#715 Who Wants to Shoot an Elephant- Wells Tower
This is not a piece of fiction but a magazine assignment. A writer tags along on one of the last legal elephant hunts in Botswana. It’s taken more than 700 stories for me to finally include something non-fiction (sorry, my own fault). Good story telling is good story telling, whether completely true, based on true events or entirely made up. Some non-fiction is just a record of facts and dates, but stories like this are how important issues are brought to many people.
This topic of big-game trophy hunting is likely one that elicits strong opinions, and recently contentious, hyperbolic arguments, especially of the anonymous message board variety. Wells Tower does a good job trying to be fair, while not hiding his own distaste for the joy of killing—although I’m sure there are many hunters who will find this to be biased against their hobby. He refrains from some of the gonzo-esque mood that these stories sometimes rely on, making the hunting party out to be clownish and inept.
Agree with trophy hunting as a valid sport or think of it as a shameful ego-boost for people with too much money, this is a good piece of writing.
Notable Passages: “Wild dogs, among the world most effective predators, are the biker gangs of Africa.”
“The elephants obliviousness is exasperating. It seizes my lungs with a breathless frustration to watch the elephant foolishly grubbing salad while we stand within a stone’s throw, plotting the proper method to put a bullet in its brain.”
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