I've been on an autobiography kick lately, and actually stumbled across this title while reading a magazine on an airplane. Mireya Mayor was previously unknown to me, but, as I learned from reading, she's a former NFL cheerleader for the Miami Dolphins turned explorer/scientist/host for the NatGeo channel. The subtitle for the book is My Journey from NFL Cheerleader to National Geographic Explorer.
The book explains just that. Born in Miami to a Cuban mother, Mireya grew up an only child in a female dominant household. She pursued cheerleading after high school, made an NFL team cheer squad, then left to pursue academia and exploration. This is where the book gets really interesting.
Mayor's explorations begin in Madagascar studying lemurs. She ends up in Africa and South America various times studying biology; giraffes, wildebeests, gorillas, lemurs, etc. The title of 'pink boots' comes from her notoriety for wearing pink boots in the field, although sadly none of the photos of her included in the book have her actually wearing pink boots...
An explorer she may be, but a writer she is not. I found the book a little too chaotic, even though she has an awesome story to tell. First she's in Africa as an undergrad, then South America almost dying, then back in Africa as a grad student, then working for National Geographic. In a quest to include almost every place she's ever been, she left out almost all things personal, which made the story dry. Her travels are incredibly interesting, don't mistake me, but I finished the book learning nothing about the storyteller. She tells an anecdote about almost dying in Guyana, but doesn't elaborate much on the details. That's interesting stuff!
Her stories about giraffes were awesome, as I'm a giraffe lover. I thought her best travel stories were worrying about where to pee with an all male group, using tampons to light fires in the rainforest, picking off ticks, getting infections, seeing gorillas mating, and running out of food, rather than the actual biology of it. Discovering new species is awesome, but so is finding out you found someone to date in the rainforest.
I'm not actually sure how many years her career has spanned, although she did note she finished her PhD. Not only does she jumps locations a lot, the sense of time is all over the place. She'll describe a trip and then suddenly its years later. I also thought her writing tended towards the cliched, not what I expected from someone who's written a PhD dissertation. I think she has an amazing story to tell, but just not the writing skill to tell it in the most engaging way.
I definitely enjoyed reading it though. It reads really well. There's no scientific jargon to putter through and she spends time talking about mundane things like lipgloss. On her first trip, and subsequent others, she brings with her a LBD (little black dress). I could have done without the girly complaining and the mention of using a blowdryer in the middle of a rainforest. I know that's crass to say, since its her story to tell. If its the truth, then so be it, but I dislike woman who pride themselves on being independent, kick ass women, then worry while in the middle of nowhere about how they look. It's a strange paradox.
As far as autobiographies go, I've never read one even remotely close to compare it to. That says a lot about Mayor right there.
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