What do readers think of An Eagle Named Freedom by Jeff Guidry? Write your own review.

This memoir is a plainly written account of a man and his relationship with a rescued eagle. The central message is one of mutual healing through the special relationships humans can forge with our animal brethren, combined with conservation of land and wildlife, and respect for the wild.

This book is well and simply written, but slightly disorienting as it flips back and forth from the author's illness, Freedom's struggles, and various volunteers and animals at the rescue center. It will be appreciated by animal lovers and nature enthusiasts, and there really are some interesting factoids regarding wild animals and how rescue centers help rehabilitate and care for them.

When I first received this book and read the preface I had tears in my eyes. A beautiful eagle saved by a wildlife enthusiast who then is diagnosed with non Hodgkin's lymphoma. I couldn't wait to open the book and in fact I finished in one evening. I was very interested in the Sarvey Wildlife Care Center where the author volunteered and especially the commitment made by these caring individuals to help so many displaced or injured creatures. Freedom the Eagle's successful recovery was a true testament of the success of these wildlife centers. The author's struggle with his disease and his bond with Freedom brought richness to the story. After reading the book I felt disappointed that it did not tug on my heart strings as I had initially expected. Good read however as there were many rescues with happy endings for both the author Jeff and our wildlife friends. If you are an animal lover this book is for you.

The book ends with a Lakota prayer that means "I will live with all my relations" including the ones that fly, the creepy crawlies, our 2 and 4 legged friends, the ones that swim, the earth that we live on. This sums up the theme of "An Eagle named Freedom" well. This book will appeal to anyone who loves human/animal stories, such as "Wesley the Owl", "The Good Good Pig", "Homer's Odyssey", etc.

The book was very heartwarming, enjoyable, an easy read and I'm glad I read it. But it was a little light so not top on my list of books in this genre. I would've preferred better writing, more animal fact & lore and more of the animal/animal/human relationship. It seemed to gloss over all.

But I do want to research volunteering at a Wildlife Sanctuary in my area (if there is one) and for that reason I think the author would say the book is a huge success.

In this day, many families are far too close to battles with cancer. Jeff had more than his fair share of contact with this debilitating disease. For me, the pain of dealing with illness over rode the pleasure of helping rehabilitate wild animals.

That being said, the anecdotes of rehabilitating injured wildlife were interesting. I was interested in Sarvey Wildlife Center and its mission. The book pulled me in two different directions and made my read limp along rather that soar like an eagle.

You can learn a lot about non-Hodgkins lymphoma by reading this book but not much about eagles. At least half the book is devoted to the author's course of treatment for this disease. Throughout the book animals are anthropomorphized. An example: "I found myself screaming at my deer brother. "Why why why!!! Goddamn it, I told you to be careful!!" Animals aren't referred to as animals but are called"the wild ones". Overall I found the book to be poorly written and self centered.