"Inside the Wild" book, by L.W. Oakley

"Inside the Wild" is kind of a double whammy for me. It contains some good, well-written content with which I agree, but I found it surrounded by ugly scenes and self-righteous silliness in a way that left me cold.

From the very first anecdote, which is about a fellow hunter who routinely threatens to murder everyone in camp, to the crudely-stated tale of another hunter's lack of bowel control; from a ridiculous diatribe against SUVs (sport-utility vehicles) to an unwelcome photograph of the author's naked backside, the things of value were too few and far between.

"Inside the Wild" by L.W. Oakley was a disappointment to me. I approached it with an open mind, ready to be pleased and happy, but his anecdotes quickly became off-putting and gross. My respect for the author seemed to dwindle with each new page, especially when he talked about eyeballing a fellow hunter through his rifle scope - without unloading his rifle. Come on.

Before long, I felt the book improving in my eyes, but unfortunately that feeling didn't last. His many assumptions grated on me, especially when he pretended to know the thoughts and purposes of animals.

Then there was the pervasive self-righteousness that began in the Preface and continued to crop up throughout the book. Example: He drops orange peels on the ground and refuses to pick them up, knowing that his companion will pick them up. But the author is thoughtful and wishes to avoid awkwardness, so he turns his back and walks away while the other guy cleans up the mess.

I found the author's rant against SUVs to be asinine (and for the record, I have never owned one). In it, he paints all SUV owners with the same broad brush - exactly the way most anti-hunters treat us hunters. Example: "Buying an SUV is admitting that you've given up trying to connect with nature." Ridiculous.

There are also good moments in the book. The short discourse on human death in terms of "crossing the swamp" struck me forcefully, as I have closely witnessed slow and painful death, and don't wish to experience it myself.

Oakley's explorations of why and how we hunters do what we do are often thoughtful and insightful. Sadly, that part of the book is too brief and is sandwiched between stuff of lower quality, so it tends to get lost in my memory, because first and last impressions are usually what I remember most.

- Russ Chastain