Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World

by Christian Cooper

Longtime birder and social activist Christian Cooper‘s BETTER LIVING THROUGH BIRDING, reflecting on a life lived at the intersections of race and queerness; equal parts memoir, travelogue, and call to action, exploring the lifetime of experience that prepared the author for his now-infamous encounter with racist white aggression in Central Park, on the very day that the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sent the country over the edge, spurring protests in the streets and inspiring calls for change.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Nature, Audiobook, Birds, LGBT, Biography

304 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2023

Reviews

[carol. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some people should not write autobiographies, but Christian Cooper is not one of them.

However, marketing is, as always, everything, and your enjoyment of the book will be directly impacted by what you expect. I walked into this knowing nothing except that Cooper is a birder and the Black man who was threatened by a White woman and her off-leash dog in Central Park (search on Youtube). But while I can be let down for learning more about lives that are wildly different than mine, as an amateur birder and a fan of NYC, it seemed like it could work.

Spoiler alert: It did, probably because I quickly realized that it is really more of an autobiography and not just a book about birding. Following roughly chronological order, it weaves in birding experiences, and tips as Cooper shares some major life milestones. For people that were hoping for a book about birding, I suggest looking elsewhere.

It opens with 'An Incident in Central Park,' a teaser if I ever saw one. Beginning en media res, Cooper is racing disheveled through the park... toward a bird: "The rarest songbird in North America, Kirtland's Warbler is a creature even more unlikely to be spotted in Central Park than the gay Black nerd with binoculars looking up at it." It's a cute chapter and shares both his love of birding and discusses why so many people are attracted to birds.

'Blackbird' opens with the misidentification by settlers of a species, then relates his own exposure to birding as a child, as well as his own identity: "Like everyone else, I had to sort through aspects of my identity and where I fit in the social taxonomy, which labels fit and which chafed, and how the world might have misidentified me and pegged my kind all wrong." I loved this chapter for it's back and forth, it's demonstration that programs that help bring children of all backgrounds into interacting with nature can foster a life-long passion, and Cooper's acknowledgement of the complicated relationship with his dad, and the far less complicated and healthy one with a birding mentor. 

'The Book of Ramus' is where I learned about the disturbing Eleonora's Falcon which had the reputation of stashing live prey for later feeding. The chapter itself is more focused on adolescence and college at Harvard, navigating sexuality, and how sci-fi books, movies and comics provided escape. The college transition was fascinating, and when Cooper says "The random combination of young men who formed our rooming group freshman year was something of a .... United Colors of Benetton ad," I laughed, realizing Cooper must be a cohort. I would have loved more detail on the Harvard years.

'Halycon Days' explores life outside of college, opening up with a first international trip to Buenos Aires and realizing black skin color meant something different in another country. This trip largely becomes about exploring being both Black and gay, and for bird-focused people, might be the most confusing. I found it insightful and sweet.

'In a Happy Place' continues in NYC, focusing on Central Park birding, both the skill of doing it and the birding culture, and if you didn't know there was one, well, join the club of the clueless. He also does us the courtesy of explaining the difference between Red-bellied (common) and Red-headed (rare) woodpeckers: "The Red-Bellied also sports red on the head...its ridiculous name stemming from the fact that if the bird were stunned unconscious and fell on its back at your feet, you might be able to spy in all that creaminess a couple of reddish feathers in a small patch near the base of its legs." I giggled when I read this, and the next time the red-bellied was at my feeder, I was lucky enough to see the three red feathers on its belly as it awkwardly tried to eat from the sunflower feeder.

'Knocking Down' talks quite a bit about one of Cooper's other loves, comics. His first job was followed by a long stint at Marvel in various roles, eventually leading the way with the first character to come out of the closet. I have yet to see a Marvel movie since 2012 or so, but Cooper general keeps the nerd detail to general levels, or contextualizes it for the newbies. There's some name-dropping in this section that's a little less interesting, particularly when Cooper gets to head his own spin-off. But I had to laugh when he describes what he did when he was assigned to edit the comic 'Swimsuit Edition.' Finally, parity!

'Life Turned Upside Down' is a memorable trip to Australia after being laid off from Marvel: "Birds and boys: It seemed the perfect combination to distract me from the fact that my dream job was done and I was professionally adrift." Luckily, another opportunity soon opened up with Marvel. 'Elegy' is the 9-11 chapter, his experience occurring (of course!) while he was birding in Central Park. 'On Top of the World' was a travel trip with his boyfriend to the Himalayas. He expounds a bit on his paganist beliefs here and the connection with nature. 'Family Matters' talks about birding, generational trauma, and reconciling with his father. 'The Tragedy of Francis' brings in his peaceful protesting (along with much of NYC) at One Police Plaza during Giuliani's reign. It is also the time period when his parents faced life-threatening illnesses and he planned a bucket-list trip to the Galapagos with his father. 

'Another Incident in Central Park' is, of course, the one that brought Christian Cooper to my--and the world's--attention. While it is awful and regrettable--I remember how watching his video made me feel sick to my stomach--I'm grateful that it catapulted him into a platform to share even more of his creative work. The closing chapter, 'Alabama' is from when he was invited to be a speaker at an Audubon birding festival and gives him a chance to explore southern birds as well as his family history.

I really enjoyed his voice; a combination of candor, wry humor, and intelligence that I found interesting and entertaining. He's urbane, literate and socially conscious--definitely the person I'd want to talk with a little longer, wherever we happened to meet. Glad I got the chance to meet him through his book.


Many thanks to both Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an ARC of this book. As always, all opinions my own.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christian Cooper's encounter with another person named Cooper shot him squarely into the national spotlight. A frazzled woman, looking more like she's strangling her dog than protecting it, is filmed by a man she's accusing of threatening her, his calm voice saying "Go ahead. Call the police." But there is so much more to this man than what the media chose to highlight.

By now everyone is familiar with this woman who used her white femaleness to weaponize a man of color who was only asking her to leash her dog, as not only was it unlawful to let dogs run free in Central Park's Ramble, it was harmful to the habitat of the birds he had been seeking. All his life. In this generous memoir, he remembers growing up black, gay, "other" in two categories, son of teachers in Eastern Long Island. Closeted until his college years, he developed a passion for birds at an early age, relishing their their unique songs as well as their plumage. Mr. Cooper includes detailed accounts of several of his many travels. Also, rooted in his DNA is his family's love for fantasy and science fiction, which has allowed him to enjoy "dream jobs" with Marvel and DC.

And then this, a strong sense of justice pervades the family since having been pushed in a stroller to protests by his activist mother and father. In one interview, he uses the example of the way Black People need to adjust to protect their everyday life, by explaining why he chooses to wear wire rimmed glasses instead of contacts. He removes his glasses, pointing out that as a large, fit man of color, he would appear more threatening without them.

So here is an account from deep within personal experience, and the reader is rewarded with insights and information, beautifully rendered. Yes, this book changes the way one looks at the world and the creatures that populate it. To the uninitiated like myself who take birds for granted, Christian Cooper has opened a world of possibilities.

[Migdalia Jimenez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is such a great mix of memoir, travelogue, and birding.

Cooper has lived such a varied and interesting life. The fact that he had that infamous viral moment in 2020 is definitely not the most interesting thing about him.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Cooper's family, his jobs and freelancing at Marvel, his travels around the word, his spiritual musings, his experiences through 9/11, the Covid Pandemic, and of course the larger story of what happened in Central Park that fateful day.

Filled with empathy, humor, nature, and hard-won wisdom, I recommend this to readers who enjoy well-written non-fiction.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book suffers from not knowing what it wants to be - a memoir by a man who had his 15 minutes of fame and wanted to capitalize on it; a birding book; one black man’s story; something else? As a result it is kind of all over the place. Absent that this is an intelligent man speaking to us about his experience as a black, gay, birder in the here and now and what he went through to get here, now. I want to
and do like him, but the book not as much.

[G L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listening to this audiobook was a mixed experience. The book has many flaws. Most distracting to me were the abundance of clichés and numerous anecdotes that ramble on and on in far greater detail than their apparent importance warrants. The reading for the audiobook (by the author) evidences some distracting quirks that a more experienced reader might have avoided.

And yet, the book kept me engaged most of the time. Cooper's voice has a warmth and energy that managed to keep me going even in those passages that I thought were far longer and more wordy than they should have been, and brought other passages to life in a way that gave me the feeling that I was sitting in his living room listening to him tell me his life's story. This compensated for the places where I found his reading less successful. There are plenty of moments of insight, and stories that are vivid and narratively interesting.

In the end, I am glad to have read the audiobook. I'm not sure I would have persevered with the written book. I wish the book had been more skillfully edited. I think that would have cleared up many of what seem to me to be the book's flaws, and allowed its bright spots to shine undimmed by the moments that are not as well-formulated as they might have been.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent memoir. The best part of this book is how Christian Cooper seamlessly weaves his love and knowledge of birding with his really cool life story. He writes with great perspective on birding, traveling, race and being gay. I particularly love the descriptive language used to describe his surroundings, the birding life, and the people he meets during his travels. This man wrote an insightful and fascinating book. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of this book.

[Katra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for advance access to this title in exchange for an honest review.

I started this book with expectations that probably skewed my attitudes and might have appreciated it more without those expectations. I was all ready for a good birding book. Cooper's love of birds certainly came through, but it was a minor part of the story. It isn't a birding book. It's the memoir of a man who loves birds. I'm not someone who seeks out memoirs. Knowing about the infamous Central Park incident and knowing that Cooper is gay, I should have realized going in that this volume would deal with some heavy stuff. It does. The heavy stuff needs to be dealt with and the issues were thoughtfully examined. There were tales of casual hook-ups that kind of pushed my rating from "I enjoyed it" to "It was OK." These were never really focused on, but I found them disappointing.

Quick summary:
Interesting and though provoking book. Would have liked more storks and fewer strip clubs.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christian Cooper is such a vivid writer! He uses his passion for birding to structure a completely engrossing memoir. He tells such engaging stories about his life, his family, his spirituality, his love life, his activism, with frequent descriptions and discussions of his obsession with birds. He includes a thoughtful and candid chapter on his encounter with the white woman in the park who tried to file a false report on him to the police when he tried to get her to leash her dog—but this really is a small part of a much larger, very interesting life.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I found a couple sections a bit slow and less bird-oriented than I'd expected, I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir. Cooper's descriptions of the joys of birding are exactly as I'd write them, if I had the talent - especially the part about how a birder's ear never turns off. This memoir was very personal with some intimate looks at Cooper's life which I appreciated. Thanks to Penguin Random House for an advance readers copy.

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was my GR friend, carol’s review that got me to take Cooper’s book out of our local library. I find that I have little to add to her review.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never really been interested in bird-watching, and after reading this, I still don’t plan on picking up the hobby.

But in that way, the title is a bit misleading, it’s maybe 15% about bird-watching but mostly Christian Cooper’s memoirs, from growing up gay and Black in the New York area, to traveling the world, working at Marvel and writing comics, finding love and heartbreak, reconciling with family, and then being put in the national spotlight after the incident in Central Park. I found it incredibly worthwhile to learn about the actual person behind the headlines and a life experience different from my own.

Oh, and the audiobook has little bird calls between the chapters, which is a lovely little touch.

[Corvus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many people, I was introduced to Christian Cooper through his viral video in central park as a woman called the police and lied about him threatening her when he asked her to leash her dog in a protected area of the park. I am surprised though that I had not encountered him sooner since he has been involved with a variety of causes and mediums that I interact with regularly. There are too few people in the world with so much overlap of gay stuff, nerd stuff, and bird stuff. The more I learned about him, the more surprised I was that I was just encountering him now.

A friend of mine read Better Living Through Birding before me and told me to go for the audiobook when I was trying to decide which format to choose. She was not a fan of the structure on the page and thought his voice would take it up a notch for me. It was a good decision because I have had even less time and focus for reading pages than usual and hearing Cooper tell these stories added something enjoyable to the text. The audio version also implemented bird songs between various chapters, but it was done without proper editing. There were times that the song did not even match the bird species of the chapter that followed and since they never explicitly tell you who the song is from, it risks misinforming more than adding to the knowledge and experience of the listener. The recordings were also extremely different in volume from the rest of the book, and some of the recordings felt awkward or too long.

The book is a mixture of memoir and general essays about Cooper's experiences with birding. I can see how some readers felt misled. The title and hype for the book make it seem like a birding book when it is really a book about growing up as a gay Black boy and man, working in the world of comics when it was even less inclusive than it is now, navigating travel and gay culture across the world in various decades, and of course, lots of birding along the way. I loved the overlap of these different parts of Cooper's life, so I was not let down at all by it not being a birding-only book. I really enjoyed the sections where he would focus on a specific species of bird and go into detail about how he discovered them and what made them so special. I also really enjoyed his stories of when cultures would overlap and intersect, especially around birding and comics. My favorite story about his comics career was when he decided to turn the once sexist marvel swimsuit issue into what Warren Ellis affectionately called, "The gayest thing you ever saw." I laughed out loud and immediately had to google it and was not at all disappointed. Most of my interactions with comics were through DC Vertigo (with the exception of the X-Men,) so I never ran into any of this until I listened to this audiobook.

There were a few things I found disappointing about this book. Most of them were the ways in which Cooper fell in line with problematic but very common attributes of society and subcultures. In terms of birding, he refers to all birds as the objectified "it" even when speaking directly of male or female birds. He focuses almost entirely on flashy rare birds or males of the species. We do get a section about appreciating grackles (my favorite backyard birds) through the eyes of children, but only after he describes a bunch of arbitrary negative qualities he perceives in them. He has a section where he decries the keeping of birds (meaning some species of birds like parrots) in cages, but remains completely oblivious to the conflict that view has with another chapter in which he discusses wanting to kill the chickens at a monastery because he didn't prepare enough for his vegetarian trip (where some trail mix and protein bars easily could have solved his issues.) He, like many other birders, seem intentionally ignorant of the fact that chickens (and turkeys, ducks, and all other farmed/hunted species,) are indeed birds. Much like people who say they are "animal lovers" who only love dogs and cats. Farmed species are birds who are killed and suffer in unimaginably greater numbers than the already awful amounts in wild species. And even if he and other birders cannot bring themselves to care about these relatives of jungle fowl, water fowl, and wild turkeys, their exploitation and oppression is directly linked to the decline of wild species from deforestation to climate change to industrial farming and loss of avian biodiversity.

His politics are very run of the mill centrist liberal. He even has a small section talking about all of the "good cops" out there because one time a cop didn't murder him or whatever. He talks about not understanding #defundthepolice at first, but later becoming enlightened. He then goes on to speak badly of #abolishthepolice because he clearly does not understand that either, but instead of educating himself, he defends cops some more. He, like many people, is most interested in understanding issues that affect his own demographics personally. Black women are never factored into his many discussions about police violence and other members of the LGBTQ population aside from gay cis men don't get much play either. He also has interesting views on tokenization/fetishization that can be understandable but still troublesome. In other words, Christian Cooper is just an average gay dude with average beliefs and understandings of various things in a lot of ways. This is fine. It would be unfair to expect him to be exceptional in every way after viral fame. I just didn't expect to run into quite so many examples of him lacking awareness or consideration of others related to him and the wild birds he so loves.

I feel a little guilty giving such a long take down of his faults, but chose to do so to balance out the massive amount of fawning over him that others are doing. The unfortunate problem that comes with being a minority of a minority of a minority in the public eye is that people outside those groups will look to him as the authority on everything. It's not fair to him or the rest of us. So, these criticisms are also to say that he does not represent everyone and is allowed to be an average gay dude birder like any other. I have immense respect for everything he has accomplished and all of the joyful trail blazing he has done. I love that there are no doubt Black and gay folks and comic nerds who were connected to birding through becoming aware of him and his work. I believe he has had and will continue to have a positive influence on birding culture in general. I hope that over time he can open his mind more and expand his consideration to all birds and more marginalized people. I would also really love if he wrote another book that was solely a birding book. It would be nice to see something in the reference section produced through his unique lens.

This was also posted to my blog.

[Rachel Lauto · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s not often I stop to read a book written by someone whose perspective, life experience, and general space in life are so antithetical to mine (he is a late-middle-aged gay Black pagan liberal geek from NYC) but Cooper’s joy in the natural word, in birding, and in trying to navigate tough moments with graciousness remind me that common ground can be found anywhere, if we only take time to hear each other. I very much enjoyed this book.

[Casey Haas · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It means my whole life through I’ll be learning something new from birding, right until they pry the binoculars from my cold, dead hands.”

Yes.

A wonderful memoir. I loved the Seven Pleasures of Birding sprinkled throughout! I love reading about people who have seen hundreds (or more) of species chasing a bird I see every day. Birding is so cool like that.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Road trip audio book!

I knew going in that I was mostly going to be interested in Christian Cooper's employment stint at Marvel Comics and his encounter with the Central Park Karen, but I had reservations about his birdwatching hobby being the focus of the title. I do have to say though that his love and enthusiasm for the pastime won me over, and I found myself anticipating his next avian encounter as his life story unfolded.

I'm almost tempted to give his birding television show a try.


FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Introduction -- 1. An Incident in Central Park -- 2. Blackbird -- 3. The Book of Ramus -- 4. Halcyon Days -- 5. In a Happy Place -- 6. Knocking Down Doors in the House of Ideas -- 7. Life Turned Upside Down -- 8. Elegy -- 9. On Top of the World -- 10. Family Matters -- 11. The Tragedy of Francis -- 12. Another Incident in Central Park -- 13. Out of Alabama -- Acknowledgments

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christian Cooper, whose 15 minutes of fame in 2020 as the Central Park bird watcher, is so much more than the victim of an entitled white woman who threatened to call police on him for a totally made-up threat to herself and her dog. What an extraordinary life he has led: Marvel Comics writer and editor, world traveler, black and gay rights activist, bird watcher extraordinaire, Harvard graduate and more. His memoir paints him credibly as a "nerd" rather than "scary black predator".

He is also a very engaging writer! Better Living Through Birding is chock full of insight to the human condition as well as choice tidbits of advice to novice birdwatchers.

If there is an overarching theme to the book it is this: When your 15 minutes of fame comes, use it for good. Christian Cooper has.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cooper’s autobiography was a beautiful meander through the ups and downs of a Black, gay, pagan, Sci-fi/fantasy bird nerd. Using the quest for life birds around the globe as a narrative framework, Cooper explores generational trauma, the intersectional Black and Gay experience, the politics of the comic book world, and more. So much more.

I am excited to see how he grows in this new chapter of his life. So far, his show Extraordinary Birder on Disney+ has been absolutely joyful.

[Priya · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the words of a friend who I read this book with, it was such a wholesome book!
Memoirs are a much loved genre of mine and I like reading about the lives of people I may not know of until I encounter them within the pages of a book. Particularly if their lives are worlds different from mine.

I hadn't heard of Christian Cooper, an avid birder who has been a regular in Central Park, NY for years or the infamous incident of racism he was subject to before I picked up this book but I really enjoyed reading about his life story, peppered with insights and tips on birding which is his absolute favourite activity. I lived vicariously through his birding experiences and descriptions of all the feathered friends he has encountered. He is so passionate about birding and the avian world and his enthusiasm is very catching.

"Birding shifts your perceptions, adding new layers of meaning and brokering connections: between sounds and seasons, across far-flung places, and between who we are as people and a wild world that both transcends and embraces us. In my life, it has been a window into the wondrous."

Starting with describing how he got into birding as a young, Black boy who also discovered he was queer at a time when he couldn't articulate this even to his parents, he talks about how nature and birding helped him cope with the difficult task of hiding an essential part of his being.

"I believe that birds in the wild are meant to inspire such passions in us all. They are for everyone to enjoy and belong to no one group of people. And best of all, the wonders they offer are always available, freely given, to anyone willing to partake. All we have to do is step outside, look, and listen."

From a young boy whose father took him on bird walks every Sunday morning to becoming a regular Central Park birder, he tells us all the joys and wonders of this vibrant world. Along the way, he also talks about his days working at Marvel comics and his family's and his history of participation in activism against racism, police brutality to Blacks and in protests demanding justice for those unfairly killed. His life experiences revolve around his favourite activity in spring which is when he becomes a social pariah and concentrates only on spotting and enjoying the wide variety of migrant birds that come to Central Park in NY City.

Along the way, he describes his travels to different parts of the world, taking in all the delights nature has to offer, including the Uluru sandstone formation in Australia, the Iguazu falls in Brazil and even a trek to the Everest Base Camp in Nepal. His vivid description of the Galapagos islands makes me eager to visit them!

"Transported to such places, we reconnect with something deep within ourselves. The myopia that lets us see only our woes falls away for a little while. Suddenly we can breathe again."

He is refreshingly candid about his own life and talks about his often acrimonious relationship with his parents despite which he also enjoyed many memorable moments with his dad in particular. The incident in Central Park in May 2020, which gave him his 'fifteen minutes of fame ' as he terms it, is not the focus of the book though he does make a mention of it and discusses the ramifications and aftermath at some length. There is an underlying humour in his tone throughout and that makes the book much better.

I loved the interspersing of his life story with his birding and all the birding tips he provides. Googling all the new birds I came across in this book was great fun and gave me a new appreciation for the splendour of these winged creatures who inhabit this planet with us.

"We lift our gaze skyward to the birds and see what it means to be free."

He shares through a story of a birding experience how a sight we may dismiss as too common may enthrall another person viewing it for the first time, thus giving us a fresh outlook.

""To recognise something as beautiful, sometimes all it takes is a change of perspective"

I listened to the audiobook which the author has himself narrated and it has birdsong and the trilling of various birds popping up every now and then which is very very delightful.

I highly recommend this book, particularly the audio version.

[Jasper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming, light, well-written. Loved listening to the audiobook for the bird sounds :D

[dobbs the dog · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book!

As most folks probably did, I came to know of Christian Cooper in 2020 with the now infamous video of Amy Cooper (no relation) calling the police on him when he asked her to put her dog on it’s leash in Central Park.

What I didn’t know, but learned through the book, is how Cooper worked at Marvel Comics and was part of the team that brought the first Marvel superhero out of the closet. That he’s been arrested multiple times while protesting for Black lives and LGBTQIA+ rights. That he’s been birding in Central Park for over 30 years.

This is a really excellent memoir that covers an incredibly interesting life. I initially picked it up because I was interested to read about his experience as a Black birder, because I know that it can be a dangerous hobby for Black folks. Cooper has lived an incredible life, and while our lives are incredibly different, the parts when he talked about birding I was right there, nodding along.

A really good read, that I definitely recommend.

[Beauregard Francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a queer birder, I was very excited to pick up this book, and it did not disappoint! Cooper has a way of telling stories that hooks you in instantly, and I read this in one sitting. I was charmed by his ability to capture the pleasures of birding and the enthusiasm I have experienced encountering some of the same birds in the wild as him.

This is much more than a birding creed, and is a true autobiography, following Cooper from his childhood in Long Island, struggling with his sometimes contentious relationship with his parents and his paralyzing fear of being outed as gay, and his travels in adulthood. I was obviously in it for his reflections on being queer and a birder, though I did end up enjoying his long venture into comic book editing world, despite my eyes glazing over on the longer name-dropping parts.

Those looking for an in-depth look into his encounter with a woman in Central Park in 2020 may be disappointed, as his thoughts on that event are largely restricted to the penultimate chapter and the introduction. However, he touches on it with remarkable grace.

Thanks to the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christian Cooper writes a memoir that feels like a gabfest with a new friend. many topics are hit upon and instructial birding tips are laced throughout the chat. Cooper shares his growing up years in a lower middle class family. His flawed father who scared his family with verbal abuse nevertheless took his son into the parks and wild places for bird sightings,camping,walks. Cooper discusses racism and the sense of risk as a feared black man when encountering cops. He conveys the angst of being different, due to nerdiness,gayness,blackness, even being involved in comics (he worked as a writer for Marvel comics) and the joy of birding,travel,sense of civil duty .He traces his choice of a Harvard education,his memories of 9/11, and coming of age. Christian recounts that day in Central Park when he was threatened with a racist lie for insisting that a white woman leash her dog as is required. Overall, this memoir is an interesting mash up of a full life .I am left with a sense of who Cooper is and I am intrigued to learn more about his passion- birds .1Isn't that how it all starts?Where are my binoculars?

[Arianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! Captivating from start to finish. I loved the audiobook, the narration was perfect and the incorporation of interesting bird songs was a real treat. I loved the autobiographical tale, spun seamlessly with stories of birds and birding. There was a wonderful balance, and the “incident” that made Cooper a household name was discussed in a way that felt weaved into a thorough biography. I just really loved it, and I can’t recommend the audiobook enough!

[Rhonda]

Audiobook for book club. The bird chirps and twitters were a lovely addition

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolutely charming person! I feel terrible about the racist incident in Central Park that drew Christian Cooper's profile into the national spotlight. Really, could that horrible woman have picked a more non-threatening person to accost: a Harvard-grad, avid birder, comic book geek, world-traveler, peaceful protester, a nature-worshipping pagan, and a man who cared so tenderly for his ailing father and grandmother?!!! Christian Cooper was already an accomplished writer--this I didn't really know about him until I got into this book, so the writing is excellent with a prodigious vocabulary. I picked this up for the birding aspect, because I am also a nature-worshipping geek whose library book club was reading this title.

The audiobook, which is read by the author, is a delight. Bird songs are interspersed throughout which makes this such a peaceful book to enjoy, even if Cooper's life has had its share of ups and downs. His intelligence, passion, can-do attitude, grit, and humility shine through on every page as well as a devotion and love for nature, travel and of course, birds.

I don't normally pay for TV shows or movies, but I *had* to pay for "Extraordinary Birder" that Cooper stars in. It is a wholesome, heartwarming, beautiful-filmed series. Cooper's enthusiasm and warmth is contagious. I am so excited for all the new birders Cooper is going to inspire.

[Vicki Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love birds and I was moved by the Central Park birder story, so was intrigued when I found the audiobook. It is an perfect production of a magnificently written book. I've never read a memoir by anyone who loves life and birds so much through the adventures- good things and challenging things.

[Sera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great memoir about Cooper's life growing up black, gay and having an avid interest in birding and activism. Cooper's writing is clear and captivating. His love for nature and for humanity are both inspiring. This book has everything going for it - cultural relevancy, insights into how to be a good birder and an introduction to various types of bird species. Cooper also includes his relationship with his parents, a mother who essentially abandoned him later in life and a father who's military service further impacted his mood swings and his treatment of his wife and family when he returned home from.

Cooper takes the reader around the world with his travels and he also provides his own account of what transpired on that day in Central Park when a white woman who refused to leash her dog resulted in her calling the police, claiming that an African American man threated her, knowing the type of danger in which she as a white woman was putting Cooper. Cooper handled the issue with grace and forgiveness, which led me to think about another book that I am currently reading, The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life, where each of the authors used forgiveness and love as way to bring us together instead to escalating and perpetrating those things that keep us apart as humans.

An excellent read - one of my favorites of the year. I highly recommend this book.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so good! You don't need to be a birder to appreciate this book. The author's enthusiasm for birds, nature, and humanity are enough.

[Becky Spratford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three Words That Describe This Book: Surprising, Engaging, Reflective

So this is the memoir by the guy who was birding in Central Park during the pandemic and a white woman called the police on him for basically, birding while black.

I would not have picked up this up on my own. I would have been worried it was just an opportunistic book. Someone signed him and he wrote something because of his 15 minutes of fame. That it was like a click bait of a book.

And then, Mallory and Bria on Reading Glasses (podcast) both loved it and I put it on hold immediately.

They loved it because Cooper is a fascinating human. He wrote for Marvel and was part of the creation of the first openly Gay character in their universe. He was also an activist as a Gay man and a Birder for years.

This is an honest, complicated, reflective, and engaging memoir. He talks about his entire life. family, love affairs, travels, everything. And he was already a writer, so this is a great read. If you want to meet an interesting person and spend a few days with them, this is the book for you. My most surprising read of the year hands down.

Readlaikes:

I am on the record having loved The Big Year: https://raforall.blogspot.com/search?...

It is another nonfiction book about birders which is surprising because of what you learn about the "characters." It is also surprising, engaging, and reflective.

But here readers might also be drawn to the comics that Cooper worked on as well. Or books about the places he visited.

It is also good for fans of Crying in H-Mart.

[Kim Cabrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris Cooper has led a very interesting life. This book is part autobiography and part birding tips. It was interesting to learn that there are birders in NYC. I hadn’t thought there would be many birds in an urban park, but I was wrong. It’s interesting to learn that there is a whole community of birders there!

Chris Cooper begins the book by sharing autobiographical details of his life. He learned to love birds at an early age. That love of birds has led him on many interesting travel adventures, which he shares in the book.

Cooper has led a very interesting life. He worked for Marvel Comics. He has traveled extensively all over the world. He has climbed to Everest Base Camp! He has birded in so many places! His early life as a gay Black man was interesting too, since his story gives insight into the experiences that can only come from having lived them. He writes about these experiences in a very insightful way, which helped me to understand more. I enjoyed his stories of working at Marvel too.

Cooper’s writing style is easy to read. He injects plenty of humor into the narrative. He gives detailed background so the reader can understand what he’s trying to explain. He builds up the story gradually and uses lots of anecdotes to get his points across. It is insightful reading and a very interesting story.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest opinion.