THE TREE WHERE MAN WAS BORN

Peter Matthiessen traveled around Africa, including the Sudan, Kenya, and Tanzania, to see its wildlife. His account of his travels starts with the tree of the title and weaves ancestral stories and local history into a travelogue. In the book's best moments, Dion Graham's deep voice adds a poetic quality to the author’s descriptive writing as he talks about watching wild elephants or buffalo. Graham also brings life to Matthiessen's meetings with Africans and Europeans. Still, some of the background comes across as dry. The author's introduction acknowledges that a lot has happened since the book’s original 1972 publication. With the help of Graham's strong reading, this is still an interesting look at the continent. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2010]