An Exhilaration of Wings: The Literature of Bird Watching

Book Overview

More than seventy-five authors-including Muir, Audubon, and Wordsworth, as well as lesser-known writers and amateur ornithologists-share their infectious observations about birdsong, migration, nests,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141001801
• ISBN13: 9780141001807
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.7" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

The Heart and Soul of Bird Watching

This book offers a wonderful look at the historical roots of bird watching. How refreshing to read truly emotional responses to the experience of learning about birds through observation. The wonderful blend of writings underscores the universality and agelessness of the sport.This book is perfect for short reads -- great to pick up for a moment, either to refresh oneself or to share with a friend. It is a perfect gift for any bird lover -- I have purchased 6 copies to date!

Romantic?

The "romantic" birder will enjoy the many written excerpts that Hill includes in her book. The "analytical" birder may prefer something more prosaic. Not sure if you are a romantic birder or an analytical birder?...Read ths book and find out.

Literary and inspirational

At last we see the aesthetic side of birdwatching presented with a sensitivity so often lacking in nature writing. Whereas many birding volumes revert to more and more pedantic description, this is a work which, as its title suggests, invites us to experience a little of the ecstacy of flight itself. We study birds because we are inspired by them, but too many birding books concentrate on the study and not the inspiration. In this work the writings of a wide variety of knowledgeable writers--both well-known and obscure--present in often touching prose their first-hand observations of and experiences with a passtime they love. The careful organization makes this a useful reference work, akin to Bartlett's, for those in search of just the right inspirational quote. These are transcendent moments which otherwise might be lost in mouldering libraries, and I have been personally touched by many of the seemingly inconsequential but thoroughly delightful scenes recorded here. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to lift themselves or their friends above what can often be the drudgery of daily life, who would like to remember that birds fly, they are beautiful, and there is something magnificent in that.

Two "wings" up

I am not a birdwatcher. But Jen Hill's collection of writings on our avian friends is a new fixture on my coffee table. Despite Hill's seemingly daunting credentials - a PhD candidate at Cornell - An Exhilaration of Wings is not an intellectual tome. From her inciteful and, at times, humorous introduction - she points out that Theodore Roosevelt, an enthusiastic birdwatcher despite his poor eyesight, is the only president on Mt. Rushmore wearing glasses - I began the book wishing she had written it herself rather than culling quotes from others. Through the eyes of nature lovers like Thoreau, Audubon, and Wordsworth, to name just three of over 75 writers, famous and unknown, she tells us of birds and their habits, and arcane bird trivia we never thought we needed to know until now. With an eye and ear of someone who, no doubt, regularly escapes the Ivory Tower, Hill has compiled these quotes into chapters with a relaxing rhythm. Reading just a few is like receiving a neck massage during a stressful day. I will pick up the book again and again. And I begin tomorrow with one more reason to look out the window.