The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America

I like birds just fine, but I don't know that I really am particularly interested in birds. So I don't know why I was so drawn to Field Guide.

The impression I get from this book — correct or not — is of someone who fell into bird-watching, realized it was boring and terrible but kept doing it and had all this bird knowledge to share even though they think the whole endeavor is stupid. And that made for some pretty fun reading, wherein I snickered aloud a lot at the snarky, rude humor. It was a perfect bedside table book, since every page is a good stopping point.

Earlier this weekend, I learned that my friend Parry has an uncle in Maine whose entire life philosophy is “birding in the morning, sailing in the afternoon,” and she doesn't particularly have any interest in birding either, so I'm going to give her my copy.

Dec. 10, 2020: I bought this at my local bookstore this weekend (huzzah Blacksburg Books!) and the cashier told me it was far and away their number one bestseller. XD

Chock full of fowl language. The best pages made me laugh out loud, and that's a huge thing, because I'm not one who is easily humored. The joke does wear thin, however: it's 170 pages of birds are dumb, here's how we can change the name of this stupid bird, whine, complain, and so forth. It was a quick read, perfect for a night when I was considering trading my own children for a house full of birds.