"Look Here, Sir, What a Curious Bird": Searching for Ali, Alfred Russel vendre

A Great Man and His Unheralded Assistant

For some 50 years, Paul Sochaczewski has been on the trail of famous naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace and his little-known assistant Ali.

The result of this quest is an imaginative "enhanced biography" of an illiterate 19th-century teenager from Borneo who helped Wallace become one of historys most successful explorers of the natural world.

This deliciously speculative book, filled with humor and touching scenes of imagined conversations, takes a hard look at "slippery truth," and, perhaps most important, asks the question: "Is there someone in your life who has quietly helped you, perhaps without adequate recognition, on your journey?"

In this innovative approach to biography, youll discover:

• New clues that expand our knowledge of Alis background and career
• Why writing the history of a 19th-century teenage boy from Borneo is so challenging
• Details about how Ali collected some 5,000 of Wallaces 8,050 bird specimens
• Imagined conversations that explore emotions and perceptions of Wallace and Ali
• How each of us has an "Ali" who has helped us along the way

Whos your Ali? Perhaps this book might encourage to reach out to someone forgotten but who eased your path along your journey?