Synopses & Reviews
From a well-known outdoors and nature writer comes a narrative that explores a lifelong obsession with competitive birding.
What drives a man to travel to sixty countries and spend a fortune to count birds? And what if that man is your father?
Richard Koeppel's obsession began at the age of eleven, in Queens, New York, when he first spotted a Brown Thrasher and promptly jotted the sighting in a notebook. Several decades, one failed marriage, and two sons later, he added an astonishing 517 birds to that list on a single trip to Kenya. Soon after, he ended the last romantic relationship he would ever have, scaled down his medical practice, and decided to see every bird on earth, becoming a "Big Lister," a member of a subculture of competitive bird-watchers worldwide, all pursuing the same goal. Over twenty-five years, he collected more than 7,000 species (of a known 9,600), becoming one of about ten people ever to do so.
To See Every Bird on Earth explores the thrill of this chase, the all-absorbing crusade at the expense of all else, and travel, to places both dangerous and dull, for the sake of making a check mark in a notebook. It's also the story of obsession answering the questions why list? and why birds? and how it defines us. A riveting glimpse into a fascinating subculture, To See Every Bird on Earth traces the love, loss, and reconnection between a father and a son, and explains why birds are so critical to the human search for our place in the world.
Review
"An affecting story....Certainly not the happiest of lives, though it makes an irresistible story rich with idiosyncrasy not to mention all those glorious birds." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Part of the author's charm derives from his good mix of psychology, self-analysis, travel tales, and overview of the development of natural history fieldwork, both by professionals and amateurs. Good reading; a pleasure to recommend." Library Journal
Synopsis
From a well-known outdoors and nature writer comes a narrative that explores a lifelong obsession with competitive birding.
Synopsis
Marvelous. I loved just about everything about this book.”
Simon Winchester, author of The Professor and the Madman
A lovingly told story . . . helps you understand what moves humans to seek escape in seemingly strange other worlds.”
Stefan Fatsis, author of Word Freak
Everyone has his or her addiction, and birdwatching is the drug of choice for the father of author Dan Koeppel, who writes affectionately but honestly about his fathers obsession.”
Audubon Magazine (editors choice)
As a glimpse into human behavior and family relationships, To See Every Bird on Earth is a rarity: a book about birding that nonbirders will find just as rewarding.”
Chicago Tribune
Synopsis
What drives a man to travel to sixty countries and spend a fortune to count birds? And what if that man is your father? Richard Koeppels obsession began at age twelve, in Queens, New York, when he first spotted a Brown Thrasher, and jotted the sighting in a notebook. Several decades, one failed marriage, and two sons later, he set out to see every bird on earth, becoming a member of a subculture of competitive bird watchers worldwide all pursuing the same goal. Over twenty-five years, he collected over seven thousand species, becoming one of about ten people ever to do so.
To See Every Bird on Earth explores the thrill of this chase, a crusade at the expense of all elsefor the sake of making a check in a notebook. A riveting glimpse into a fascinating subculture, the book traces the love, loss, and reconnection between a father and son, and explains why birds are so critical to the human search for our place in the world.
Synopsis
What drives a man to travel to sixty countries and spend a fortune to count birds? And what if that man is your father? Richard Koeppels obsession began at age twelve, in Queens, New York, when he first spotted a Brown Thrasher, and jotted the sighting in a notebook. Several decades, one failed marriage, and two sons later, he set out to see every bird on earth, becoming a member of a subculture of competitive bird watchers worldwide all pursuing the same goal. Over twenty-five years, he collected over seven thousand species, becoming one of about ten people ever to do so.
To See Every Bird on Earth explores the thrill of this chase, a crusade at the expense of all elsefor the sake of making a check in a notebook. A riveting glimpse into a fascinating subculture, the book traces the love, loss, and reconnection between a father and son, and explains why birds are so critical to the human search for our place in the world.
About the Author
Dan Koeppel is a well-known outdoors, nature, and adventure writer who has written for the New York Times Magazine, Outside, Audubon, Popular Science, and National Geographic Adventure, where he is a contributing editor. Koeppel has also appeared on CNN and Good Morning America, and is a former commentator for Public Radio International's Marketplace.