Alfie and Me Audiobook By Carl Safina cover art

Alfie and Me

What Owls Know, What Humans Believe

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Alfie and Me

By: Carl Safina
Narrated by: Carl Safina
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About this listen

When ecologist Carl Safina and his wife, Patricia, took in a near-death baby owl, they expected that, like other wild orphans they'd rescued, she'd be a temporary presence. But Alfie's feathers were not growing correctly, requiring prolonged care. As Alfie grew and gained strength, she became a part of the family, joining a menagerie of dogs and chickens and making a home for herself in the backyard.

Alfie & Me is the story of the remarkable impact this little owl would have on their lives. The continuing bond of trust following her freedom—and her raising of her own wild brood—coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a year in which Carl and Patricia were forced to spend time at home without the normal obligations of work and travel. Witnessing all the fine details of their feathered friend's life offered Carl and Patricia a view of existence from Alfie's perspective.

One can travel the world and go nowhere; one can be stuck keeping the faith at home and discover a new world. Safina's relationship with an owl made him want to better understand how people have viewed humanity's relationship with nature across cultures and throughout history. Interwoven with Safina's keen observations, insight, and reflections, Alfie & Me is a work of profound beauties and magical timing harbored within one upended year.

©2023 Carl Safina (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
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What listeners say about Alfie and Me

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One of the very best

I have always enjoyed writings by Carl Safina, who I think is one of the very best nature writers of all time, and to me this was one of the best of his works.

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11 people found this helpful

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Who Knew?!

I am abundantly grateful for Carl Safina's compassion for all life and the delightful, insightful, and engaging ways he's shares about the living world for which he so deeply cares.

This book is especially touching, as we too are blessed by (currently) resident owls in the trees that stand directly adjacent to our home. The owls truly feel like family. To be clear, the feeling is of family at its very best - all resonant with one another in comforting, familial love.

I also appreciate the wonderful ways that Carl reminds of and teaches about how many of us modern humans lost our awareness of our interconnectedness with nature - and ways we can restore our compassion for Mother Earth and all of life.

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8 people found this helpful

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Loved the Author’s Kindness and knowlege.

Great story. I enjoyed the way the author qualified his beliefs by bringing knowledge into the discussion to support them. I have a little guilt right now though. It’s 114 outside and the air conditioner is set at 86. I did hang out my laundry today though. I think we could all do more to help Mother Earth. I believe stories like this help to raise awareness. I’m glad the heroine …don’t want to give away the ending❤️

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A must read

Never imagined an owl would be the antidote to covid and how to better exist in the world. Thank you, Allie.

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Our need to recognize our interconnectedness with all of nature

The author's story of the owls and our need to see differently our relationship with all of nature was compelling.

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7 people found this helpful

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What was author's main focusing?

Dislike--- too much time explaining history and referencing other authors and their theories. Owl was minor character.

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2 people found this helpful

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I just did not want this book to end it was wonderful

I really like the way the author wove the story along with thoughtful meditation on the way we treat our world, the way we treat our animals, and the animals that share our planet as well as the planet itself.

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1 person found this helpful

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Misleading description

This book is 5% about owls and 95% about the author’s endless stream of consciousness and philosophizing about everything from religion to how humans are ruining the world. Clearly the author is someone who is used to giving lectures to a captive audience. If you are looking for charming tale about an owl, you will not find it here. Take a hard pass on this one.

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Not quite what I expected

This was a good book, although not the story I expected. I thought there would be more focus on Alfie and owls but there was quite a bit of philosophy and nature.

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Resilience of owls

This story takes place and was possible due to the increased time at home because of the pandemic lockdowns. The main character is an owl that was rescued it’s rescuers named Alfie. It follows Alfie from youth thru maturity.
Pros: learning about this owl and her mate and owlets, and their interactions with their rescuers.
Cons: an exorbitant amount of philosophizing, probably expected from a college professor/author.

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12 people found this helpful