Tinkering With Eden

Mosquitoes in Hawaii, sea lampreys in the Great Lakes, mountain goats in the Olympic Mountains of Washington State-not one of these species is native to the environment in which it now flourishes. Kim Todd's Tinkering with Eden is a lyrical, brilliantly written history of the introduction of exotic species into the United Sates, and how the well-meaning endeavors of scientists, explorers, and biologists have resulted in ecological catastrophe. Todd's assured voice will haunt her readers, and the stories she tells-such as the druggist who brought starlings to America because he wanted the landscape to feature every bird mentioned by Shakespeare-will forever change how we see our increasingly afflicted landscape and its unanticipated inhabitants.