I got this hardcover, an irreverent guide to identifying birds, at a local thrift shop. I'd hoped it would be humor along the lines of A Field Guide to Little-Known and Seldom-Seen Birds of North America or The Mincing Mockingbird Guide to Troubled Birds, but it turns out it's much less witty. The book uses clip-art of various types of birds to illustrate faux bird-descriptions (often with the pictures not matching the text AT ALL; the entry for the "Enervated Eagle" has an image of a dodo), and each bird also has a large-type exclamation of some kind, nearly all featuring "fuck" or "shit". A few of this did bring a faint smile; how could I not empathize with "When did I get so fucking old?" And "You are a spectacular amount of wrong" is a line that could be handy in a variety of situations. But overall I didn't find it that amusing - though the bird-pictures, especially the ones in color, are often quite handsome.

I will give the author props for this bit, though. One of the full-color illustrations has the bird-statement "Go to the fucking library," ostensibly said by the "Literate Plover" (though the image is not of any kind of plover; looks more like a titmouse), and the accompanying text goes:

"Let's be real: there's no way you found this book at the library. Still, libraries are fucking awesome; you should go to them and get some books that aren't just a bunch of pictures of birds and swear words."

Well played, sir; well played!

I left this book in the Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

Released for:

** 2025 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) challenge, for this year's GBBC, 2/14-2/17 **

** 2025 Never Judge a Book By Its Cover challenge. **