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Equinox: Life, Love, and Birds of Prey
A story about his decision to devote himself to his greatest loves - falconry, his bird dogs, and the prairie he calls home.
218 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1997
4 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Dan O'Brien
18 books57 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Dan O'Brien was born Daniel Hosler O'Brien in Findlay Ohio on November 23, 1947. He attended Findlay High School and graduated in 1966. He went to Michigan Technological University to play football and graduated with a BS degree in Math and Business from Findlay College in 1970 where he was the chairman of the first campus Earth Day. He earned an MA in English Literature from the University of South Dakota in 1973 where he studied under Frederick Manfred. He earned an MFA from Bowling Green University (of Ohio) in 1974, worked as a biologist and wrote for a few years before entering the PhD program at Denver University. When he won the prestigious Iowa Short Fiction in 1986 he gave up academics except for occasional short term teaching jobs. O'Brien continued to write and work as an endangered species biologist for the South Dakota Department of Game Fish and Parks and later the Peregrine Fund. In the late 1990s he began to change his small cattle ranch in South Dakota to a buffalo ranch. In 2001 he founded Wild Idea Buffalo Company and Sustainable Harvest Alliance to produce large landscape, grass fed and field harvest buffalo to supply high quality and sustainable buffalo meat to people interested in human health and the health of the American Great Plains. He now raises buffalo and lives on the Cheyenne River Ranch in western South Dakota with his wife Jill. Dan O'Brien is the winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award, two National Endowment for the Arts Grants for fiction, A Bush Foundation Award for writing, a Spur Award, two Wrangler Awards from the National cowboy Hall of Fame, and an honorary PhD from the University of South Dakota. His books have been translated into seven foreign languages and his essays, reviews, and short stories have been published in many periodicals including, Redbook, New York Times Magazine, FYI. New York Times Book Review.
Dan O'Brien was born Daniel Hosler O'Brien in Findlay Ohio on November 23, 1947. He attended Findlay High School and graduated in 1966. He went to Michigan Technological University to play football and graduated with a BS degree in Math and Business from Findlay College in 1970 where he was the chairman of the first campus Earth Day. He earned an MA in English Literature from the University of South Dakota in 1973 where he studied under Frederick Manfred. He earned an MFA from Bowling Green University (of Ohio) in 1974, worked as a biologist and wrote for a few years before entering the PhD program at Denver University. When he won the prestigious Iowa Short Fiction in 1986 he gave up academics except for occasional short term teaching jobs. O'Brien continued to write and work as an endangered species biologist for the South Dakota Department of Game Fish and Parks and later the Peregrine Fund. In the late 1990s he began to change his small cattle ranch in South Dakota to a buffalo ranch. In 2001 he founded Wild Idea Buffalo Company and Sustainable Harvest Alliance to produce large landscape, grass fed and field harvest buffalo to supply high quality and sustainable buffalo meat to people interested in human health and the health of the American Great Plains. He now raises buffalo and lives on the Cheyenne River Ranch in western South Dakota with his wife Jill. Dan O'Brien is the winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award, two National Endowment for the Arts Grants for fiction, A Bush Foundation Award for writing, a Spur Award, two Wrangler Awards from the National cowboy Hall of Fame, and an honorary PhD from the University of South Dakota. His books have been translated into seven foreign languages and his essays, reviews, and short stories have been published in many periodicals including, Redbook, New York Times Magazine, FYI. New York Times Book Review.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 2, 2010
In Equinox, author and falconer Dan O'Brien narrates a season of his life dedicated to the elusive pursuit of perfect falconry. The main characters in the memoir include loyal dogs and talented falcons - one of my favorites is Alice, a brazen passage Cooper's Hawk accidentally trapped, but conscientiously kept and trained: so much personality in a person who is not human! I just wish the book had more about her story and career as a gamehawk. O'Brien's writing paints a vivid picture of life on the northern plains. O'Brien also masterfully captures the high tension inherent in the life of a falconer and family man who must constantly make choices about where to invest his attention - with his wife or with his hawks, both of which comprise necessary prerequisites to a happy and balanced life, and neither one of which ought to be satisfied with "just enough" - a tension to which most falconers can relate all too deeply. Anyone who practices their passions which often clash with other aspects of life should be able to identify with the themes of O'Brien's tale. All in all, Equinox is a deeply evocative book that is simultaneously an education, an entertainment, and a meditation to be enjoyed by all nature-lovers.
April 2, 2020
https://rogueliterarysociety.com/f/eq...
...Much later, I realized that I had begun to turn the opportunity of a lifetime into a familiar, vulgar dance…
What immediately comes to mind after reading throughout the past couple months three O’Brien memoirs prior to this one is that Dan O’Brien values his outdoor alone time with his animals more than with any other human ever mentioned in his books. Not that he doesn’t love these people too. Because he is never at a loss for personal friends and associates is most likely the reason why O’Brien steers for more time alone. And there is a sadness that accompanies him along his lonesome trail which, for me at least, is an omen for what must one day come. But I am envious of his strong and independent character. And I wish I was more like him. But I am not and likely never will be. In contrast, I rely on the friendship and love of my partner in life, and if she is not near or soon to be in my vicinity, I am not a happy camper. Rarely do we separate for more than a week at a time, and hardly ever throughout our first thirty years living together. So as much as this memoir is about nature and the raising of birds and his beloved hunting dogs, it is just as apropos to his making choices and losing something in the process. But the emphasis in the book never points to my personal observations. Instead, this sadness and loss only comes through in the excellent writing of Dan O’Brien and as a consequence within the normal course of his vibrant living.
Often I have written about the importance of a writer’s personality coming through on the nonfiction page, and also how instrumental it is in my wanting to read book after book by the same author. O’Brien’s goodness and zest for life saturates almost everything he does. His concern for wildlife, conservation, restoring the lands, our climate and people all play pivotal roles in what he has to say. And his captivating stories honestly portray nature and humanity in all their warts and glory. But there simply isn’t enough of the man Dan O’Brien to go around, and it is possible that the people who need him the most play second fiddle to dogs and birds and a hired hand. And he cannot help it; O’Brien is without a doubt doing the best he can. He has been smitten by the wilds and no outside luxury or amenity can pull him away from what he must achieve out of doors with the animals and plants that need to thrive in order for the world and all of us humans to survive. Clearly there is never any want for meaning in his life. Only that incessant pang of sadness again and again emanating from his entire being that fails in his not becoming some sort of Superman or Kong in unrealistic magnitudes for the giving of himself and all his time. And this perhaps is another reason why his choices of lovers, friends, birds, and dogs are so remarkable.
Dan O’Brien knows how to write. He tells a good story. He is a writer worth reading, and if I am given the time to indulge myself, perhaps again and again.
...Much later, I realized that I had begun to turn the opportunity of a lifetime into a familiar, vulgar dance…
What immediately comes to mind after reading throughout the past couple months three O’Brien memoirs prior to this one is that Dan O’Brien values his outdoor alone time with his animals more than with any other human ever mentioned in his books. Not that he doesn’t love these people too. Because he is never at a loss for personal friends and associates is most likely the reason why O’Brien steers for more time alone. And there is a sadness that accompanies him along his lonesome trail which, for me at least, is an omen for what must one day come. But I am envious of his strong and independent character. And I wish I was more like him. But I am not and likely never will be. In contrast, I rely on the friendship and love of my partner in life, and if she is not near or soon to be in my vicinity, I am not a happy camper. Rarely do we separate for more than a week at a time, and hardly ever throughout our first thirty years living together. So as much as this memoir is about nature and the raising of birds and his beloved hunting dogs, it is just as apropos to his making choices and losing something in the process. But the emphasis in the book never points to my personal observations. Instead, this sadness and loss only comes through in the excellent writing of Dan O’Brien and as a consequence within the normal course of his vibrant living.
Often I have written about the importance of a writer’s personality coming through on the nonfiction page, and also how instrumental it is in my wanting to read book after book by the same author. O’Brien’s goodness and zest for life saturates almost everything he does. His concern for wildlife, conservation, restoring the lands, our climate and people all play pivotal roles in what he has to say. And his captivating stories honestly portray nature and humanity in all their warts and glory. But there simply isn’t enough of the man Dan O’Brien to go around, and it is possible that the people who need him the most play second fiddle to dogs and birds and a hired hand. And he cannot help it; O’Brien is without a doubt doing the best he can. He has been smitten by the wilds and no outside luxury or amenity can pull him away from what he must achieve out of doors with the animals and plants that need to thrive in order for the world and all of us humans to survive. Clearly there is never any want for meaning in his life. Only that incessant pang of sadness again and again emanating from his entire being that fails in his not becoming some sort of Superman or Kong in unrealistic magnitudes for the giving of himself and all his time. And this perhaps is another reason why his choices of lovers, friends, birds, and dogs are so remarkable.
Dan O’Brien knows how to write. He tells a good story. He is a writer worth reading, and if I am given the time to indulge myself, perhaps again and again.
November 27, 2017
O’Brien does a fine job delving into the details of working bird dogs, falcons and game birds. Of course his books are about so much more. They are about connecting to place, in this case the northern prairie country of South Dakota. They are about relationships and the way they pull one’s heart one way and another. Perhaps, finally, this book in particular is about life imitating art when a perfect autumn day on the prairie intersects with a rock-solid point of an English Setter and the powerful stoop of a Peregrine Falcon flashes in the sun as it takes a Sharp-tailed Grouse.
January 19, 2008
It was a long time ago when I read this book, but I remember loving it. Beautifully written. Made me truly admire and respect falconers.
February 28, 2010
One of my favorite books ever. Very evocative, simple, great read. Learned a bunch about falconry, too.
December 30, 2019
When I'm reading one of Dan O'Brien's books, or his blog, I'm with him on the prairie, gazing out to the horizon, or in the case of Equinox, scanning the skies for birds of prey, and the undergrowth for their prey. This book had everything--suspense, love, page-turning moments, hunting dogs, suspense, introspection, good food, plenty of nature. Read this in quiet moments over the course of two days.
July 21, 2024
I'm fond of this author, because he takes me to the heart of the Dakota hills and deep into his passion for falcons.
August 13, 2025
I’m a bird watcher and I learned something about training falcons, but this narrative was not my fav read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews