John James Audubon: The Making of an American

Richard Rhodes

Oct 2004 · Sold by Vintage

About this ebook

John James Audubon came to America as a dapper eighteen-year-old eager to make his fortune. He had a talent for drawing and an interest in birds, and he would spend the next thirty-five years traveling to the remotest regions of his new country–often alone and on foot–to render his avian subjects on paper. The works of art he created gave the world its idea of America. They gave America its idea of itself.

Here Richard Rhodes vividly depicts Audubon’s life and career: his epic wanderings; his quest to portray birds in a lifelike way; his long, anguished separations from his adored wife; his ambivalent witness to the vanishing of the wilderness. John James Audubon: The Making of an American is a magnificent achievement.

Ratings and reviews

This is a very well written biography intended for the reader to grasp several aspects of John James Audubon's life. I would consider it to be an all-purpose book, because it may be enjoyed by anyone, anywhere. If you are interested in birds, or if you would like to understand the making of a true American, please read this book. The biography shows that a man born in what is now Haiti, can fall in love with the natural beauty of the American wilderness. There are also many illustrations within this biography to give the reader an example of what John James Audubon was able to do with a paintbrush and an unexplored American wilderness. I loved this biography!

About the author

Richard Rhodes is the author of twenty books, including novels and works of history, journalism and letters. His The Making of the Atomic Bomb won a Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, a National Book Award, and a National Book Critics Circle Award. Dark Sun, about the development of the hydrogen bomb, was one of three finalists for a Pulitzer Prize in History. A Kansas native, he has frequently explored American history and biography in articles for national magazines. He lives in Half Moon Bay, California.