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Title: The Big Year : A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik ISBN: 0-7432-4545-8 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 04 February, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.41 (17 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Are you doing a Big Year this year ?
Comment: Another good book on the subject of doing a Big Year in birding.There have been others written before.The classic for North America is "Wild America" by Roger T. Peterson and James Fisher written in 1955 when their goal was to see 600 birds in one year.There have been others since, which pushed the bar to the 700 level.One of the best in my estimation was Kenn Kaufman's "Kingbird Highway" personal story of getting 671 birds in 1972.He did this at 18 without a car,or even a driving license,all for under 1000 dollars,including half of which went for plane flights to Alaska.Now there's a challenge to beat!
This new book now has birders competing in the 700's.Where is the limit,who knows.You'll have to read the book to find out which of the three won.I will tell you this much,715 was not enough.
While an excellent book;I believe there is a screaming ommission.There should have been a checklist showing which birds each one got as well as those missed.This would have taken only a few pages and would have set the standard for future books of this type.The book would also have benefited from the inclusion of some photos of several of the people involved.
There was an excellent article about this book in the 19 January 2004 edition of Sports Ilustrated.It included several photos and several of my non-birding friends told me they really enjoyed it.
A great read for all birders as well as anyone who enjoys competition and perseverance.
Rating: 5
Summary: Obsession is universal
Comment: To categorize "The Big Year" as simply a birding book is to sidestep the universality of this crisply written narrative. Three men spend 365 days to satisfy a burning desire to observe more species of birds than anyone else in North America. The ultimate prize is no more than bragging rights and a place in the record books. This is obsession, nothing more or less, at its finest.
How many people are actually able to pursue their dreams? Going after a big year record takes the willingness and ability to hop a plane at a moment's notice, to travel to the kind of locales that people a little less loony would eschew, to spend copious amounts of time and money pursuing birds who very well might not be there by the time you arrive.
Obmascik captures the whole picture in a lively book that reveals the occasionally desperate spirit of the competition, the nature of the competitors and, with finely researched science and historical writing, enough background information to help the new initiate understand just why this particular sport is interesting and how it came to be. This isn't simply a book for birders. It's an actively written account that transcends birding, one that offers up a unique slice of humanity to the interested reader.
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 Western North America by David Allen Sibley ISBN: 0679451218 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 29 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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