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| Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder | 
| Author: Kenn Kaufman
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy Used: $2.39
You Save: $11.61 (83%)
New (22) from $7.48
Avg. Customer Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 462766
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0618709401
Dewey Decimal Number: 598.0723473
EAN: 9780618709403
ASIN: 0618709401
Publication Date: April 11, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Standard shipping arrives within 6-8 business days. This is the textbook only unless otherwise noted. Cover Wear, edge wear
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| Customer Reviews:
 A road book with a passion October 18, 2003
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I read this book a couple of years ago ,haven't been writing reviews for long;but thought I would go back to this fine effort.I've read a lot of " road" books by some of the best; such as Heat-Moon,Kerouac,Mc Murtry,Peterson/Fisher,Steinbeck,Teale,Caldwell ;but as good as these were, none were written with the passion and self involvement that Kaufman brings to this book.He didn't set out to roam the country to escape,find himself,to discover the people or country.He set with the purpose of finding as many bird species as he could in one year ; wrote a book about it,and even though the goal was not just to write a book; he produced one that is as good as the "best".As a Birder ,we have all experienced many of the things he did ;but without the endurance,passion and commitment that he did.I thought I experienced cold along the Niagara River looking for Gulls in the Winter;but this was mild compared to sleeping in a car on the East coast when it was "cold as an Eskimo's tomb",eating from a can of cold soup at the ABA onvention,or having "his" scope blown away during a storm while doing the Christmas Bird count.If you like road books;but even more so if you enjoy nature/birding you just gotta read this gem !In my opinion he is right up there with the best of them.
Kaufman Becomes a Birding Fanatic August 1, 2003
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Great read. Any serious birder will like it as will a general audience that likes books along the lines of William Least-Moon.
A perfect book! June 23, 2003
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
If you're stuck in a boring 9-5 job after having paid your dues with years of higher education, you'll be jealous of Kenn Kaufman's freedom at a young age to do what he wanted, learn what he wanted and lay the groundwork for one of the most successful careers in birding in the U.S.
If you're a birder, or at least trying to be a birder, you'll be jealous of the amount of ground Kenn Kaufman covered in the span of a few short years to see and marvel at 100's of birds.
If you're a writer, whether published or not, you'll be jealous of Kenn Kaufman's ability to write a such vividly-rendered account of his souped-up travails engaging in one of the most sympathetic pastimes to develop among modern humans, that of birding, contextualized with his growing awareness of the impact of human encroachment on the wilderness as an increasingly serious environmental problem. Whether the story surveys Kaufman's encounters with the awfully unlucky Myrtle Warblers stuck on North Carolina's Outer Banks in the winter of '73, the transplanted Skylarks of the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest, or the migrating warblers stopping for a respite at Fort Jefferson in the Tortugas; or whether Kaufman is birding with his group of friends self-dubbed the "Tucson Five," or enduring the numbing experience of "thumbing" on the road for months on end; he makes you see what he's seeing and feel what he's feeling.
Finally, if you're someone who treasures the comforts of a soft pillow at night and a warm, dry roof over your head, you have to admire Kaufman's tenacity in dealing with -- and his almost joyful tolerance of-- bad weather, having to hike for miles before finding that much-needed ride or the 669th bird for his Big Year List, and, especially, the hunger born of a budget that probably didn't quite reach shoe-string level.
A great adventure April 1, 2003
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Skillfully written and edited to perfection, this book is a joy to read. The story is a thrilling adventure that's hard to put down; plan on pulling an all-nighter when you read it. In one year, Kenn Kaufman traveled 80,000 miles, saw over 600 species of birds, and spent less than $1000 in doing so. I'm more of an armchair birder myself, content to see the world's birds in books, and I loved being taken along on this amazing journey without having to leave the comfort of my own home.
I just keep reading it. December 19, 2002
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm not one to re-read books. This one I have read multiple times and will again. It is a great story, richly told of a teenager chasing birds, his dreams and his life's calling around North America in the early 1970's.There are several poingant scenes in this book that appeal to me as a birder and as a human being. Probably the best is his reaction to seeing the girl who became his wife (for a while)waiting for him to take a ferry in New England. If you have the slightest interest in nature or birds and like good books, buy this one and read it. You won't be disappointed.
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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