King of the Dinosaur Hunters: The Life of John Bell Hatcher and the Discoveries that Shaped Paleontology

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I grew up in South Dakota, near the Badlands, and I went dinosaur fossil hunting, as a kid, with my uncle and cousins. I even wanted to be a paleontologist when I grew up.There was magic and excitement and mystery in dinosaur bone hunting. Unfortunately, Dr. Dingus captures very little of that magic and excitement and mystery, in his book. I'm sure he meant well. It just didn't happen.The book becomes a dry and dusty recitation of facts and figures, a seemingly endless series of requests by Hatcher for money from his backer, and a long, often repetitive, list of bones uncovered, with no sense of drama or fun or danger.The dinosaurs uncovered here are dead and gone. Dr. Dingus does nothing to bring them back to life. Unfortunately, this is a dull book, and will itself, be a fossil soon.

A very thoroughly researched book about a fossil collector in the late 1800's. The book is well written although the author only touches on his poker playing in Patagonia. Everything about this book is five stars with one exception: it is hard to read and even harder to finish. For me readability is 3 stars and research is 5, hence the four star rating. I liked the book but am not keeping in my library because I can't see myself reading it over.

Interesting...

Excellent