Throwim Way Leg: Tree-Kangaroos, Possums, and Penis Gourds - Softcover

Flannery, Tim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802136656 ISBN 13: 9780802136657

Publisher: Grove Press, 2000

Synopsis

From the bestselling author of The Weather Makers: "An enthralling introduction to the mountain people of New Guinea . . . and to their magnificent land" (The New York Times Book Review).

A world expert on the fauna of New Guinea with twenty new species and over seven books to his credit, Tim Flannery takes us into the field and on an unforgettable journey into the heart of this mysterious and uncharted country.

Flannery's scientific voyage leads him to places he never dreamed of: he camps among cannibals and befriends Femsep, a legendary warrior who led the slaughter of colonial whites decades before. He enters caves full of skeletons of long-extinct, giant marsupials, scales mountains previously untouched by Europeans, and is nearly killed when tribes people decide to take revenge for their prior mistreatment by his "clan" (wildlife scientists). And Flannery writes movingly of the fate of indigenous people in collision with the high-tech world of late-twentieth-century industry.

In New Guinea Pidgin, "throwim way leg" means to thrust out your leg on the first step of a long journey. Full of adventure, wit, and natural wonders, Flannery's narrative is just such a spectacular trip. Like Redmond O'Hanlon's classics Into the Heart of Borneo and No Mercy, Throwim Way Leg is a tour de force of travel, anthropology, and natural history.

"Flannery combines diligent science, heart-pounding adventure, and a respect for ancient cultures to create a compelling tale." —Sierra, The National Magazine of the Sierra Club

About this title

Review

In Throwim Way Leg, Australia-based mammologist-raconteur Tim Flannery recalls scientific expeditions in the wilds of New Guinea that convey both the thrill of discovery and the negotiations necessary to bridge huge clashes of cultures. A world expert on New Guinea's fauna, Flannery has discovered 20 new species during his two decades of research. Yet his ability to convey unalloyed adventure in his taletelling makes these scientific expeditions read more like hair-raising, funky Redmond O'Hanlon-style travels than disciplined, scholarly field trips. Energy and danger run high.

Terrific thunderstorms and aircraft mishaps rattle Flannery during his travels. Yet the most memorable quality of Throwim Way Leg is Flannery's incorporation of humans into the natural world he writes about, often contrasting the jungled New Guinea denizens with stark modern technologies. He writes rich profiles of those he has met, and his images are memorable and meaningful: crowds of people gaping at a single television set; the remote landscape of Mt. Albert Edward dotted with cattle, Swiss chalets, and the smoky fires of the Goilala people; the malnourished Yapsiei greeting him reeking of the "sweet, sickly smell" of grile, a form of ringworm.

Ultimately, Flannery looks ahead and sees that the age of discovery is not at all complete in New Guinea, as so much remains unknown. But, in an often-told tale, modern political forces are at work, reshaping those unique natural and cultural environments that Throwim Way Leg explores with such vigor. --Byron Ricks

From the Back Cover

Tim Flannery is a scientist of international standing, a world expert on the fauna of New Guinea with twenty new species and seven books to his credit. In Throwim Way Leg, he takes us into the field and on an unforgettable journey into the heart of this mysterious and uncharted country. The result is a book of wonder and excitement, brimming with marvelous stories. Flannery's scientific voyage leads him to places he never dreamed of: he camps among cannibals and befriends Femsep, a legendary warrior who led the slaughter of colonial whites decades before. He enters caves full of skeletons of long-extinct, giant marsupials, scales mountains previously untouched by Europeans, and is nearly killed when tribes people decide to take revenge for their prior mistreatment by his "clan" (wildlife scientists). And Flannery writes movingly of the fate of indigenous people in collision with the high-tech world of late-twentieth-century industry.

In New Guinea pidgin, throwim way leg means to thrust out your leg on the first step of a long journey. Full of adventure, wit, and natural wonders, Flannery's narrative is just such a spectacular trip. Like Redmond O'Hanlon's classics Into the Heart of Borneo and No Mercy, Throwim Way Leg is a tour de force of travel, anthropology, and natural history.

"This book combines an irresistible author with an irresistible subject: Tim Flannery, a great zoologist and writer about science, relating his explorations of New Guinea, a vivid tropical universe. . . . The result is a dangerous book that you pick up at your peril, because it is so hard to put down."-Jared M. Diamond, professor of Physiology, UCLA, and author of Guns, Germs & Steel

"Australia has found its own Stephen Jay Gould."-Matt Ridley, The Times Literary Supplement (London)

"One of the world's greatest zoologists . . . who's probably discovered more new species than Darwin. He's a remarkable man."-Redmond O'Hanlon

"Tim Flannery is in the league of the all-time great explorers like Dr. David Livingstone."-Sir David Attenborough

"What an extraordinary book this is. . . . Flannery provides a magical polychrome of [New Guinea]. You can hear the cataclysmic thunderstorms, smell the hunting dogs, taste the roast possum. No one else could have written this book. . . . The themes he elucidates are the largest themes available to any writer: life and death; religion and questions of belief; greed and the havoc that the pursuit of money can wreak; the politics of colonialism and oppression; the cultural specificity of morality. . . . Flannery is a fiercely intelligent and perceptive guide. He is also courageous. This is a journey through and beyond fear. . . .Flannery's book is as fertile and fascinating as New Guinea itself. It deserves to be read widely and often."-Michael Winkler, Sunday Age

"As vivid and compelling as being landed in a helicopter in a high valley among the mountains of Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya, some of the wildest country left on earth."-Geoffrey Dutton, The Bulletin

Tim Flannery was born in Melbourne in 1956. He is a principal research scientist at the Australian Museum in Sydney, where he lives. He is also the author of seven other books, including The Future Eaters, which won the Adelaide Festival Award for Non-Fiction, the Age Non-Fiction Book of the Year, and the inaugural South Australian Premier's Literary Award. He has made contributions of international significance to the fields of paleontology, mammalogy, and conservation.

Edition details

• Publisher: Grove Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802136656
• ISBN 13: 9780802136657
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336