To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifelong Obsession

To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifelong Obsession
by Dan Koeppel

To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifelong Obsession
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Book Summary Information

Author: Dan Koeppel
Edition: Paperback
Published: 2006-04-25
ISBN: 0452285399
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Plume

Book Reviews of To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifelong Obsession

Book Review: A wonderful combination of family memoir and bird list obsession
Summary: 5 Stars

You don't have to be extremely interested in birds to love this book! I have a passing interest in birds--I like looking at ones that come to my feeder and I always seek them out at zoos, but I loved this book. The idea of trying to see every bird on Earth (something no-one probably will ever actually do) is fascinating, and the author's father is one of the best Big List birders in the world. He is also a complex and somewhat troubled man, and I found that part of the story just as interesting. Koeppel's family life growing up after his parents divorce sounds at times hellish, although he doesn't dwell on this. It left him with a need to try to relate to his father, the man he kept hoping would rescue him as a boy. His father is not a demonstrative person, and the triumph of the small ways they are able to connect over birding are very touching to read about.

I will seek out more travel writing by Dan Koeppel.

Summary of To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifelong Obsession

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 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 else?for 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. BACKCOVER: ?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 father?s obsession.?
?Audubon Magazine (editor?s 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

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