbing a nearby spruce or birch. How high should you go? Don't worry. That detail will work itself out, and probably will precisely coincide with the height of your chosen tree." I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it highly. It is not just a book about this one man and his love affair with grizzlies; it is not just about how to survive a bear attack; it is a well written