Part memoir, part history, The Fragrance of Grass stands as a testament to Guy de la Valdène’s deep love of, and abiding respect for, the natural world and all that inhabit it. Set in places as far afield as France and Montana, Saskatchewan and Florida, this is a beautifully written book that is also an elegant treatise on everything from dogs, birds, and wildlife to food, wine, and women.

The Fragrance of Grass

Sports & Outdoors

de la Valdène, Guy

Hunting & Fishing

Lyons Pr

Drawing on his experiences running his own quail farm, the author reflects on his paradoxical role as both hunter and preservationist and the labyrinthine bureaucracy that often comes between the two. First serial, Sports Afield.

For a Handful of Feathers

Science & Math

Nature & Ecology

Atlantic Monthly Pr

A lifelong hunter and wild-game gourmet who has traveled the globe on expeditions with world-class sportsmen, Guy de la Valdéne purchased an 800-acre farm outside Tallahassee and set out to raise and hunt his favorite game bird, bobwhite quail. But de la Valdéne is also a naturalist at heart, and as he planted trees and divided fields, he found that running the farm compelled him to operate as both hunter and preservationist, predator and protector. De la Valdéne structures his reflections around a year in the life cycle of the bobwhite quail, from one generation's birth through mating and the raising of their young. Along the way, he gets pulled along on some side trips: to a masterpiece of controlled burning performed by a Vietnam veteran in a helicopter with 300 gallons of napalm, and to his own adventures when he improvises some dam-raising to fill his pond. For a Handful of Feathers reconciles a passion for hunting with a deep sentiment for the wild. Learning early on that while his work on the farm may awe his friends, he can never impress nature, de la Valdéne tries, with sensitivity and patience, to find his, and perhaps society's, place in the natural world. "A classic that compares well with Turgenev's A Sportsman's Notebook . . . simply and beautifully written."-The Bloomsbury Review; "For a Handful of Feathers is an American classic . . . a book as unapologetic as it is thoughtful about blood sport . . . . the verbal spark and pace of a fine novel."-Gray's Sporting Journal; "A gem that will appeal not only to hunters but to all readers who love the land."-Publishers Weekly.

Biological Sciences

Atlantic Monthly Press

"In 1983 Valdene, a journalist and enthusiastic bird hunter, traveled around the country studying the woodcock and joining the efforts of scientists and bird lovers to band the game bird and document its loss of habitat. Summing up what he learned about this curious bird and its habits, he deplores the rapid dwindling of the woodcock population in the U.S., due in part to hunters' killing two million of them each year. Valdene makes no excuses, however, for his own delight in hunting and eating the vulnerable bird. This contradiction remains at the heart of his book in which he oddly blends natural history with accounts of his hunting." - Publisher's Weekly

Making Game: An Essay on Woodcock

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Pets & Animal Care

Clark City Pr

Red Stag: A Novel

Set in Normandy, France, in the 1960s, RED STAG is a lush, rich novel. Nineteen-year-old bastard Vincent has just returned from boarding school to work on the Count's estate, where his uncle is gamekeeper, where Vincent himself was raised, where his mother, until her early death, was the Countess's maid. Shortly after his return, his uncle is viciously murdered. Vincent vows revenge. It is also deer hunting season, and the village is wild with anticipation about this year's ritualized Royal Hunt for the giant red stag. This red stag defies all hunters, outsmarting them, and then outrunning their horses and hounds. The Count's daughter, Nicole, returns to the estate as well. She, too, is nineteen These childhood friends haven't seen each other in years. As the search for the murderer's identity intensifies, and the Royal Hunt approaches, Nicole and Vincent find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. The three-pronged plot gains momentum, reaching a thrilling, violent, graphic conclusion, which reveals startling truths about Vincent's patronage and the potential for both extreme cruelty and friendship within the human heart. RED STAG is wonderfully atmospheric and exotic, full of rich descriptions of wildlife and the rivers and woods of Normandy. It is beautifully written, near cinematic in its clarity, highly suspenseful, and utterly unforgettable.

Literature & Fiction

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by de la Valdène, Guy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by de la Valdène, Guy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by de la Valdène, Guy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Fragrance of Grass

For a Handful of Feathers

For a Handful of Feathers

Making Game: An Essay on Woodcock

Red Stag: A Novel