A quick summary of this book would describe it as a fossil hunter's journal from the 1930s. However, humorous, matter-of-fact descriptions of people, politics and the unexpected make this book an excellent choice for any reader.

I admit it: I am a sucker for time travel stories. They don't even have to be any good. I'll still read them, and probably like them.

This book, however, is quite good. It takes the time-slip convention and turns it into a scientific "fact" by giving it a fancy sounding name: dechronization. Just the fact that it uses a pseudo-term like that would make it a favorite with me even if it was written in gibberish, but I have a thing about neology. Since reading this book, I have started slipping the word "dechronization" and all its variants into conversation whenever possible. It is my hope that one day this word will be common koine.

The other notable point of this book the reaction of Magruder to the dechronization. Since he is a chronologist, he knows that the chances of his being re-dechronized are beyond impossible. So he has absolutely no chance of seeing another person. Ever. But he doesn't give in to the hopelessness that I know I would feel. He continues to live. He takes a lesson from Robinson Crusoe, and makes a good life there in the middle of nowhere (or in this case nowhen).

All in all, I think this is a must-read for wannabe time travelers like myself. Or maybe just anyone who likes the linguistic oddities inherent in time travel.

In the year 2162, the eminent chronologist Sam Magruder mysteriously disappeared while running an experiment. Some years later, while arguing about the possibility of being totally alone, the evidence is produced that Sam Magruder did not die in 2162, but was transported back in time some 80 million years! Engraved upon sandstone slabs, found in a bed of shale, is found the story of Sam Magruder's existence in the late Cretaceous period. Alone, with no hope of ever seeing another human being again, Sam survived, and this is his story.

The famous paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson penned this short story, apparently for his own amusement, but it is a masterpiece. Considering Dr. Simpson's field, I would have assumed that this story would be entirely about what Sam found in the Cretaceous, but that's only part of the story. As the opening chapter tells, this is the story of a modern (OK, future) man's coming to grips with his situation, one containing only danger and isolation.

I am sure that my words do not do justice to this story. This work is complex and fascinating beyond some lengthy works produced by noted authors. I recommend it to everyone.

The Dechronization of Sam Magruder is an intriguing story of science and adventure. It is about a scientist who constructs a time machine, is accidentally transported to the dinosaur age and is, as you may have guessed, unable to return. The story is an account of this journey through his eyes and the eyes of the future...

The book is well done overall. But I thought Dr. Simpsons attitudes toward Patagonian poeple and culture were through a myoptic pair of American/European glasses.

It is fun to read this book as the second in a trilogy. The first is Darwin's "Voyage of the Beagle", the third is Bruce Chatwin's "In Patagonia". Chatwin's appreciation of Patagonian people and culture is much more to my liking.

Don Bailey jeep1104@yahoo.com

This is an odd book. It is hard to find, even for an experienced haunter of used book stores, and not many people have read it. But once you vicariously join the Scarrit Expedition hunting fossils in the Patagonian wilderness in the early 1930s, you may never completely recover. "Attending Marvels" is a trip into several lost worlds at once: most obviously that of the "whole lot of other ---ontotheres" that dominated South American fauna before the Isthmus of Panama rose, but also into the almost incredibly isolated and harsh lives of the Patagonians. But the trip that takes the reader furthest is into Simpson's outlook. He is endlessly curious, delighted with everything in the natural world, and able to appreciate and communicate with people who are as culturally different from him as a fellow human could be. This wide-eyed gusto for the world shows in his lyrical descriptions of such unpromising subjects as hedgehogs, yerba mate, and of course, bits of fossilised bone. True, there are also national politics, academic politics, martial law and a homicidal maniac but none of these are as important to Simpson or as vivid to the reader as the fossil snake. It is a prime example of the scientist/naturalist world view at its best. "Atending Marvels" is also great fun to read. It is full of wonderful anecdotes and some very funny passages; some lines ("You can't possibly kill anyone before the 15th of the month"; "This is your Patagonia--keep it beautiful", "Es triste, non?") have become code phrases among my friends and family. So take the effort to find this book; the trip is worth the trouble.

I first read this book many years ago, and it is one of the best books I have ever read. I started reading not knowing anything about Patagonia, or the subject of the book, but was quickly swept into a real life adventure. I have taken several trips with a vague destination and purpose in mind, but found the journey was far more interesting than the goal. This is one of those adventures. The book is about a constant unfolding landscape of people, places, and things, where each new discovery is a suprise to the reader. Too bad it is out of print, but my copy is not for sale.