This story is for the birds—but even non-avians will applaud this winning narrative of romantic raptors and other feathered habituÇs of Manhattan's Central Park. Surprisingly, Central Park is one of the top birdwatching spots in America: The bird census in 1996 came to 275 separate species, counted by a dedicated cadre of birdwatchers and naturalists of which Winn (Unplogging the Plug-In Drug, 1987) is an early-rising member. While the eponymous hawks are the stars of this show, the dramatis personae include seed-stealing squirrels, chickadees, woodpeckers, the ubiquitous pigeon, the birdwatchers themselves, and two human celebs: Mary Tyler Moore, on whose Fifth Avenue building the red-tails construct their nest, and Woody Allen, whose penthouse is within easy binocular range one block north. Over the course of four breeding seasons, Winn and company anxiously observe Pale Male and two or perhaps three different females as they struggle to raise a family while beset by assorted man-made and natural perils. The birdwatchers protect the nest from workmen on scaffolds; they rescue Pale Male and his first mate when they are injured; they fret over the effects of the Pocahontas premiere on the park's Great Lawn (the hawks do not seem to mind). When chicks finally hatch, these enraptured raptor watchers keep vigil, readily sharing telescopes and binoculars with passers-by. Winn writes with great knowledge of the habits of the park's wildlife, but she is equally observant, slyly so, of the tendencies of the human species, particularly those inhabiting the Upper East Side; the best story here, perhaps, is that of the devoted core of amateur birdwatchers—Winn included—who forfeit sleep and frequently money to preserve a little wildness in the city. Written with warmth and modesty, a great book for birders and nature readers, as well as an interesting portrait of New Yorkers. Winn thoughtfully includes an informative ``Wildlife Almanac'' in the appendix.
Pub Date: March 30, 1998
ISBN: 0-679-43997-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
A quirky wonder of a book.
A Peabody Award–winning NPR science reporter chronicles the life of a turn-of-the-century scientist and how her quest led to significant revelations about the meaning of order, chaos, and her own existence.
Miller began doing research on David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) to understand how he had managed to carry on after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed his work. A taxonomist who is credited with discovering “a full fifth of fish known to man in his day,” Jordan had amassed an unparalleled collection of ichthyological specimens. Gathering up all the fish he could save, Jordan sewed the nameplates that had been on the destroyed jars directly onto the fish. His perseverance intrigued the author, who also discusses the struggles she underwent after her affair with a woman ended a heterosexual relationship. Born into an upstate New York farm family, Jordan attended Cornell and then became an itinerant scholar and field researcher until he landed at Indiana University, where his first ichthyological collection was destroyed by lightning. In between this catastrophe and others involving family members’ deaths, he reconstructed his collection. Later, he was appointed as the founding president of Stanford, where he evolved into a Machiavellian figure who trampled on colleagues and sang the praises of eugenics. Miller concludes that Jordan displayed the characteristics of someone who relied on “positive illusions” to rebound from disaster and that his stand on eugenics came from a belief in “a divine hierarchy from bacteria to humans that point[ed]…toward better.” Considering recent research that negates biological hierarchies, the author then suggests that Jordan’s beloved taxonomic category—fish—does not exist. Part biography, part science report, and part meditation on how the chaos that caused Miller’s existential misery could also bring self-acceptance and a loving wife, this unique book is an ingenious celebration of diversity and the mysterious order that underlies all existence.
A quirky wonder of a book.Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6027-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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