The Grizzly Maze - by Nick Jans (Paperback)

About the Book

A definitive look at man's conflicted relationship with bears, this is the story of Timothy Treadwell's obsession with Alaska, his foolhardy quest to understand Alaskan brown bears, and his violent death in their jaws.

Book Synopsis

With a new introduction on Werner Herzog's 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, 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 Treadwell's 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.

"Intensely imagistic, artfully controlled prose . . . behind the building tension of Treadwell's path to oblivion, a stunning landscape looms."--Newsday

Review Quotes

"Intensely imagistic, artfully controlled prose . . . behind the building tension of Treadwell's path to oblivion, a stunning landscape looms."--Newsday

"A fair and exacting account of the events that led up to the tragedy, and, in doing so, shows readers the different sides of a complex and controversial man... It would be easy enough to dismiss Treadwell as a well-meaning but foolish person whose luck simply ran out. Jans gives his audience much to consider and allows them to decide."--Peggy Bercher, School Library Journal

"Masterfully addresses Treadwell's life and death... Although The Grizzly Maze is not the first book on the subject to be published, it's by far the best."--Paul Constant, The Stranger

"A fast-paced, thoughtful and evenhanded account of the life and death of self-appointed bear guardian Timothy Treadwell, who, along with a girlfriend, was killed and eaten by grizzlies in Alaska's Katmai National Park in 2003."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Nick Jans is a contributing editor for Alaska magazine and a member of USA Today's Board of Editorial Contributors. He has written for Rolling Stone, Backpacker, and the Christian Science Monitor. His books include Tracks of the Unseen: Meditations on Alaska Wildlife, Landscape, and Photography; A Place Beyond: Finding Home in Arctic Alaska; and The Last Light Breaking: Living Among Alaska's Inupiat Eskimos.