Review by Booklist Review
It starts as an innocent experiment, something undertaken just out of curiosity. Then it becomes a hobby and quickly an obsession, until you're skipping work and taking trips across the country to feed your addiction. Birding or bird-watching, as it's more commonly known is, if this very entertaining book is any indication, a much more exciting, lively, and suspenseful pastime that one might expect. Dempsey's memoir chronicles the newly divorced, newly committed birder's cross-country odyssey, in the company of two friends, in search of rare birds. Along the way, they meet a host of interesting folk, including a backyard Noah and a band of smugglers; but what they find, most of all, is peace of mind, a reappreciation of nature, and a better sense of what matters in the larger scheme of things. A gentle, contemplative memoir punctuated by frequent bursts of hilarity and weirdness. At some points, the book reads like a cross between Bill Bryson and Dave Barry (or perhaps Patrick McManus), and that's a very good thing, indeed.--Pitt, David Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this uneven debut, Dempsey details his bird-watching misadventures as he and two friends quest after America's rarest birds. The hapless trio try to defend osprey in Florida, pacify Texan smugglers, unwittingly set up a spotting scope in the middle of a busy road, lug around (and forget) a cooler of fancy cheeses on a trip through Arizona. Although amusing, the series of pratfalls blunt and obscure Dempsey's more pointed observations on why birders are so passionate about the pursuit and the urgency bird watching takes on in the face of habitat destruction. When the author writes passionately about pine beetle damage in Colorado or permits readers access to a triumphant glimpse of a cerulean warbler, the episodes cease reading like vacation-slide narrative and approach an affecting honesty with comments such as this one (prompted by a rain-swept outing in Washington State): "Once again, birding had loaned me a calmness that seemed to push me apart from the concerns of the world." (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Dempsey, a transplanted Brit and editor in chief of Hudson Street Press, entertainingly recounts his passion for bird watching as he meanders with two birder friends to birding hot spots in Florida, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Washington State, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York's Central Park, enjoying misadventures and good times along the way. Dempsey is not averse to using occasional obscenities as well as beautifully turned phrases by way of contrast. His picaresque account features several quirky recurring leitmotifs: peculiar signage encountered in his travels, the author's like or dislike of tomatoes and their end products, his divorce and two daughters, and his confrontations with rude people. To one very overweight, obnoxious family he quips as a parting shot, "Have you considered salads?" Dempsey can also be informative and engagingly partisan, as when he describes complex ecological problems such as those found in the Everglades. Throughout, the book is imbued with his appreciation of the wonders, beauty, and fragility of the natural world. A bit lightweight for hard-core birders, this should appeal to general readers interested in nature. Recommended for larger public libraries.--Henry T. Armistead, Free Lib. of Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
