Dangerous Beauty: Life and Death in Africa: True Stories from a Safari Guide
Ross writes in the crusty, venerable tradition of explorers,  game guides and great white hunters that includes Hemingway and  Peter Capstick. Such firsthand reporting on "the Dark Continent"  has been made anachronistic by eco-politics and excellent  documentaries. Nonetheless, this American farm boy revels in the  realization of his African-adventure dream: an eco-tour business  operating mostly in Kenya and Uganda. Ross leads clients around  preserves into camera range of hunting lions and charging  buffalo (he targets the African hunter's "Big Five," including  leopards, rhinos and elephants). These campfire tales of  dramatic approaches on game are told as moment-by-moment stalk  scripts that often defy Ross's own narrative powers. His  in-the-dust reporting style isn't as elegant as his tracking  skills. The punchy Wild Kingdom-style sermons at the end of many  chapters detract from Ross's quite capable narration of the  dangers of travel in Africa. Moreover, the continent's  transcendent beauty isn't particularly well served: these  unillustrated accounts often cry out for photographs. In 1999,  tragedy interrupted Ross's affair with East Africa: his safari  party was kidnapped in Uganda's mountain gorilla preserve. Two  of his eight clients were murdered by Rwandan rebels who escaped  into Congo. Ross was left with a sharp sense of responsibility  that he cannot reconcile with his "Endless Safari" scenario.  Sadly, his absorption in spectacular wildlife and noble  tribesmen distracted him from the actual Africa boiling around  him. Ross's romanticization may well ignite some farm kid's  dreams, but Adelino Serras Pires and Fiona Claire Capstick's The  Winds of Havoc features better writing in the same vein. First  serial rights bought by Talk magazine. (Aug.)Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.