The Frozen Leopard : Hunting My Dark Heart in Africa

Describes the author's experiences traveling through Africa, meeting and talking with warriors, activists, and poachers

Africa proved a revelation and a revitalization for the author. Dispirited and in the grip of writer's block, Latham ( Urban Cowboy ) recently took his family on an extended safari as a palliative. In the wildlife parks of Kenya and on a side trip to see the gorillas of Rwanda, he found he was escaping both his old identity and his species; in the presence of the animals, he temporarily became one of them. This account of the family safari is fine travel writing; Latham's experience of Africa is a spellbinding story of self-discovery. When he asked anthropologist Richard Leakey what gives Africa such power, the answer was "genetic memory"--Latham had returned to his first home.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

One of those tiresome books about traveling to a distant land to find a self never known--or in this case sidetracked by writer's block and unexpiated grief--now from journalist/novelist Latham (Crazy Sundays, 1971; Orchids for Mother, 1977). Depressed, unable to write, and haunted by the long-ago death of his only sister, whose name he is unable to speak, Latham accompanies his wife (CBS Washington correspondent Leslie Stahl), his young daughter, his brother-in-law, and his nephew on a safari to Kenya and to Diane Fossey's gorillas. There are the usual rigors and delights of life under canvas on upscale safaris. All the expected animals are sighted by the end, and colorful postcolonials like Anna Merz, whose pet rhino follows her around like any small dog, are encountered. The visit to the gorillas is arduous if rewarding, though Latham feels suffocated by the dense undergrowth, and not as free and hopeful as he does on the dry and sparsely treed plains of Kenya, which so remind him of his native Texas. Surprised by his ability to identify with the animals he sees, and letting go of the self in the process, his depression begins to lift, and he is finally able to talk about his sister. These moments of epiphany are not serendipitous, Latham concludes, but, rather, realistic responses to a region where humanity originated; when Richard Leakey suggests that they might be prompted by ``genetic memory,'' Latham agrees: ``We see the place where we came from, and we recognize it. We feel at home in East Africa...there is still no place like home no matter how long we have been away from it.'' Latham's grief and depression, for all their vivid (sometimes mawkish) reality, don't really add all that much to an otherwise thin, conventional, and frequently naive book. For hard-core safari-junkies only. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Latham, author of such works as Urban Cowboy (Bantam, 1980), is overcome with diffidence and despair resulting from problems with his writing. As a remedy, he embarks on an exciting journey through Eastern Africa and Rwanda. Traveling with a private guide, Latham visits various parks, reserves, and sanctuaries, observing a multitude of wildlife in their natural habitat. He shares his emotions through beautiful prose and adeptly creates images of the Africa he experienced. His versatility as a writer is evident through the creative fantasy and analogy he employs to illustrate a point. His absorbing text is made interesting with the inclusion of historical anecdotes, cultural observations, and wildlife information. Latham ultimately recaptures his enthusiasm for life, providing readers with the opportunity to explore both captivating countryside as well as the inner workings of a writer's mind. Highly recommended.
- Jo-Anne Mary Benson, Osgoode, Ontario
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.