New York City, 1982.A woman who was once the most popular singer in the world now finds herself largely forgotten and in the grip of a deadly affliction.A younger woman, a sometime D.J. and the survivor of a horrific childhood accident, sees musical apartheid wherever she turns.
˃˃˃ An undercover cop tries to connect to a long-subsumed musical memory. Pop music itself seems perched on the edge of a precipice.
˃˃˃ Why Do Birds presents pop music as not just soundtrack but as the very lifeblood of its characters.As their paths cross and collide, they turn to it for nothing less than regained innocence.
˃˃˃ Fans of Nick Hornby, Michael Cunningham and Alice McDermott will love Rob Hoerburger's captivating novel, Why Do Birds. Scroll up and grab a copy of today.
Reading 2019 Book 21: Why Do Birds (a novel) by Rob Hoerburger
Found this book on some list of best new books, or books of the month, or book-a-palooza, somewhere.
The book is about several characters and their ties to the music of a particular duo in the 1970s. It is set in the 1980s and flashes back to how they came to hear a particular song and how their lives change due to the haunting song. The book does not come out and name the band or the singers of the group. In fact, the way the story around the singer is told, it is vague and uses initials instead of names. I needed to pay close attention in those chapters.
If you know anything about 70s music, you will know right from the title that the book is about Karen Carpenter and The Carpenters group. The book is told from the perspective of three of the characters. Karen, Sib, and Andy. If you are looking for a happy ending, well maybe not all wrapped up in a neat bow.
This was a good book, though I was not sure 100 pages in I was going to like it.
Why Do Birds by Bob Hoerburger True story ish. Lots of music reference. Sad and sweet a little bit difficult to process some of the information. I figured out who the main character was. I am reminded that words matter; and, that you never know what burden someone might be carrying.
As a fan of the singer, I was intrigued enough to start it, then found myself hoping it would end differently. I enjoyed how the three stories were intertwined in a unique way. I enjoyed it very much.
Despite an inevitability sad story arc, this is a beautiful novel. I was and remain a fan of the singer and have read several articles written by the author. But nonetheless I was impressed by this, his debut fiction work. Highly recommended.
Years ago, I read an essay that Hoerburger wrote, about the musical group in this story. He's got a great way of spinning a story. But in this book, I thought the two other threads (sort of) connected to "the musical group", were distracting and not as well written.