MixedThe New York Times Book ReviewA few other current writers might write as well about animals at a burst, but none, I think, could go on and on with such indefatigable pleasure and authentic religiosity. Animals too, and not just man, Mr. Lopez is saying, are made in the image of God; and he is celebrating the glory of God. There is no evidence that he writes as well about people, however, or even that he aspires to. We are not dealing with a master nature writer on the order of Turgenev or Thoreau, for whom nature encompassed human nature. His account of the exploration of the Arctic by Europeans in the last fourth of Arctic Dreams is tidy and competent but uninspired, for instance, and none of his companions on his many trips, Eskimo or white, is ever delineated—this not only from a misplaced tact, but from what I take to be a simple lack of interest. Still, the gift of sight (and second sight) focused here upon the ocean, ice, skyscapes, landscapes and wildlife is extraordinary ... Part-rhapsody, part-history, it is a bifurcated book, and displays a magnificently nonchalant assurance at times ... He makes the sensible suggestion that anthropomorphism be one of our tools of inquiry into how animals behave ... I wish anger had pricked Mr. Lopez more often ... In the vast stretches of the Arctic, pockets of development have sprung up, angering conservationists. But the author keeps out of the debate
