QUEST IN PARADISE

Join British naturalist David Attenborough as he treks through the New Guinean jungle in search of birds of paradise and other creatures to film and bring back to the London Zoo. The book about his trip was published in 1960, so both attitudes and events are dated, but Attenborough acknowledges this in his introduction, and for his part, he never sounds anything but utterly fascinated by and respectful of the cultures he encounters. He's wonderful narrating his own material—his voice, familiar from so many nature documentaries, exudes friendly knowledge. He re-creates some of the pidgin English he spoke with the natives and imitates the accents of Australian colleagues. The whole thing sounds like a grand adventure, and listeners will be sorry when Attenborough reaches the end of his journey. J.M.D. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2009]