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Title: The Big Year : A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by MARK OBMASCIK, OLIVER WYMAN ISBN: 0-7393-0897-1 Publisher: Random House Audio Pub. Date: 03 February, 2004 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.41 (17 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Into the Hunt
Comment: Mark Obmascik can really write. I enjoyed this fast moving, insightful story about the world of competitive bird watching. Obmascik seduces the reader into caring about the ultimate outcome of this zany competition as he writes with humor, affection, and obvious admiration about each of the three top competitors in The Big Year. While I am not a birdwatcher, I was completely drawn into the hunt! I even learned a few fascinating facts along the way. Bravo, Mr. Obmascik!
Rating: 5
Summary: Wonderful Tale
Comment: I agree with what Kenn Kaufman and David Sibley said on the cover about this book. It's a "gripping page-turner" and it has been "the source of many daydreams". I love to go birding, but I loved this book because of the people. The three guys in this book cracked me up. They would have nothing in common except for their unbelievable addiction to finding another bird for their list. I stayed up all night just to see who won! The writing was so good I kept chuckling out loud. After the chapter on migration, I'll never think of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird the same way again.
Rating: 4
Summary: A tale of obsession, competition and, oh yes-birds!
Comment: The Big Year : A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik chronicles the 1998 "Big Year" Birding competition through the experiences of three participants.
After reading the book I decided that Obmascik got the title a bit out of order. What this actually is is a book about fowl obsession, Men and, lastly nature.
For those who don't know-which I expect is most everyone-The Big year competition is a largely unregulated contest to become recognized by the American Birding association as the person who cataloged sightings of the most bird species in North America in a given year. Given that there are few rules, no referees and no real prize other than the acknowledgement by the Birding association, you'd think this would be a fairly laid back, congenial affair. You'd be badly mistaken. This is a frenetic, cutthroat and exceedingly expensive undertaking for those who want to win.
Obmascik follows three men who really want to win. Two are well heeled retirees and one a I wage slave. All three have, to be honest, lost their marbles and have abandoned life as they knew it in search of the prize. It's a fast paced, interesting if somewhat inexplicable tale that Obmascik gives us, full of tidbits about birds and their habits as well as the in's and out's of the hunt.
Obmascik has a clipped, fast paced writing style that actually enhances the rendering of this tale, mirroring the angst, intensity and obsessive nature of the competition. He deftly sprinkles in his info on birds, heir habits, best locations for various sighting and such in a manner that compliments rather than distracts from the underlying quest story. He's objective-he doesn't allow the text to color our opinion of the story, which is good as he doesn't have to do that. The insanity of this quest stands quite well on its own.
In the end Obmascik has provided a psychological window into a peculiar obsession as well as a fairly through review of the current state of north American birds.
All in all a quite informative and compelling book.
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Title: Kingbird Highway: The Story of a Natural Obsession That Got a Little Out of Hand by Kenn Kaufman ISBN: 0618062351 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 12 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Wild America : The Record of a 30,000 Mile Journey Around the Continent by a Distinguished Naturalist and His British Colleague by Roger Tory Peterson, James Fisher ISBN: 0395864976 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 30 April, 1997 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: The Feather Quest : A North American Birder's Year by Peter Dunne ISBN: 0395927900 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 30 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: The Verb To Bird by Peter Cashwell, Grant Silverstein ISBN: 1589880013 Publisher: Paul Dry Books Inc Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America by David Allen Sibley ISBN: 067945120X Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 29 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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