Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 20
 Tall Tales February 25, 2009
Rifleman
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read this book over a decade ago. It was the final nail in the coffin of all things Tom Brown Jr. for me.
I wanted to like it but it was just too blatantly false.
I remember loving "The Tracker" and yearning for more. That led to Brown's field guides on tracking and survival, which are good but are by no means the best books available on those subjects. Then came "The Search" and I began to suspect that Brown's so called Coyote Teaching was another way of saying Tall Tales.
After that I thumbed through Brown's subsequent books in bookstores and libraries over the years, reading snippets here and there that added to my doubts about Brown's writings. For some reason, in the mid '90s I actually bought "Way of the Scout" and read it all. This removed any lingering doubt I had about Brown and his so called Coyote Teaching.
I don't believe that Brown's stories are factual. Nor do I believe that his stories are something that is analogous to instructing through parables. I think he's just telling big windies.
And what if Brown really IS a skilled naturalist and tracker? Well, then he's a skilled naturalist and tracker who's telling big windies.
You decide if that's the instructor you want.
This is what I believe. This is what many others who apply a modicum of deductive reasoning believe. I can not prove my conclusions beyond a reasonable doubt to everyone's satisfaction. I have not been to the Tracker School. I am a police detective and outdoorsman.
As a final thought: those under the false impression that Brown has impressed all the law enforcement agencies that he's worked for - or found everybody that he's ever tried to track - should read "Incident at Big Sky." Sheriff Johnny France briefly employed Brown to no good effect. Later, Sheriff France captured kidnappers Don and Danny Nichols by himself.
Ridiculous super-ninja wannabe fantasies -- don't waste your money November 12, 2008
J. Taylor (North Idaho)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is fiction, even though it is not listed as such. Boring, unrealistic, childish fiction.
Tom Brown's over-the-top lies get more and more ridiculous with each chapter, as he tries progressively harder with each of his tales, to try to make himself look like some sort of superhero. Anybody who has spent any time out in the woods, and doesn't spend all of their time watching Rambo will immediately see through these childish stories ... Tom Brown is a complete fool: don't make this fake richer by spending your money on his trashy fiction novels.
If you actually want to learn about tracking -- I'd recommend the following books:
"Tracking and The Art of Seeing" by Paul Rezendes
"Mammal Tracks And Sign" by Mark Elbroch
"Tracking: Signs of Man, Signs of Hope" by David Diaz
These are three of the most high quality tracking books you'll find, and you won't feel like you've been scammed after receiving them.
this book should be listed in the FICTION section August 14, 2008
naturegirl
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
there are many good stories with lots of adventure which makes it interesting to read. unless tom brown can show proof of what he claims in this book, it should be listed in the fiction section. if other people went and and tried to copy cat what tom brown claims to have done, they would get arrested or possibly killed.
Bull! August 13, 2008
Brendan (MA)
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
I did not read this book. I read The Tracker and was taken off guard by this man's accomplishments. The book lead me to call him my hero for several months. I noticed his cocky attitude and ultimately hard to believe tales of learning and triumph, but blindly ignored it. I am only 19, but I am ashamed that it took me to the fourth chapter of the Journey to realize that Tom Brown is a con man. Grandfather and Rick never existed and the man drives a damn hummer. I am ashamed to have his books in my bookshelf and am considering burning them for some actually wilderness servival use. DO NOT BUY INTO TOM BROWN'S LIES.
 Buy it today! February 20, 2008
Jason C. Lohmeier (Phoenix, AZ)
This is one of my favorite books. If you grew up crawling in the mud, watching wildlife, love nature and the environment, and would like to read stories about the subject, buy this book!
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