Every January 1, a quirky crowd
storms out across North America for a spectacularly competitive event called a
Big Year—a grand, expensive, and occasionally vicious 365-day marathon of
birdwatching. For three men in particular, 1998 would become a grueling battle
for a new North American birding record. Bouncing from coast to coast on
frenetic pilgrimages for once-in-a-lifetime rarities, they brave broiling
deserts, bug-infested swamps, and some of the lumpiest motel mattresses known
to man. This unprecedented year of beat-the-clock adventures ultimately leads
one man to a record so gigantic that it is unlikely ever to be bested. Here,
prizewinning journalist Mark Obmascik creates a dazzling, fun narrative of the
275,000-mile odyssey of these three obsessives as they fight to win the
greatest— or maybe worst—birding contest of all time. (Goodreads)
Reviewed by Sarah Hofhine, bibliophile and birder
I love it when great movies lead me to good books. You may
have seen or heard about last year’s release “The Big Year,” starring Jack
Black, Owen Wilson, and Steve Martin, about a trio of birders (hard core
bird-chasing fanatics) who are each pursuing a Big Year (an expensive,
whirlwind of travel to see as many bird species in the continental U.S. and
Canada as possible in a calendar year) and competing to get the distinction of
being the best birder in the world (the one with the most number of species
sighted). It’s a fabulous movie (and rated PG!) which our whole family,
including our preschoolers, enjoyed. And then we found out it was based
on a non-fiction book chronicling one actual, fateful big year. OH MAN.
In 1987 Sandy Komito picked up a big year record of 721 species,
beating the previous record by 10 species. Several years later his record
remained intact, although it had been severely challenged by a good friend of
his. He decided to do another big year in 1998 and attempt to beat his
previous record. As fate would have it, two other men had decided to do a
big year and try for the record as well: Al Levantin, a wealthy and energetic
retired executive, and Greg Miller, a 40-something divorced computer programmer
working full-time to debug a nuclear plant before Y2K. To their benefit,
that year the extremely strong El Nino weather deposited “an unprecedented
cornucopia of lost birds on the shores of North America,” leading to an astounding
final count.
It’s a supremely interesting book. Mark Obmascik performed
hundreds of hours of interviews with the three contestants and a few dozen of
their loved ones and fellow birders to recreate the events of that year
(luckily for him, birders tend to keep detailed documentation of their birding
trips). And out of those interviews he crafted a narrative that is
entertaining, amusing, and educational. Interspersed with the narrative
action is backstory on each of the contestants and a history of birding, our
understanding of migration, and the Japanese occupation of the Attu island of
Alaska during WWII (seriously, how could I not have been taught that in high
school?). Obmascik handles the often crazy antics of some of the world’s
most obsessive birders with humor (he describes a path full of runners and
cyclists as a “river of human Lycra”) and with sympathy; he’s a birder himself.
On a side note, the movie is not a direct lift from the
book. At the beginning of the movie it says “This is a true story; only
the facts have been changed.” What a brilliant and funny way to describe
the genius of the adaptation. The best part of taking in both the book
and movie are figuring out what they changed and what they included from the book,
sometimes in unexpected ways. So go read the book and see the movie, or
the other way around. It might even inspire you to pick up a pair of
binoculars and a field guide.
MARKET: Nonfiction
LANGUAGE: Mild
VIOLENCE: None (I don't think a
mention of birds being shot for scientific collection counts)
SENSUALITY: None
MATURE THEMES: None
Seriously, I'd rate the book PG.
Book formats: