Product Overview
A Nature Book of the Year (The Times (UK))
The hoverflies are only props. No, not only, but to some extent. Here and there, my story is about something else.
A mesmerizing memoir of extraordinary brilliance by an entomologist, The Fly Trap chronicles Fredrik Sjbergs life collecting hoverflies on a remote island in Sweden. Warm and humorous, self-deprecating and contemplative, and a major best seller in its native country, The Fly Trap is a meditation on the unexpected beauty of small things and an exploration of the history of entomology itself.
What drives the obsessive curiosity of collectors to catalog their finds? What is the importance of the hoverfly? As confounded by his unusual vocation as anyone, Sjberg reflects on a range of ideasthe passage of time, art, lost lovesdrawing on sources as disparate as D. H. Lawrence and the fascinating and nearly forgotten naturalist Ren Edmond Malaise. From the wilderness of Kamchatka to the loneliness of the Swedish isle he calls home, Sjberg revels in the wonder of the natural world and leaves behind a trail of memorable images and stories.
