Download The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession AudioBook Free
A vintage in the making -- a merchant account of the largest year in birdwatching history.
In the USA, some 50 million people lay claim to being bird-watchers or “birders,” spending billions of dollars on birding-related travel and membership fees every year. A select, and utterly obsessed, few compete in one of the world’s quirkiest contests -- the race to identify the most species in THE UNITED STATES within a year. And 1998 wasn’t just a huge year. It was the largest. The Big Year is Pulitzer Prize-winner Mark Obmascik’s account of what was to become the greatest birding year of all time.
It was freak climate that ensured all previous records were broken, but what becomes clear within the pages of the classic portrait of obsession is that while our feathered friends may be the aim of the best Year competition, it’s the curious activities and behavioural patterns of the pursuing “homo sapiens” that are the source for concern. It really is a contest that reveals a lot of the human character in extremes. Such are the author’s powers of observation that he brilliantly brings alive and gets under your skin of these extraordinary, eccentric and obsessive birders while empathizing with and finally succumbing to the all-consuming nature of the obsession. The result is a wonderfully funny, acutely observed classic to rank alongside the best of Bill Bryson.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
