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'The Big Year' by Mark Obmascik. (1 Viewer)

Andrew

wibble wibble
WOW! If I was pushed to say just one word for this book that would be wow! This is a book written by a reporter having been given the accounts and all relevant papers by three Americans attempting what they dub a 'Big Year'. Three birders decided to travel the entire North American political region to launch an assault on the 'Big Year' record held by Sandy Komito. Never mind the UK400 club these birders rack up 700+ birds in a Big Year. It takes a mad man to even begin one but knowing ourselves, we can understand what these men are thinking throughout the book and to us they are not mad at all. The book is full of chracter, excitement and frission in the encounters. It is genuinely hard to decide out of the three diverse personalities, who to root for.

One interesting note about the book for anyone who is interested is that one of these men is "very mad", his name is Sandy Komito! Yes, he is doing a second 'Big Year'!

I promise you you will read this book very quickly.

ISBN : 0-385-60532-3
 
Sounds like a great read. With this as a comparison, I can probably convince my wife that I'm not really all "that" crazy about birding and our little birding get away weekends won't seem very extravagant in comparison!

This also gives me an idea which might be a good publicity stunt for Birdforum. How about one of the members decides to do a "big year" and members around the country help plan weekend / holiday / or other days birding outings to assist that birder with his big year effort? If about 2 dozen members offered to show him around their "local patches" he could get quite a boost. Hmmm.
 
I am sure whichever American member took up the challenge they would get support from American BFers and have a lot of members around the world rooting for him/her.
 
Saw this in my local Waterstones at lunch and made an implse purchase on your reccomendation - it better be good or i`ll be knocking on your door for a refund ;)
 
Knowing your twitching tendencies (just like mine) I have faith you will not be furiously pounding at my door!
 
main trouble I had with it was that I didn't take to any of the main characters with one being truly obnoxious. So in the end, I couldn't care less who won or whether they broke the record.

Too much emphasis on money too, almost coming down to a birds per buck equation as to wherther or not to make a given trip.

Gordon
 
Sadly, isn`t it always that way - every weekend I have to make the judgement between where I want to go and where I have the time and money to go...
 
Sorry you did not like it Gordon. I liked the three birders because they had character. Seriously you can not expect any one to attempt a Big Year on the cheap these days. It can not be done the way of Kenn Kaufman (Kingbird Highway) by thumbing across the states as the barrier has been raised so high that every bird possible has to be eked out.
 
It is a brilliant read Andrew as you say, just could not put it down, i really fancy spending a year in the states just going round state by state.....mind blowing to see over 700 in one year...I am now just starting Birding on Borrowed Time, promises to be another brilliant read.
 
If you enjoy Birding on Borrowed time then try and get a copy of a book called ' How Many Birds is That' - similar thing, but a birder twitching throughout Austrailia - a good read.
 
Doug said:
If you enjoy Birding on Borrowed time then try and get a copy of a book called ' How Many Birds is That' - similar thing, but a birder twitching throughout Austrailia - a good read.
Doug,

I am very interested, how did you get hold of your copy?
 
I the vein of Big Year chronicles, I will mention Mark Adams's account of his Texas Big Year, "Chasing Birds Across Texas."

It's an enjoyable read. Since Mark's mark, another Texas birder, Eric Carpenter, has broken the Big Year record with 505 species in 2003. Pretty amazing. I'm not sure if Eric plans a book about his adventure, but I did bird with him several times during 2003 and an account of his year would be quite interesting.

One of the common criticisms of "The Big Year" has to do with the light each of the three birders was cast into by the author. Exploiting the excesses of ego, discipline, or caloric intake was the modus operandi of the author in his characterization, and it's too bad, really.

All in all, "Kingbird Highway" and "Wild America" are the best examples of this sub-genre of birding literature, in my opinion. Mark Adams's book was enjoyable, but it may not have the staying power of the aforementioned two titles.

Steve in Houston
 
Steve,

Thanks for the tip off, I shall seek out this book.

It is hard to get a copy of Sandy Komito's book, 'I Came, I Saw, I Counted' in the UK.
 
Thanks for the reccomendation Andrew - i`ve just finished reading "The Big Year", I read it in three sessions - it was really unputdownable! An enjoyable read and an insight into the most obsessive of obssessives! I loved it all, from the pelagics to the deserts to the windswept Alaskan Islands - great stuff from cover to cover! I heartedly reccomend it.
 
Andrew said:
I promise you you will read this book very quickly.
Jason,

I was right wasn't I about the time you took to read it!

What about the helicopter chase for some equivalent of Ptarmigan? Hairy! We have it good on Scilly don't we after reading about Attu!
 
Andrew said:
Doug,

I am very interested, how did you get hold of your copy?

I found it on Amazon (UK) but had to wait a couple of weeks for delivery. The author is Sue Taylor and the ISBN is 1-86447-044-5

It is enhanced by loads of photo's and some nice sketch maps. Worth hunting down.

If like me, you are in to this type of book on birding you may want to try and get hold of another rarity - 'Quest for 5000 Birds' by Jim Stevenson. He is a bit gung ho in his approach to life and has a thing for poisonous snakes too but it is a decent read - ISBN is 0-9666438-6-0
 
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