The Snake Charmer: A Life and Death in Pursuit of Knowledge

This book is like a short movie and is really capable to keep you entertained. The real glue is the primordial fear and fascination we have for snakes, dressed with adventurous travels in isolated and dangerous places and childish crazy social-impaired characters. The book is also packed with interesting information about herpetology and prominent scientists and explorers. It almost succeeds in turning Systematics ( the most boring field of Biology ) into an interesting subject.

I love a good biography of an interesting, over-the-top eccentric. One could possibly argue that Joe Slowinski was equal parts madman and genius; we all know the old adage, "There is a fine line between genius and insanity"...but honestly, I don't think Joe was insane. As portrayed by Jamie James, Joe Slowinski comes across as over-the-top, a bit immature and selfish, and most assuredly obsessive about the snakes he so adores. But we need folks like him whose very obsessive natures contribute so richly to their chosen field of study. Author James captures Joe's spirit beautifully, and the brief "bios" of various species of snakes at the beginning of each chapter are fascinating accounts of the subjects which fired Joe's enthusiasm. Had I ever met him in life, I could easily see myself following him to uncharted territories in search of a rare species of deadly snake. That enthusiasm of his was infectious. What a shame that he died too soon. James' portrait of a flawed, perplexing and ultimately very human individual should appeal to herpetologists everywhere, but also to those who just enjoy a good read about a fascinating character. My only complaint is that it was too short; perhaps there was only so much of Joe's larger-than-life persona that could fit into a book!

Most biographies are about people you've probably heard of already. However, Jamie James' biography of Joe Slowinski, an energetic herpetologist, is more interesting than the lives of most of our presidents and celebrities. James depicts Slowinski as a man full of energy, and his biography is also full of energy. It tracks Slowinski from his childhood finding fossils right up until his death in northern Burma. In between, James recounts raucous tales of a young scientist catching venomous snakes barehanded and traveling the world. One of James' best tricks is to interweave short biographies of the snakes along with the biography of Slowinski. Since Slowinski's life was so intertwined these beautiful reptiles, they reveal much about the man himself. I ended up learning as much about snakes as I did about the life of a herpetologist. I especially liked this book because I've visited some of the places Slowinski did and met some of the same Burmese scientists. I spent a week in Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park, where Slowinski conducted some of his earlier research, and can attest to Jamie Jame's depiction of northern Burma as remote and wonderful. It was a pleasure to see some of my old friends and locations mentioned in the book. This book will also appeal to readers with a general interest in Burma. The final chapter recounting Slowinski's death is especially poignant. Slowinski was fatally bit by a Multi-Banded Krait, the very snake he was studying. James brings the doomed rescue attempt to life and highlights the bravery of Slowinski's colleagues in the field. When reading it, I recalled Steve Irwin's similarly tragic death several years ago. Slowinski's death was tragic, but reading the biography one gets the sense that he packed more into his brief life than most of us do in twice his lifespan. It made me believe, more than ever, that the light that burns half as long burns twice as bright...

When I first heard about Joe Slowinski's bizarre and tragic death by snakebite in Burma, I was fascinated and wanted to learn more. The moment I saw this book, I grabbed it---an impulse move that was a lot safer than Joe's impulsive grab into the snake bag containing the krait. This book is riveting, being simultaneously a character study, an adventure story, a peek into the world of academic science, and a biology primer. It succeeds in all categories, making it almost impossible to put down and haunting afterwards. The author's writing is concise yet accurate and descriptive. As a trained biologist and a herpetologist on the hobbyist level, I appreciated Joe's fascination with snakes. I am a turtle person myself (oddly, nothing much is said about the turtle people in the prestige rankings among herpetologists) but have also had a snake. I can verify that herp meetings that feature snakes have had nearly all male attendance, as Mr. James states. Snakes exert a draw for a certain type of person, exemplified in Joe Slowinski, that other reptiles don't. They have magic. Like all possessed geniuses, Joe Slowinski would not have been easy to live with, but he contributed immensely to the life around him. It is so tragic that he did not get to fulfil his lifespan. I think the last 2 sentences in Mr. James's "Sources and Methods" afterword sums it up so well: "..it's the great gap at the end I regret most of all. It's a peculiar kind of sadness to feel sorely the loss of someone I never met." Highly recommended, for readers of all ages and backgrounds.

This is an excellent account of a very sad event. The author goes in to detail about Dr. Slowinskis life as well as his tragic death. The events leading up to the end are an exciting story regarding herpetology and world travel. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in herpetology, anthropology or travel. For all of us that work with snakes it is a warning and "wake up call" as to what NOT to do. Buy it....well worth the price. Larry Cartmill, Ph.D. Huntington, WV