Elephas Maximus: A Portrait of the Indian Elephant.STEPHEN ALTER Stephen Alter (born 1956) is an American author, primarily of non-fiction but also of fiction, who was born and raised in India, where he grew up as the son of missionaries. Accordingly, he was a Third Culture Kid (TCK), and his writings are generally described as Indo-nostalgic. ELEPHAS MAXIMUS Elephas maximus Asian or Indian elephant. : A Portrait of the Indian Elephant For more than 1,000 years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time Indian elephant has worked side by side with people during wars and in daily life. The creature is revered as a religious icon in India, yet it struggles to survive in the modern world. Alter pays homage homage: see feudalism. to Elephas maximus by describing its biology and natural history and by documenting its place in Indian myth, art, and literature. The author spent 2 years traveling to every corner of the country gathering the elephant's story. He reports from an annual elephant auction in northern Bihar and considers how the evolutionary force of the ivory trade produced tuskless males. On visits to nature preserves, he details the animals' habits and looks at the effectiveness of conservation efforts. At yet another turn, he journeys to Mumbai to witness a festival dedicated to Ganesha, the elephant-headed god. Alter weaves such facts into lyrical lyr·i·cal adj. 1. a. Expressing deep personal emotion or observations: a dancer's lyrical performance; a lyrical passage in his autobiography. b. text of travel and adventure. Harcourt, 2004, 320 p., b&w photos, hardcover, $25.00. |
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