I know we talked about birds yesterday, but that was birds during one year, this is birding over a lifetime.
Dan Koeppel tells the life obsession of his father, an extreme birder, one of the few persons in the world to have seen over 7000 species. Only from a lifetime commitment can you see such a high number of species; special vacations and travel arrangements, effort, money, strategy, and knowledge all play a large part of this lifelong compulsion.
Richard Koeppel wanted to become an ornithologist, but after much pressure from his family he decided on a medical career, a career that has allowed him to travel the world in search of birds.
A quick read that opens the birding world to everyone. The history of birding, rules and technicalities of creating a lifelong big list, and even the taxonomy of birds are examined. A closer look at the deteriation of the American family, this one torn apart, not from drugs or alcohol but from the natural world is also revealed in this gem of a book.
Blogging for a Good Book 
[…] pair of binoculars to the present day fascination with listing (as discussed in some earlier posts here and here). Along the way, he profiles an array of fascinating, but occasionally, quirky characters […]
[…] have been many books about birding published in the past few years (Of a Feather, To See Every Bird on Earth, etc.), and it is for some clearly an obsession. But Rosen follows a different path: he is not […]