Publishers Weekly called the book "provocative but frustrating", writing that aside from the main concept, "Much of the rest of the book offers background, but often digresses, for example, into hunting for DNA from 68-million-year-old dinosaur bones or the surfing habit of the man who discovered the
polymerase chain reaction or how genetically close humans and Neanderthals are—none of which advances the book's central argument."
Kirkus Reviews wrote that the book "has a comfortable, intelligent flow," but noted that Horner first "wants to tell a story—and it's a good one, though at times meandering—about paleontology […]. Horner digresses about
skinheads,
Ted Kaczynski and chicken carcasses, but his main idea is reverse evolutionary engineering." Gilbert Taylor of
Booklist wrote, "Straight from the scientific frontier, Horner's work should excite anyone who's dreamed of walking with dinosaurs." Riley Black, writing for
Smithsonian said, "The importance of
How to Build a Dinosaur does not lie in Horner's wish to create a dinochicken. That makes up only a small part of the book. Instead the slim volume indicates how paleontology is becoming more of an interdisciplinary science where studies of development and genetics are just as important as fossilized bones." Jeff Hecht of
New Scientist wrote that Horner "is at his best" in the book, which he called "provocative yet firmly grounded in science." ==References==