A Wolf Called Romeo
By: Nick Jans / Narrated By: Tom Perkins
Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
A long, and at times drawn out, account of one wolf’s Journey…
I s’pose I have to do this review now as opposed to muuuuuch later cuz I just wanna get it over with. It’s like this, see: I don’t know whether I liked it or not…
I was absolutely smitten with the cover, the photo of Romeo meeting his best buddy, Dakotah, a simple if amiable dog, out there in the frozen open spaces of Juneau, Alaska. I’m not sure what I thought it’d be. P’raps a pleasant tale of the remarkableness of a wild creature coming forth, becoming much-loved by the community, a favorite of people and pets?
Ahhhh, but it’s so much more than that, and I guess that’s where I’m all stuck.
Yes, there is the absolute glory of author Nick Jans walking his dogs and being awestruck by a lone wolf nimbly stepping out of the shadows. The author is hesitant at first; after all, even in the remoteness of Alaska, many never see a wolf in their entire lives. And here’s one, right in front of them. He waits, quiet, and is further amazed when the affable Dakotah sprints forward as tho’ she’s found a long lost buddy. Jans fearfully waits for the attack, but instead the two, dog and wolf, begin tussling and playing. Quickly Jans runs back to get his wife so that she might be awed by this sight as well.
But they’re not the only ones Romeo (Dubbed thus by his wife for the wolf’s mooning over Dakotah) has made himself known to. And here is where the tale gets a bit… tricky…?
Cuz see humans are a disgusting lot. Perhaps you can tell by this website, we’re exceeeeedingly fond of animals? And I’m ALL for leaving unto Nature what is Nature’s, and this book is about as much a 180 from THAT as is possible to get. Plenty of people are awed, know that they’ve been blessed by this interaction, this glimpse of glory. But even more people are just gawkers and haven’t the first notion of how to respect Nature and wildlife. A veritable circus grows up around Romeo, with throngs of people jostling around, trying to get the most perfect photographs of Romeo and their dogs that they can. And many of these people let their truly obnoxious dogs harass the wolf to the point where he asserts his independence and dominance by clamping his jaws quickly over their necks. NATurally, THESE are the photos that are taken, and it’s here where we see the community divided over the existence of the wolf.
Two factions, well, three actually. The ones who love Romeo and wish him the best. The ones who are fearful of the wildness surrounding them (MOVE OUTTA ALASKA, for cripes sake!) and want him destroyed.
And the ones who are vile, disgusting, and loudly declare they’ll hunt ‘im and skin ‘im, just to horrify others. They’re just wretched and cruel, and take delight in being despicable.
So the book is about Romeo, yes (And a LOT about his diet… and his scat so that we might see that he’s not eating pets…), but a lot of it is about the plight of wolves in general (Oh thank you Sarah Palin for your appalling disregard for the sanctity of life and flashing photos of you with a wolf you slaughtered for fun… Life wouldn’t be right without villains.)
Plenty of villains to be found here, and some of them wear sheep’s clothing, and all this makes for a rather aggravating listen as opposed to a humble contemplation of life, of blessings. We follow from the first glimpse of the wolf, all the way to the horrors that awaited him, and Jans ends it all with the gross miscarriage of justice that ALWAYS happens with Man’s Inhumanity to his Fellow Creatures. The good wolf never wins.
Tom Perkins narrates this well, having the voice of an older man, at home in the backwoods, one who has perhaps seen a lot, too much, of Life. This is the voice of a man who’s sown his wild oats and who may have blood on his hands. His PETA-loving wife has done much to help him to see what he’s done, the harm, and Perkins sounds tired but enlightened. Don’t ask me how THAT is wrought by a narration, but Perkins manages it even so. The most negative thing I can offer about his performance is that he makes wolf poop boring (Do I reeeeeally need to hear that wolves eat dog poop also? Is it not bad enough that my sister’s dog does it? … Wait… Have I just aired out our family’s dirty laundry…?).
Come for the beautiful cover, stay for the delight of animals communing with each other, bonding despite our understanding, and wind up with a heavy sigh.
In Humans v. Animals? Animals once again show they’ve the better hearts…
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