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| The Grizzly Maze: Timothy Treadwell's Fatal Obsession with Alaskan Bears | 
 enlarge | Author: Nick Jans
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  58 reviews
Sales Rank: 886590
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5.9 x 1.2
ASIN: B000FTWB4E
Publication Date: July 7, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
With a new introduction on Werner Herzogs film entitled The Grizzly Man Timothy Treadwell, self-styled "bear whisperer" dared to live among the grizzlies, seeking to overturn the perception of them as dangerously aggressive animals. When he and his girlfriend were mauled in October 2003, it created a media sensation. In The Grizzly Maze, Nick Jans, a seasoned outdoor writer with a quarter century of experience writing about Alaska and bears, traces Treadwells rise from unknown waiter in California to celebrity, providing a moving portrait of the man whose controversial ideas and behavior earned him the scorn of hunters, the adoration of animal lovers and the skepticism of naturalists.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 53 more reviews...
 The best of the information available October 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Since the day Tim Treadwell died I have kept a file on all the media information to appear about him. Why? Because I never met him, but talked to him on the phone several times about bears. He was the first person in my life who ever had the nerve to say "hey bears might not be the monsters people have been lead to believe they are". Having said that, I realized from reading his book that he was partly wacko, no question. I also realized long before he died that he was the kind of person who people either liked in a tolerant, funny sort of way or they really, really hated him. A person who can generate that kind of hate is a lesson to all of us. Nick Jans says he never met Tim Treadwell but he writes this story with common sense and neutrality and a good deal of careful craft. The story of Tim Treadwell's death itself has never settled on me as the whole truth. First, I believe that there are things about bears researchers haven't learned yet as the stories of late fall lodge caretakers in Alaska suggest that late fall bears haven't been studied to the extent of summer bears. Second, when I read this book, all it gave me were more questions which will never be answered. As a tracker, a seeker of facts, I was astounded that the discovery of the tragedy wasn't treated as a crime scene. In search and rescue they ALWAYS treat each incident as a crime scene until it is proven otherwise. In this case they just assumed it was obvious what happened, and maybe it was, but procedurally that was wrong. Also, the only evidence of what happened outside of appearances, was the audio tape. That tape was a crucial piece of evidence and if the bears involved had been humans charged with murder, even an inept attorney could have gotten them acquitted based on the handling of that evidence. SO,if you are interested in what happened to Tim Treadwell read this book as it contains the best information available. Nick Jans is to be congratulated on a fine effort in a situation where he was pressed to get a book done. His book is as honest, fair and complete as possible where as several other versions are not.
Riveting July 6, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I just finished reading this book and was riveted throughout. Unlike several other reviewers who found the last third of the book superfluous, I found it highly informative and thought it fit in beautifully with the rest of the story. I appreciated Nick Jans' account of his personal journey with bears and the insights he gained into both his own soul and the behavior of grizzlies/brown bears. I think it is exactly what qualifies him to surmise what motivated Timothy Treadwell to choose the lifestyle he chose. Jans remained objective yet weighed the pros and cons of Timothy's behavior with sensitivity and good sense. He leaves it up to the reader to form his or her own opinions. I saw the documentary "Grizzly Man" when it was in theaters - three times. I was fascinated by Tim's story and thought Werner Herzog did a fine job of presenting it. This book and the movie complement each other very well.
Jans writes beautifully; I was pleasantly surprised to find a touch of the poet in his prose.
 Interesting! July 1, 2008
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
I learned alot about bears.I appreciate his love for the bears,but do not think he went about it correctly.
 A worthy rebuttal to "Grizzly Man" June 13, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Because of the success of Werner Herzog's movie, "Grizzly Man," the world thinks that it knows Timothy Treadwell. While Herzog treats Treadwell as an emotionally and socially defective person, Jans is much more sympathetic. He provides a respectful, richer, and more rounded portrait of Treadwell than does "Grizzly Man."
As a result, Jans is probably insufficiently critical of Treadwell. Treadwell was "protecting" a healthy grizzly population in a national park, indulged by the National Park Service despite flaunting its rules, and engaging in unsafe practices that ended in the death of two people and two grizzlies. An overall assessment of the man must take this into account.
After telling Treadwell's story, the second half of this book turns to Jans' musings on humans' relations with bears, and wildlife more generally. This was less successful than the first half of the book. Even so, Jans is a talented writer and the book moves along very nicely.
The Grizzly Maze May 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Nick Jans' "The Grizzly Maze" is a good read to complement seeing the Werner Herzog movie, "Grizzly Man." The book clears up some of the murkiness left behind the movie. Tim Treadwell is a conflicted soul, whose sturm and drang both helps and hurts grizzly bears. Turning to the study of coastal brown bears (a sub-type of grizzly) in the Alaskan summers for many years in Katmai National Park, probably kept Treadwell from self-destructing on alcohol, drugs or the sheer arrogance of his ego. The man learned a lot about bear behavior over those 13 summers. However, his very presence, his defiance toward Park authorities and his smug disregard for the proper practices in bear country resulted in his own death, the death of his girlfriend and the death of two bears. Wasn't that the reason he claimed himself to be a friend and guardian of grizzly bears? Treadwell greatly exaggerates the poaching issue and completely disregards Park policies designed to minimize bear-human conflict. In the most self-righteous and self-serving way, he ends up habituating bears to humans, doing the very thing he cautions others not to do. Jans brings this front-and-center in his tale. The only reason this book gets four stars instead of five is that in the final chapters, Jans wanders off-course and the focus gets a bit lost. Still, a great read for clearing up unanswered questions in the movie.
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