The Life of the Skies

Birding at the End of Nature

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Nature, Animals
Cover of the book The Life of the Skies by Jonathan Rosen, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jonathan Rosen ISBN: 9781429956031
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publication: December 23, 2008
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Language: English
Author: Jonathan Rosen
ISBN: 9781429956031
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication: December 23, 2008
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Language: English

Aerial delights: A history of America as seen through the eyes of a bird-watcher

John James Audubon arrived in America in 1803, when Thomas Jefferson was president, and lived long enough to see his friend Samuel Morse send a telegraphic message from his house in New York City in the 1840s. As a boy, Teddy Roosevelt learned taxidermy from a man who had sailed up the Missouri River with Audubon, and yet as president presided over America's entry into the twentieth century, in which our ability to destroy ourselves and the natural world was no longer metaphorical. Roosevelt, an avid birder, was born a hunter and died a conservationist.

Today, forty-six million Americans are bird-watchers. The Life of the Skies is a genre-bending journey into the meaning of a pursuit born out of the tangled history of industrialization and nature longing. Jonathan Rosen set out on a quest not merely to see birds but to fathom their centrality—historical and literary, spiritual and scientific—to a culture torn between the desire both to conquer and to conserve.

Rosen argues that bird-watching is nothing less than the real national pastime—indeed it is more than that, because the field of play is the earth itself. We are the players and the spectators, and the outcome—since bird and watcher are intimately connected—is literally a matter of life and death.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Aerial delights: A history of America as seen through the eyes of a bird-watcher

John James Audubon arrived in America in 1803, when Thomas Jefferson was president, and lived long enough to see his friend Samuel Morse send a telegraphic message from his house in New York City in the 1840s. As a boy, Teddy Roosevelt learned taxidermy from a man who had sailed up the Missouri River with Audubon, and yet as president presided over America's entry into the twentieth century, in which our ability to destroy ourselves and the natural world was no longer metaphorical. Roosevelt, an avid birder, was born a hunter and died a conservationist.

Today, forty-six million Americans are bird-watchers. The Life of the Skies is a genre-bending journey into the meaning of a pursuit born out of the tangled history of industrialization and nature longing. Jonathan Rosen set out on a quest not merely to see birds but to fathom their centrality—historical and literary, spiritual and scientific—to a culture torn between the desire both to conquer and to conserve.

Rosen argues that bird-watching is nothing less than the real national pastime—indeed it is more than that, because the field of play is the earth itself. We are the players and the spectators, and the outcome—since bird and watcher are intimately connected—is literally a matter of life and death.

More books from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Cover of the book Every Song Ever by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book Young Romantics by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book The Broken Shore by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book Humble Boy by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book The Chihuahua Chase by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book Sallies, Romps, Portraits, and Send-Offs by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book Caleb and Kate by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book Translations from the Natural World by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book The World of A Wrinkle in Time by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book Phoebe's Revolt by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book The Road to Joy by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book Witches of America by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book Pout-Pout Fish: Haunted House by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book Johnny Mad Dog by Jonathan Rosen
Cover of the book Vicuña by Jonathan Rosen
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy