Steven Rinella has created a masterpiece with American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon. From the very beginning Steven draws you in with his personal story with buffalo. The book itself is a very well written book. At the same time Steven weaves together two stories constantly changing between the present and the harsh past that buffalo have faced.

Since the author changes back and forth between stories one would assume that this is a very hard book to follow. This is not the case. The book itself is a very well ordered and a very well told story. In the parts of the book in which Steven talks about the history of buffalo it is structured with dates. Not all of the dates are on order but this has to be so to make the story flow. The book is ordered by fascinating chapters each one beholding its own bit of interesting facts and a continuation of the intriguing story.

Many people will ask if a book is for them. If you enjoy a perfectly written nonfiction book, written in the first person and enjoy hunting as well as a fascinating integration of history tied to it ten this is definitely the book for you.

The story begins with telling how the author, Steven Rinella first started his obsession with buffalo. The story talks about his first encounter when he unearthed a half of a buffalo skull which ignited his passion for the majestic animal. The book cavers his back story of how he has always been a hunter and was beaming when he won a lottery permit to track, hunt for and kill a single buffalo in the Alaskan wilderness. While on his journey in Alaska Steven portrays a perfect picture of the history of buffalo and the Native Americans connection to the animal. Native Americans aren’t the only people who have affected the buffalo’s history. Steven does an amazing job of going into great detail of every hardship and triumph of the buffalo. Steven also goes on to talk about prehistoric buffalo and how the buffalo’s shape, size and features have changed over the ages. It is fascinating to read. Overall it was a wonderful pleasure reading about Steven’s journey and his amazing story and history with buffalo.