The Blurring of Nature

In this thought-provoking article and review of Alan Burdick’s Out of Eden (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 336 pages, May 2005), Andrew O’Hehir examines the question of “invasive species” and argues that perhaps the only valid question is one of aesthetics. “But as I guided it into my net, I was amazed at this angry little cold-water predator I had momentarily outsmarted — despite its nondescript name, the brown trout is often golden in rivers, and spotted in black and deep orange. I thought it was the most beautiful animal I’d ever seen, as if I were its mother, or God admiring one of his sixth-day creations.” On Salon.com.