The Homing Instinct

February 17, 2014
Retired biologist Heinrich (Life Everlasting) combines a scientific examination of animal migration with elements of journalism and memoir to produce a thoroughly engaging book. To open, he discusses the amazing ability of a diverse array of animals to migrate long distances and to return to their home breeding grounds: sandhill cranes annually to a small pond in Alaska after overwintering in Mexico, albatrosses to a speck of land in the middle of the ocean to breed after being away for years at a stretch, or salmon to their natal stream. Heinrich comfortably recognizes that there is a great deal that scientists have yet to discover and poses intriguing unanswered questions. The highlight of Heinrich’s second section is his recounting of an expedition he made to a pristine rainforest in the mountains of Suriname. In the final section he focuses on himself and his home in Maine, writing beautifully of living and hunting on his land as well as the myriad ways he has come to know the fauna and flora with which he shares his property. Although the books elements do not fit seamlessly, the work is strong enough to yield a holistic picture of various aspects of this important natural phenomenon. Agent: Sandra Dijkstra, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

April 1, 2014

Readers of this, or any of Heinrich's previous books (Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death), will recognize his habits of mind--observing, questioning, measuring, wondering, drawing, problem solving--the supply of applicable gerunds nearly runs out. Here the author explores homing and home building, working the theme across the animal spectrum (with a side trip into the vegetal world of chestnut trees). Heinrich (emeritus, biology, Univ. of Vermont) divides his latest work into three broad sections: the first, perhaps most familiar to readers, covers homing, where the wonders of some migratory animals' navigational prowess is examined; the second investigates the physical structures in which some beasts dwell; and, in a richly allusive third part, where Heinrich's own return home frames the narrative, he considers how all of this relates to human biology and culture. Much of the author's inquiry occurs locally, in the Maine woods, but the study of some extraordinary homemakers--frogs, sociable weaver birds, sandhill cranes--takes him to far-flung Suriname, the Kalahari, and Alaska. VERDICT Natural history fans will love this book. Its appeal is multilayered, with many fascinating instances of Heinrich's fabled fieldwork and plenty of hard science. Add to that those moments where the author stands agape at what he observes--say, a spider's web--and the writing nearly attains the lyric poignancy of poetry. [See Prepub Alert, 11/1/13.]--Robert Eagan, Windsor P.L., Ont.

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