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| The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession (Random House Large Print (Cloth/Paper)) | 
| Author: Mark Obmascik
Publisher: Random House Large Print
Category: Book
List Price: $27.00
Buy New: $1.67
You Save: $25.33 (94%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  49 reviews
Sales Rank: 1578064
Format: Large Print
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 496
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0375432949
Dewey Decimal Number: 598.07234
EAN: 9780375432941
ASIN: 0375432949
Publication Date: February 17, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: NEVER USED!! NEW BOOK WITH SOME LIGHT SHELF WEAR! THESE ARE BRAND NEW BOOKS WITH LIGHT SHELF WEAR PULLED OFF THE SHELF AND OFFERED HERE AT A FRACTION OF RETAIL TO SAVE YOU MONEY! WE SHIP OUR BOOKS DAILY SO BUY WITH CONFIDENCE!!
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| Also Available In:
| • | Paperback - The Big Year | | • | Audio Cassette - The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession | | • | Hardcover - The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession | | • | Audio Download - The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession | | • | Audio Cassette - The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession | | • | Audio CD - The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession | | • | Audio CD - The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession | | • | Kindle Edition - Big Year | | • | Paperback - The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession | | • | Audio Download - The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession (Unabridged) |
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Product Description
A classic in the making -- an account of the biggest 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 spot the most species in North America in a single year. And 1998 wasn’t just a big year. It was the biggest. 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 weather conditions that ensured all previous records were broken, but what becomes clear within the pages of this classic portrait of obsession is that while our feathered friends may be the objective of the Big Year competition, it’s the curious activities and behavioural patterns of the pursuing “homo sapiens” that are the real cause for concern. It is a contest that reveals much of the human character in extremes. Such are the author’s powers of observation that he brilliantly brings to life and gets under the skin of these extraordinary, eccentric and obsessive birders while empathizing with and eventually succumbing to the all-consuming nature of their obsession. The result is a wonderfully funny, acutely observed classic to rank alongside the best of Bill Bryson.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 44 more reviews...
 What a Great Book! September 6, 2008
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book. Obmascik weaves the story of 3 Big Year competitors with history and science, while injecting shots of humor and profundity throughout. I couldn't put this book down.
 Fantastic idea for a book, but deplorable writing! August 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The topic of the "big year" is really quite compelling, and I thought this book would take its place on my shelf right next to The Orchid Thief, in the section reserved for obsessives who focus solely on one aspect of the natural world and seek that single thing with complete devotion. Unfortunately, the writing in this book is nowhere near the quality of The Orchid Thief, and doesn't deserve a spot on my shelf at all. First, the good things: The three birders featured are exactly right for the book. The author sort of succeeded in teaching the reader about birds, their environment, and birding. (He's about 70 percent there.) Most importantly, he clearly explains why 1998 is the year that MUST be covered, even though it was a decade ago.
But the writing! He needs to learn how to describe an animal without using ANY references to pop culture. He needs to understand that in a book about birding, the reader does NOT want constant references to media and commercialization.
Here are specific examples of bad writing that distracted me so much I almost didn't finish the book:
1. The pygmy owl "weighed less than a pack of cigarettes." Is the author a heavy smoker with no concept of the fact that most nature lovers (his market for the book) think smoking is disgusting? It's especially disgusting in nature. Now he has combined, in my mind, the image of a cute little owl in a tree with a rude creep blowing smoke next to the owl's tree, with a disgusting, overflowing ash tray next to him. There are SO many other, far less distasteful, ways to describe the owl's weight.
2. "...the keel-billed toucan, that screeching, big-honkered bird made famous by Froot Loops." I almost threw the book across the room right here. I am mortally offended that the author thinks I, or anybody else who would buy this book, might not remember what a toucan is without a crass comparison to a stupid commercial for a repulsive product that nobody should be eating anyway. This is a book about BIRDS. I really, really don't want to be reminded of commercials! And everybody buying this book knows what a toucan is! Don't worry, we're not complete idiots! Also, the word "honker" is unnecessarily disrespectful. Toucans have beautiful and correctly sized beaks, and there is no need to use a disparaging, fifth-grade insult such as "honker." Things like this make me think the author doesn't like birds. That is a serious problem for an author writing a birding book.
3. "The yellow rail was the Greta Garbo of the bird world." This means nothing to me. I know she was a movie star (1950s? `60s? `40s?), but that's the extent of my knowledge. That is the crux of the problem. When an author relies on constant references to outdated movie stars to explain a concept, he leaves behind all the readers who don't share his media obsession. Five sentences later, "the yellow rail would never win any Miss Congeniality contests." Is this an unnecessary reference to that stupid movie years ago by the same name? Or is the author being mean and insulting to birds again?
4. "Maybe this really was a Bud Light commercial." Please leave all the commercials out of the birding book! Likewise, please note: brand names cheapen a book, they don't add "authenticity" or "flavor" or whatever it is that some inexperienced teachers call it in their writing classes. The following brand-name plugs all insulted me in the short space of just ten pages: Snickers, Wal-Mart, Spam, Wonder Bread, Jif peanut butter, Lipton, Mr. Salty pretzels. And if that's not bad enough, I later suffered this, probably the worst sentence in the entire book, or any other book I've read in the last year: "Miller clicked his Netscape Navigator back over to www.travelocity.com."
5. The bird was "...as tall as a Coke can but without the fizz." With regard to comparing a bird to junk food, I'm thinking again that the author doesn't really respect birds. With regard to putting in a plug for Coke, see #4. With regard to "the fizz," I have no idea what the author is trying to say. That completely mystifies me.
6. "He wasn't supposed to feel like Evel Knievel every time a bill came due." What the hell?!
I was particularly disappointed because there's actually a great deal of potential for this book due to its subject matter and characters. If I could have offered advice prior to its publication, it would have been this: The author should first decide whether or not he loves birds. If so, he should show that in his writing. Then, he should remove every movie star, media reference, and brand name. He should add more background information on specific birds and their environment. He should provide the American Birding Association's list of rules for the Big Year (I was wondering about this throughout the entire book). He should read The Orchid Thief and learn from it. Then, this would be a fabulous book!
Fowl Language April 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"The Big Year" is an amazing, amusing, suspenseful read about competing birders. Who would've thought that birdwatching could be so cutthroat, and so FUN?
It traces the adventures of three men- Sandy Komito (whose achievements are astounding in the birding world), the chemist Al Levantin, and software expert Greg Miller. They sacrifice a year of their lives to find as many birds as possible. Komito is in it to break records. Levantin is looking for a new way to live his retirement. Miller is recovering from a nasty divorce. In the Big Year, they find adventure, birds, and themselves. They travel in the Rockies, the Florida wilderness, remote parts of Nevada--- it's great as a quest story.
"Big Year" is exuberant nature writing. Like the blackbird in the Beatles song, read this and take flight!
Competitive birding: obsession or passion? January 28, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
If you enjoyed Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder, Wild America: The Record of a 30,000 Mile Journey Around the Continent by a Distinguished Naturalist and His British Colleague or anything by Scott Weidensaul, you'll enjoy Obmascik's account of an unlikely collection of birders bent on breaking records.
The concept of the Big Year is pretty simple: see as many birds as possible. Since its inception, this simple concept has ballooned into a circus of maxed out credit cards, exorbitant helicopter flights and boat rides, visits to dumps on the Mexican border, and Christmas dinners in isolated Chinese restaurants. This book chronicles three competitors and their attempts at Birdwatching glory: Sandy Komito (the hardcore favorite, record-holding former construction worker), Greg Miller (the longshot computer programmer, working with limited resources) and Al Levantin (the rich, passionate retired chemical company tycoon).
As I see it, this book has two real strengths:
1.) For those of us who dream of dropping everything, getting in a car with a pair of binoculars and seeing all the birds that had previously only been pictures in field guides, this book is both fulfilling and inspiring. Fulfilling, in that at the end of a long day, its a passable substitute for having the time to actually go out and see the rare birds. Inspiring, in its affirmation that anybody--even you--can do it, as long as you're willing to sacrifice.
2.) The subjects of the story are developed into character so nicely in journalistic prose. You'll learn to root for the underdog, respect their sacrifice, and pity all of them for their clinically obsessive behavior.
I'd encourage anyone interested in adventure or birding to read this book. You won't be disappointed, and probably won't be able to put it down.
A terrific book, even for non-birders. January 26, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
An awesome book. It took recommendations from several friends before I finally decided to give this book a try. The subject matter seemed so uninteresting to me.
When you're wrong, you're wrong, and I was totally off base on this one. It was fascinating from start to finish. What I realise now is that books like this one, which document someone's obsession (doesn't have to be the author's) often turn out to be completely engrossing, if the author (as Obmascik does) succeeds in conveying the inherent excitement in a topic that gave rise to the obsession in the first place.
Never thought I would say it about a book related to birding, but I just cannot give this book a high enough recommendation.
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