Ruminations on a Parrot Named Cosmo

by Betty Jean Craige

Ruminations on a Parrot Named Cosmo is a collection of short, humorous, and entertaining essays about Cosmo and animal behavior in general. Cosmo is a smart, talkative, mischievous, affectionate African Grey parrot who is now nineteen years old.
The book is based on a Sunday column published in the Athens Banner-Herald in 2011-2013 which appealed not only to fans of Cosmo and animal lovers in general but also to readers who enjoyed amusing observations about nature.
The essays have been described by Hugh Ruppersburg (editor of Georgia Voices) as “whimsical, funny, and enlightening.”

243 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2021

About the author

Dr. Betty Jean Craige is Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature and Director Emerita of the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts at the University of Georgia. She has lived in Athens, Georgia, for almost forty-five years, and published books in the fields of literature, history of ideas, politics, ecology, and art. Her most recent non-academic books are Conversations with Cosmo: At Home with an African Grey Parrot (2010) published by Sherman Asher Publishing, and three Witherston Murder Mysteries, Downstream (2014), Fairfield's Auction (2016), and Dam Witherston (2017), published by Black Opal Books.

Her latest work – Aldo, a very different kind of novel, a suspense thriller – is set for release in March 2018 with Black Opal Books.

Reviews

[Patricia McAlexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on Craige’s columns in the Athens Banner-Herald from December 2011 through November 2013, this book portrays in 75 short chapters the relationship between the author, a retired professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia, and Cosmo, the Congo African gray she purchased in May 2002, Cosmo has become more than a pet. She is a “feathery little person,” who talks intelligently, has free rein of the house much of the time, and waddles about getting into mischief. Part I of the book focuses mainly on the relationship between Cosmo and the author. Craige writes, “I’m her significant other, her friend, her caregiver. We’re bonded.” Part II expands on the ways Cosmo, by being able to express her animal views in a form of English, reveals the interrelationship of all life on the planet, animal and human—and that all animals of Earth, not just humans, feel hunger, pain, sorrow, fear, love.
While the author stresses Cosmo’s wit, intelligence, and devotion, I was also struck by Craige’s. Her sketches are laced with humor, often making me chuckle or smile. (“Cosmo has some eight thousand feathers to keep beautiful. Occasionally, she has a bad feather day…”) The sketches often include interesting riffs on topics from ecology to language. Craige analyzes Cosmo’s language development, for example, the way she classifies birds and doggies. After noting Cosmo’s “peanut breath,” Craige writes: “The Latin word for ‘breath’ is spiritus, which is the origin of the English word ‘spirit.’ …For the ancient Greeks and Romans, the gods breathe spirit into individuals, ‘inspiring’ them to create poetry and music….For Christians, God breathes life into all Creation through the Holy Spirit….I love thinking about Cosmo’s spirit.” But most I see the author’s unconditional love for Cosmo. When the parrot poops on the floor or pulls Craig’s hair or bites, she knows she is being bad (“That hurt? Cosmo bad bird. Go back in cage.”) But Craige points out that being subordinate to rules “is unnatural for Cosmo…or any animal with the wild still in her.” And she stresses that Cosmo of her own free will also shows affection: “she cuddles with me, talks with me, calls to me, whistles duets with me.”
Craige hopes her book will help readers to get to know Cosmo as she has and to show them, through Cosmo, “that the world does not belong to humans alone, but to a trillion other individuals with a lively mental life, individuals who don’t feel subordinate to humans, individuals whose world is very different from ours.” In that goal, Craige has, I think, admirably succeeded.

[Gene Helfman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The bond between a human and another species is undeniable in this engaging, thoughtful series of essays about life, parrots, compassion, love, devotion, tolerance, and companionship, among other topics. Craig’s ruminations are, as much as anything, a love story, a story of a mutual relationship that has grown over 15+ years, as do all meaningful relationships. Craig does not consider Cosmo, an African Grey Parrot, as a pet, any more than we consider our family members as pets. And Craig’s relationship to Cosmo is a family one, because she and Cosmo are members of both the same household and the same flock. When viewed superficially, one might consider that idea naïve. But Craig, who has studied the lives of wild African greys, how they behave and interact in a tightly knit flock and with their jungle environment, realizes that Cosmo views her as just that, a fellow flock member. Cosmo interacts with Craig accordingly, albeit constrained or necessitated by life in a human household, with dogs and occasional human guests inside, and a community of woodland species on the other side of the windows. One quickly accepts the reality of Cosmo’s desire and ability to communicate her feelings, wants, likes, and dislikes. But Cosmo mostly communicates the importance of intimate social interaction. And Cosmo does so in English words and phrases that leave little doubt about her intent or the depth of her understanding and consciousness. In their lives together, Cosmo and Craig have both taught and learned from each other, and Craig’s accounts can educate us all similarly.

[Best Indie Book Award · Rating 5 out of 5]

2021 Best Indie Book Award Winner!