Wolves and the Wolf Myth in American Literature

This book by S. K. Robisch is a truly exceptional piece of writing. It blends an enormous amount of research with a clarity that is rare in many such works. It is impressively backed with scholarship from a variey of fields as diverse as animal biology, psychology, history, and tribal spirituality. Robisch also makes use of images of the wolf in popular culture, such as fairytales and the current fascination with werewolf lore, to broaden the public perception of this flesh and blood entity. The point is made that the fate of the wolf and the fate of humanity itself may be more intimately bound together that might be imagined from casual observation. This book is no casual investigation of the complex relationships and systems shared by both man and wolf. The reader is invited to both observe the real lives and habits of wolves and to enter into the realm of myth and the archetype of the wolf as presented in American and world literature. The point is made several times that this creature that is so familiar to us is in fact a great unknown--a true mystery that invites exploration. The possible paradox presented here may be that even though we are invited in to examine this wonderful and wonderous animal, the animal itself may be best served if we simply left it alone.