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More copies of this ISBN:The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsessionby Mark Obmascik
Staff Pick
Who knew that bird watching could be so astonishingly competitive? Obmascik's The Big Year follows three birding fanatics, giving us a highly amusing look at the race to hold the record of spotting the most bird species within North America in one year. Crosscutting the country, these obsessed competitors will spare no cost to outdo each other, struggling to be at the top. And you thought bird watching was a quiet sport. Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments: Every year on January 1, a quirky crowd of adventurers storms out across North America for a spectacularly competitive event called a Big Year — a grand, grueling, expensive, and occasionally vicious, "extreme" 365-day marathon of birdwatching. For three men in particular, 1998 would be a whirlwind, a winner-takes-nothing battle for a new North American birding record. In frenetic pilgrimages for once-in-a-lifetime rarities that can make or break their lead, the birders race each other from Del Rio, Texas, in search of the rufous-capped warbler, to Gibsons, British Columbia, on a quest for Xantus's hummingbird, to Cape May, New Jersey, seeking the offshore great skua. Bouncing from coast to coast on their potholed road to glory, they brave broiling deserts, roiling oceans, bug-infested swamps, a charge by a disgruntled mountain lion, and some of the lumpiest motel mattresses known to man. The unprecedented year of beat-the-clock adventures ultimately leads one man to a new record — one so gigantic that it is unlikely ever to be bested...finding and identifying an extraordinary 745 different species by official year-end count. Prize-winning journalist Mark Obmascik creates a rollicking, dazzling narrative of the 275,000-mile odyssey of these three obsessives as they fight to the finish to claim the title in the greatest — or maybe the worst — birding contest of all time. With an engaging, unflappably wry humor, Obmascik memorializes their wild and crazy exploits and, along the way, interweaves an entertaining smattering of science about birds and their own strange behavior with a brief history of other bird-men and -women; turns out even Audubon pushed himself beyond the brink when he was chasing and painting the birds of America. A captivating tour of human and avian nature, passion and paranoia, honor and deceit, fear and loathing, The Big Year shows the lengths to which people will go to pursue their dreams, to conquer and categorize — no matter how low the stakes. This is a lark of a read for anyone with birds on the brain — or not. Book News Annotation:The Big Year is an annual contest in which birders travel all across
North America competing to identify as many different species as
possible over the course of a 365-day period. Journalist Obmascik
profiles three of the participants in the 1998 Big Year, one of whom
achieved the unprecedented record of identifying 745 different
species, and describes their adventures in traveling the continent
looking for rare species. Obmascik frequently incorporates the
natural history of the discussed birds into his narrative, also
discussing some of the wider societal issues surrounding birds and
their environments.
Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Review:"With a blend of humor and awe, Obmascik takes the reader into the heart of competitive birding, and in the process turns everyone into birders." Booklist Review:"By not revealing the outcome until the end of the book, Obmascik keeps the reader guessing in this fun account of a whirlwind pursuit of birding fame." Publishers Weekly Review:"You'll gladly add this one to your own list — of surprisingly good books." Kirkus Reviews Review:"Mark Obmascik understands birders, and in this book he has ventured bravely into the fringes of the hobby to report on a sort of extreme birding: the big year. It's the best and the worst of birding in one grueling yearlong contest, and you have to admire the rare passion and dedication that a big year attempt requires. The rest of us must be content with daydreaming about it, and this book will undoubtedly be the source of many daydreams." David Allen Sibley,
author of The Sibley Guide to Birds Review:"Red-breasted nuthatches! Himalayan snowcocks! Spotted woodpeckers! Nutting's flycatchers! The Big Year is the Gumball Rally of birding — a rollicking, nonstop, trans-continental adventure. Mark Obmascik brings the doggedness of an investigative reporter, the grace of an accomplished storyteller, and the compassion of a fellow-traveling obsessive to this alluring quest for avian supremacy." Stefan Fatsis, author of Word Freak Review:"Charming, engrossing, and educational even for people who can't tell a mudhen from a magpie." T.R. Reid, The Washington Post Synopsis:A rollicking, witty chronicle of the human need to conquer and categorize — in this case, every bird on the planet — no matter how low the stakes. About the AuthorMark Obmascik has been a journalist for two decades, most recently at the Denver Post, where he was lead writer for the newspaper's Pulitzer Prize in 2000 and winner of the 2003 National Press Club Award for environmental journalism. His freelance stories have been published in Outside and other magazines, and he has aired numerous political stories on public affairs and television news programs. An obsessed birder himself, he lives in Denver with his wife and sons. Table of ContentsContents Introduction 1. January 1, 1998 2. A Birder Is Hatched 3. The Early Birds 4. Strategy 5. Bodega Bluff 6. Whirlwind 7. El Niño 8. The Wise Owl 9. Yucatán Express 10. The Big Yak 11. The Cradle of Storms 12. The B.O.D. 13. Doubt 14. Forked 15. Conquest 16. Cape Hatteras Clincher 17. Two in the Bush 18. Nemesis 19. Honorbound 20. December 31, 1998 Epilogue Acknowledgments Bibliography Index What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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