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Vesper Flights

by Helen Macdonald
Vesper Flights

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ISBN13: 9780802128812
ISBN10: 0802128815
Condition: Standard
DustJacket: Standard

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Staff Pick

Helen Macdonald returns with an essay collection centered on our relationship to the world around us. Whether she’s discussing migration patterns, mushroom hunting, or returning to her childhood stomping grounds, MacDonald paints an eloquent and illuminating portrayal of the natural world. Recommended By Mary Jo S., Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

Animals don't exist in order to teach us things, but that is what they have always done, and most of what they teach us is what we think we know about ourselves.

In Vesper Flights Helen Macdonald brings together a collection of her best loved essays, along with new pieces on topics ranging from nostalgia for a vanishing countryside to the tribulations of farming ostriches to her own private vespers while trying to fall asleep.

Meditating on notions of captivity and freedom, immigration and flight, Helen invites us into her most intimate experiences: observing the massive migration of songbirds from the top of the Empire State Building, watching tens of thousands of cranes in Hungary, seeking the last golden orioles in Suffolk's poplar forests. She writes with heart-tugging clarity about wild boar, swifts, mushroom hunting, migraines, the strangeness of birds' nests, and the unexpected guidance and comfort we find when watching wildlife.

By one of this century's most important and insightful nature writers, Vesper Flights is a captivating and foundational book about observation, fascination, time, memory, love and loss and how we make sense of the world around us.

Review

"[An] altogether memorable collection....Exemplary writing about the intersection of the animal and human worlds." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

Review

"An inviting collection...infused with wonder, nostalgia, and melancholy." Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Helen Macdonald is a writer, poet, illustrator, historian, and naturalist, and an affiliated research scholar at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses. She also worked as a Research Fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge. She is the author of a cultural history of falcons, titled Falcon, and three collections of poetry. As a professional falconer, she assisted with the management of raptor research and conservation projects across Eurasia.

5 1

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`
WordsAndPeace , October 20, 2020 (view all comments by WordsAndPeace)
VERDICT: Highly recommended for all lovers of nature, or simply for anyone eager to expand their horizon and read nourishing passages with a refreshing outlook on life. H is for Hawk was very personal, as the author presented how her time and experience with a goshawk helped her overcome her grief at the sudden death of her father. This present collection of about forty essays has some personal dimension, for instance when she relates about her childhood experience, but I found it opening broader horizons, on our current world, on the situation of the environment, or even on the political sphere. Almost all essays deal with nature, birds for sure (do you know what a Vesper Flight is?), but not only (mushrooms, woods, goats, etc). They are short, easy to read, and yet they offer deep wisdom. Even though some show how alarming our environmental situation is, I found in them as a whole refreshing outlook on life, quite welcome these days. In many essays, MacDonald highlights the fact that animals exist and need to be considered in their own rights, and not as mirrors of humankind. She invites us to take time to observe truly, and change our perspective. And obviously, I learned a lot, even on birds which I thought I knew well. I was actually aware of murmurations, but not of Vesper Flights!

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780802128812
Binding:
Hardcover
Publication date:
08/25/2020
Publisher:
GROVE PRESS (NY)
Pages:
288
Height:
1.30IN
Width:
5.90IN
Author:
Helen Macdonald

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Add to Cart
$10.95
List Price:$27.00
Used Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
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1Local Warehouse

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