The book is more like a memoir of her experiences communicating with horses (and other animals), and not actually a full biography. She takes up the story in her adult life, revealing the circumstances under which she first "came out of the closet" about her abilities. Believing most people would think her a quack if she ever claimed she could speak with horses, Mackay kept quiet about it for years. She only spoke out publicly when a close friend adamantly insisted that she do so, for the benefit of a particular horse. When she received a surprisingly favorable reaction, the author began offering her services professionally, helping people better communicate with and understand their beloved animals. And though horses are her most common subject, being her favorite animal and the one with which she first recognized her abilities, she has also successfully worked with dogs, sheep, cows, and even birds. The bulk of the book shares with us a series of the author's most interesting and touching cases.

Part of what makes Mackay's book so convincing is her down-to-earth nature. She does not come across as pretentious is any way. In fact, she freely admits to not fully understanding her abilities herself, and occasionally suffers doubts about the extent to which any as-yet-untried application will be successful. She never lords her abilities over anyone else, doesn't believe herself to be superior to other horse owners because of her communication skills, and nowhere does she attempt to argue the reader into believing everything she has to say. Rather, she lets the case examples speak for themselves. There is also an abundance of self-deprecating humor, as she shares some of her more comical and occasionally downright hilarious experiences. To me, Mackay's book reads a bit like something a telepathic James Herriot would have written.

Amazing as it may be, Nicci Mackay actually seems to be the real thing. Her book is utterly convincing and a joy to read. Mackay is also an excellent writer, and the text is vivid and captivating. Her style is very friendly and open. I wouldn't blame anyone for being initially skeptical - after all, I set the book aside for quite some time for this very reason - but for anyone with an interest in horses to entirely bypass this book would be a great loss. I'd urge any horse lover to give this one a chance, as it will broaden your horizons and is definitely well worth the read.

Chronicling a journey along Pacific grey whale routes from Sakhalin Island to the southern tip of Baja California, Russell braces his narrative with the long, politically charged tale of an effort by a Japanese corporation to build a salt-e xtraction plant on a Mexican lagoon that has served for ages as an important grey whale breeding ground. Writing knowingly of grey whale natural history, and of the effects such an alteration of the environment would have on the species, Russell then turns to other controversial threats to the grey, such as the Washing ton Makah tribe's decision in the late 1990s to revive a lost tradition of whale-hunting, and the Japanese government's refusal to honour international treaties protecting the grey and other whale species from widespread depredation.

The good news, as Russ...
A book with great insight into the world of whales, 2001-08-12
Something amazing started in the late 1970s and continues to this day. Whales, the largest mammals on earth and killers in self-defense of many men, began to show willingness, indeed eagerness, to be friends with humankind to a degree never before recorded. From gently nudging boats to begging to be petted, the behavioural turnaround among these behemoth creatures has captivated the imaginations and affections of thousands of whale watchers. Eye of the Whale offers a persuasive and very readable study of the current state of whale-human affairs. Those who are sympathetic (like me) to the whales' cause will find equal grounds in the book for alarm and hope. From Baja California, the birthing and nursing waters of the Eastern Pacific grey whale, to Siberia, where the Western Pacific population is on the verge of oblivion, environmental writer and activist (he was instrumental in saving the Atlantic striped bass) Dick Russell follows the migration pattern of the gentle giant. He seems to examine almost everyone and everything along the way that might have an effect on the creatures' progress -- from geography and economics to the human heart itself. Giving thrust to the story is the ongoing environmental fight against Mitsubishi, one of the largest corporations in the world, which sought to commercialize the Baja beaches resulting in the inevitable destruction of grey whale habitat. Another constant presence is that of Charles Melville Scammon, a 19th century whaler and sea captain whose written descriptions and drawings of whales and other sea creatures, landscapes and natural phenomena are included in the book and reveal a 21st century sensitivity. "That intense, that immense and impeccable, eye" of the whale seems to cast a mythic spell over all those, even enemies, who have gazed into it up close. The number of the spellbound is increasing. Bruce Mate, an Illinois marine biologist interviewed by Russell, sees whales as avatars of a whole new world not all that far in the future. "I think, probably, in our children's generation, we're going to see remarkable changes in our relationships with certain forms of wildlife," he says. If so, Eye of the Whale will have played, in its enthralling way, a small but important role in the transformation.