The Dinosaur Artist
Autor Paige Williamsen Limba Engleză Paperback – 13 sep 2018
In 2012, a New York auction catalogue boasted an unusual offering: "a superb Tyrannosaurus skeleton." In fact, Lot 49135 consisted of a nearly completeT. bataar, a close cousin to the most famous animal that ever lived. The fossils now on display in a Manhattan event space had been unearthed in Mongolia, more than 6,000 miles away. At eight-feet high and twenty-four feet long, the specimen was spectacular, and when the gavel sounded, the winning bid was over $1 million.
Eric Prokopi, a thirty-eight-year-old Floridian, was the man who had brought this extraordinary skeleton to market. A onetime collegiate-level swimmer who spent his teenage years diving for shark teeth, Prokopi's singular obsession with fossils fueled a thriving business hunting, preparing, and selling specimens, to clients ranging from natural history museums to avid private collectors like actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicolas Cage.
But there was a problem. This time, facing financial strain, had Prokopi gone too far? As theT. bataarwent to auction, a network of paleontologists alerted the government of Mongolia to the eye-catching lot. An international custody battle ensued, and Prokopi watched his own world unravel.
In the tradition ofThe Orchid Thief,The Dinosaur Artistis a stunning work of narrative journalism about humans' relationship with natural history and a seemingly intractable conflict between science and commerce. A story that stretches from Florida's Land O' Lakes to the Gobi Desert,The Dinosaur Artistilluminates the history of fossil collecting--a murky, sometimes risky business, populated by eccentrics and obsessives, where the lines between poacher and hunter, collector and smuggler, enthusiast and opportunist, can easily blur.
In her first book, Paige Williams has given readers an irresistible story that spans continents, cultures, and millennia as she examines the question of who, ultimately, owns the past.
| Toate formatele și edițiile | Preț | Express |
|---|---|---|
| Paperback (2) | 98.08 lei 3-5 săpt. | +23.79 lei 6-10 zile |
| Scribe Publications – 13 sep 2018 | 98.08 lei 3-5 săpt. | +23.79 lei 6-10 zile |
| Hachette Book Group – 9 sep 2019 | 118.35 lei 3-5 săpt. |
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9781911617907
ISBN-10: 1911617907
Pagini: 432
Dimensiuni: 151 x 233 x 35 mm
Greutate: 0.58 kg
Editura: Scribe Publications
ISBN-10: 1911617907
Pagini: 432
Dimensiuni: 151 x 233 x 35 mm
Greutate: 0.58 kg
Editura: Scribe Publications
Notă biografică
Paige
Williamsis
a
staff
writer
atThe
New
Yorkerand
a
Mississippi
native.A
National
Magazine
Award
winner
for
feature
writing,
she
has
had
her
journalism
anthologized
in
various
volumes
of
theBest
Americanseries,
includingThe
Best
American
Magazine
WritingandThe
Best
American
Crime
Writing.
She
is
the
Laventhol/Newsday
Visiting
Professor
at
Columbia
University's
Graduate
School
of
Journalism,
and
has
taught
at
schools
including
the
University
of
Mississippi,
New
York
University,
the
Missouri
School
of
Journalism,
and,
at
M.I.T.,
in
the
Knight
Science
Journalism
program.
Williams
has
been
a
fellow
of
The
MacDowell
Colony
and
was
a
Nieman
Fellow
at
Harvard.
AtThe
New
Yorker,
she
has
written
about
suburban
politics
in
Detroit,
the
death
penalty
in
Alabama,
paleoanthropology
in
South
Africa,
and
the
theft
of
cultural
palimony
from
the
Tlingit
peoples
of
Alaska.
Recenzii
"Paige
Williams
isthat
rare
reporter
who
burrows
into
a
subject
until
all
of
its
dimensions,
allof
its
darkened
corners
and
secret
chambers,
are
illuminated.
WithThe
Dinosaur
Artist,she
has
done
more
than
reveal
a
gripping
true
crime
story;
she
has
cast
lighton
everything
from
obsessive
fossil
hunters
to
how
the
earth
evolved.
This
is
atremendous
book."—David
Grann,
#1
New
York
Times
bestselling
author
of
Killers
of
the
Flower
Moon
"The Dinosaur Artistisa breathtaking feat of writing and reporting: a strange, irresistible, andbeautifully written story steeped in natural history, human nature, commerce,crime, science, and politics. It's at once laugh-out-loud funny anddeeply sobering. I was blown away by the depth of its characters, its vividdetails, and Paige Williams' incredible command of the facts. Bottom line: thisis an extraordinary debut by one of the best nonfiction writers we've got."—Rebecca Skloot, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
"What began for [Williams] as the tale of an unusual court caseinvolving a rogue fossil hunter unspools in this book into a wide-rangingexamination of the ways that commercialism, ambition, politics and sciencecollide... As a reader, being given entry by Williams into this underworld, privyto the secret knowledge of a black market, is a thrill.... The strangeunderground world Prokopi inhabits inevitably brings us in contact with someserious oddballs, each of whom is introduced by Williams with the economy andevocative precision of a haiku.... the book's most memorable character may be Mongoliaitself, a rugged physical and political terrain that defies easygeneralization."—New York Times
"The Dinosaur Artistis a tale that haseverything: passion, science, politics, intrigue, and, of course, dinosaurs.Paige Williams is a wonderful storyteller."—Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction
"The Dinosaur Artistis a triumph. With peerless prose and sharp-eyedreporting, Paige Williams weaves a story that, even as it spans continents andtranscends geological epochs, is deeply anchored in the passion and hubris of arich cast of characters. Captivating, funny, and profound, it is easilyone of the strongest works of non-fiction in years."—Ed Yong, staff writer, The Atlantic; New York Times bestselling author of I Contain Multitudes
"Vivid storytelling.... A triumphant book."—Publishers Weekly
"An astonishing tangle of financial gain, national identity, scientificfervour and, above all, the obsessional need to possess pieces of the past."—Nature
"Williams's writing is oftenconcise and evocative.... [The Dinosaur Artist] is gripping andcinematic."—Wall Street Journal
"A tale so expansive thatNicolas Cage, Preet Bharara, and a colossal carnivorous dinosaur that livedsome 70 million years ago are all entangled in its web. That alone should piqueyour curiosity, but it barely scratches the surface of the paleontological truecrime story that unfolds inThe Dinosaur Artistby Paige Williams."—Vice
"Williams writes elegantly on the importance of fossils to science."—NPR
"The Dinosaur Artistis about a poached fossiland the folks--paleontologists and commercial fossil hunters--who try toprotect and possess natural history. [Paige Williams'] layering of science uponstory is so crafted that the book itself could pass as a geological act."—The Paris Review
"Likea massive trove of fossils, each skeleton with dozens of stories to tell, thisphenomenal book is at once natural history and a history of paleontology."—Politics & Prose
"Compelling .... absorbing.... Williamseffectively tells the story of people living out their passions."—Outside
"Williams tells thefascinating story of theTarbosaurusskeleton and of how its seller, Eric Prokopi, became the mostinfamous commercial fossil trader in the world.... Painstakingly detailedreporting."—Los Angeles Review of Books
"Vivid detail.... At [The Dinosaur Artist's]core is this friction between commercial fossil collectors ... and the scientificcommunity that snubs them for profiting off of a finite and priceless source ofknowledge. Williams weaves that conflict into a meaty epic spanning the historyof paleontology and the political environment that primed Mongolia for fossilpoaching."—The Verge
"As she excavates the story of a young Florida man'sobsession with dinosaur fossils and his escalating hunger for bigger and biggerpayouts, Williams uncovers a murky world of smugglers, collectors, and covertblack-market transactions."—NationalGeographic.com
"Complex and multi-layered.... Much asThe FeatherThiefdid for fly-tying andThe Orchid Thiefdid for orchidcollecting, this book exposes readers to the little known but highly lucrativetrade of finding and selling the remnants of an extinct world..... Fascinatingglimpses of paleontology, geology and mineralogy as well as the clandestinemarket for dinosaur fossils.... The true strength of the book is the author'stalent in describing the characters and scenes of the tale she unravels."—Lincoln Journal Star
"The Dinosaur Artistis a compelling, nuanced look at the surprisingly complex politics that surround fossil collecting. It should be required reading for both professional paleontologists and fossil enthusiasts and is a gripping read for anyone interested in the interplay between culture, history, and science."—Science
"The Dinosaur Artistinfectiously captures mankind'sfascination with fossils as both tangible items to treasure and artifacts thatcan reveal a wealth of data about the planet's prehistory, geology, zoology andmore."—Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"[Williams] skillfully navigatesthis unique nexus of paleontology and law along with its notorious blackmarkets."—Science Friday
"[A] heist story... with plenty of fascinating details about the way that the market for fossils has distorted the incentives in paleontology."—Stephen L. Carter, Bloomberg
"The Dinosaur Artistisa breathtaking feat of writing and reporting: a strange, irresistible, andbeautifully written story steeped in natural history, human nature, commerce,crime, science, and politics. It's at once laugh-out-loud funny anddeeply sobering. I was blown away by the depth of its characters, its vividdetails, and Paige Williams' incredible command of the facts. Bottom line: thisis an extraordinary debut by one of the best nonfiction writers we've got."—Rebecca Skloot, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
"What began for [Williams] as the tale of an unusual court caseinvolving a rogue fossil hunter unspools in this book into a wide-rangingexamination of the ways that commercialism, ambition, politics and sciencecollide... As a reader, being given entry by Williams into this underworld, privyto the secret knowledge of a black market, is a thrill.... The strangeunderground world Prokopi inhabits inevitably brings us in contact with someserious oddballs, each of whom is introduced by Williams with the economy andevocative precision of a haiku.... the book's most memorable character may be Mongoliaitself, a rugged physical and political terrain that defies easygeneralization."—New York Times
"The Dinosaur Artistis a tale that haseverything: passion, science, politics, intrigue, and, of course, dinosaurs.Paige Williams is a wonderful storyteller."—Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction
"The Dinosaur Artistis a triumph. With peerless prose and sharp-eyedreporting, Paige Williams weaves a story that, even as it spans continents andtranscends geological epochs, is deeply anchored in the passion and hubris of arich cast of characters. Captivating, funny, and profound, it is easilyone of the strongest works of non-fiction in years."—Ed Yong, staff writer, The Atlantic; New York Times bestselling author of I Contain Multitudes
"Vivid storytelling.... A triumphant book."—Publishers Weekly
"An astonishing tangle of financial gain, national identity, scientificfervour and, above all, the obsessional need to possess pieces of the past."—Nature
"Williams's writing is oftenconcise and evocative.... [The Dinosaur Artist] is gripping andcinematic."—Wall Street Journal
"A tale so expansive thatNicolas Cage, Preet Bharara, and a colossal carnivorous dinosaur that livedsome 70 million years ago are all entangled in its web. That alone should piqueyour curiosity, but it barely scratches the surface of the paleontological truecrime story that unfolds inThe Dinosaur Artistby Paige Williams."—Vice
"Williams writes elegantly on the importance of fossils to science."—NPR
"The Dinosaur Artistis about a poached fossiland the folks--paleontologists and commercial fossil hunters--who try toprotect and possess natural history. [Paige Williams'] layering of science uponstory is so crafted that the book itself could pass as a geological act."—The Paris Review
"Likea massive trove of fossils, each skeleton with dozens of stories to tell, thisphenomenal book is at once natural history and a history of paleontology."—Politics & Prose
"Compelling .... absorbing.... Williamseffectively tells the story of people living out their passions."—Outside
"Williams tells thefascinating story of theTarbosaurusskeleton and of how its seller, Eric Prokopi, became the mostinfamous commercial fossil trader in the world.... Painstakingly detailedreporting."—Los Angeles Review of Books
"Vivid detail.... At [The Dinosaur Artist's]core is this friction between commercial fossil collectors ... and the scientificcommunity that snubs them for profiting off of a finite and priceless source ofknowledge. Williams weaves that conflict into a meaty epic spanning the historyof paleontology and the political environment that primed Mongolia for fossilpoaching."—The Verge
"As she excavates the story of a young Florida man'sobsession with dinosaur fossils and his escalating hunger for bigger and biggerpayouts, Williams uncovers a murky world of smugglers, collectors, and covertblack-market transactions."—NationalGeographic.com
"Complex and multi-layered.... Much asThe FeatherThiefdid for fly-tying andThe Orchid Thiefdid for orchidcollecting, this book exposes readers to the little known but highly lucrativetrade of finding and selling the remnants of an extinct world..... Fascinatingglimpses of paleontology, geology and mineralogy as well as the clandestinemarket for dinosaur fossils.... The true strength of the book is the author'stalent in describing the characters and scenes of the tale she unravels."—Lincoln Journal Star
"The Dinosaur Artistis a compelling, nuanced look at the surprisingly complex politics that surround fossil collecting. It should be required reading for both professional paleontologists and fossil enthusiasts and is a gripping read for anyone interested in the interplay between culture, history, and science."—Science
"The Dinosaur Artistinfectiously captures mankind'sfascination with fossils as both tangible items to treasure and artifacts thatcan reveal a wealth of data about the planet's prehistory, geology, zoology andmore."—Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"[Williams] skillfully navigatesthis unique nexus of paleontology and law along with its notorious blackmarkets."—Science Friday
"[A] heist story... with plenty of fascinating details about the way that the market for fossils has distorted the incentives in paleontology."—Stephen L. Carter, Bloomberg