-
The (Big) Year That Flew By
- Twelve Months, Six Continents, and the Ultimate Birding Record
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
An epic tale of one passionate birder’s record-breaking adventure through 40 countries over 6 continents—in just one year—to see 6,852 bird species, rare and common, before many go extinct.
When Arjan Dwarshuis first heard of the “Big Year”—the legendary record for birdwatching—he was twenty years old, it was midnight, and he was sitting on the roof of a truck in the Andean Mountains. In that moment he promised himself that, someday, somehow, he would become a world-record-holding birder.
Ten years later, he embarked on an incredible, arduous, and perilous journey that took him around the globe; over uninhabited islands, through dense unforgiving rainforests, across snowy mountain peaks and unrelenting deserts—in just a single year. Would he survive? Would he be able to break the “Big Year” record, navigating through a world filled with shifting climate and geopolitical challenges?
The (Big) Year that Flew By is an unforgettable, personal exploration of the limits of human potential when engaging with the natural world. It is a book about birds and birding and Arjan’s attempts to raise awareness for critically endangered species, but it is also a book about overcoming mental challenges, extreme physical danger, and human competition and fully realizing your passions through nature, adventure, and conservation.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Birding Without Borders
- An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World
- By: Noah Strycker
- Narrated by: Luke Welland
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With an itinerary covering 41 countries, spanning all seven continents, and armed with a backpack, binoculars, and a series of one-way tickets, he sets out on the greatest adventure in the birding world. Along the way he meets a colorful cast of fellow birders—and discovers a world of blood-sucking leeches, chronic sleep deprivation, floods, war zones, ecologic devastation, and conservation triumphs.
-
-
Birding and travel. Win win.
- By Melinda Wheeler on 11-29-23
By: Noah Strycker
-
Better Living Through Birding
- Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
- By: Christian Cooper
- Narrated by: Christian Cooper
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christian Cooper is a self-described “Blerd” (Black nerd), an avid comics fan and expert birder who devotes every spring to gazing upon the migratory birds that stop to rest in Central Park, just a subway ride away from where he lives in New York City. While in the park one morning in May 2020, Cooper was engaged in the birdwatching ritual that had been a part of his life since he was ten years old when what might have been a routine encounter with a dog walker exploded age-oldracial tensions. Cooper’s viral video of the incident would send shock waves through the nation.
-
-
If you’re not a birder yet, you soon will be.
- By Anonymous on 06-19-23
By: Christian Cooper
-
Birding Under the Influence
- Cycling Across America in Search of Birds and Recovery
- By: Dorian Anderson
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Birding Under the Influence, Dorian Anderson, a neuroscience researcher on a pressure-filled life trajectory, walks away from the world of elite institutions, research labs, and academic publishing. In doing so, he falls in love and discovers he has freed himself to embrace his lifelong passion for birding.
-
-
Fantastic audiobook
- By Michael Hubka on 11-05-23
By: Dorian Anderson
-
The Big Year
- A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession
- By: Mark Obmascik
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Matthew Parker - introduction
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every year on January 1, a quirky crowd of adventurers storms out across North America for a spectacularly competitive event called a Big Year: a grand, grueling, expensive, and occasionally vicious, "extreme" 365-day marathon of birdwatching. For three men in particular, 1998 would be a whirlwind, a winner-takes-nothing battle for a new North American birding record.
-
-
Ultra Birding - Competive Bird Watching
- By Chauncey on 03-13-04
By: Mark Obmascik
-
What an Owl Knows
- The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For millennia, owls have captivated and intrigued us. Our fascination with these mysterious birds was first documented more than thirty thousand years ago in the Chauvet Cave paintings in southern France. With their forward gaze and quiet flight, owls are often a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and foresight. But what does an owl really know? And what do we really know about owls? Jennifer Ackerman illuminates the rich biology and natural history of these birds and reveals remarkable new scientific discoveries about their brains and behavior.
-
-
Moving
- By Amanda on 11-29-23
-
The Genius of Birds
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Margaret Strom
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. In fact, according to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. Like humans, many birds have enormous brains relative to their size. Although small, bird brains are packed with neurons that allow them to punch well above their weight.
-
-
What a disappointment!
- By S. Benedict on 07-05-16
-
Birding Without Borders
- An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World
- By: Noah Strycker
- Narrated by: Luke Welland
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With an itinerary covering 41 countries, spanning all seven continents, and armed with a backpack, binoculars, and a series of one-way tickets, he sets out on the greatest adventure in the birding world. Along the way he meets a colorful cast of fellow birders—and discovers a world of blood-sucking leeches, chronic sleep deprivation, floods, war zones, ecologic devastation, and conservation triumphs.
-
-
Birding and travel. Win win.
- By Melinda Wheeler on 11-29-23
By: Noah Strycker
-
Better Living Through Birding
- Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
- By: Christian Cooper
- Narrated by: Christian Cooper
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christian Cooper is a self-described “Blerd” (Black nerd), an avid comics fan and expert birder who devotes every spring to gazing upon the migratory birds that stop to rest in Central Park, just a subway ride away from where he lives in New York City. While in the park one morning in May 2020, Cooper was engaged in the birdwatching ritual that had been a part of his life since he was ten years old when what might have been a routine encounter with a dog walker exploded age-oldracial tensions. Cooper’s viral video of the incident would send shock waves through the nation.
-
-
If you’re not a birder yet, you soon will be.
- By Anonymous on 06-19-23
By: Christian Cooper
-
Birding Under the Influence
- Cycling Across America in Search of Birds and Recovery
- By: Dorian Anderson
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Birding Under the Influence, Dorian Anderson, a neuroscience researcher on a pressure-filled life trajectory, walks away from the world of elite institutions, research labs, and academic publishing. In doing so, he falls in love and discovers he has freed himself to embrace his lifelong passion for birding.
-
-
Fantastic audiobook
- By Michael Hubka on 11-05-23
By: Dorian Anderson
-
The Big Year
- A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession
- By: Mark Obmascik
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Matthew Parker - introduction
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every year on January 1, a quirky crowd of adventurers storms out across North America for a spectacularly competitive event called a Big Year: a grand, grueling, expensive, and occasionally vicious, "extreme" 365-day marathon of birdwatching. For three men in particular, 1998 would be a whirlwind, a winner-takes-nothing battle for a new North American birding record.
-
-
Ultra Birding - Competive Bird Watching
- By Chauncey on 03-13-04
By: Mark Obmascik
-
What an Owl Knows
- The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For millennia, owls have captivated and intrigued us. Our fascination with these mysterious birds was first documented more than thirty thousand years ago in the Chauvet Cave paintings in southern France. With their forward gaze and quiet flight, owls are often a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and foresight. But what does an owl really know? And what do we really know about owls? Jennifer Ackerman illuminates the rich biology and natural history of these birds and reveals remarkable new scientific discoveries about their brains and behavior.
-
-
Moving
- By Amanda on 11-29-23
-
The Genius of Birds
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Margaret Strom
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. In fact, according to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. Like humans, many birds have enormous brains relative to their size. Although small, bird brains are packed with neurons that allow them to punch well above their weight.
-
-
What a disappointment!
- By S. Benedict on 07-05-16
-
Flight Paths
- How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration
- By: Rebecca Heisman
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the past century, scientists and naturalists have been steadily unravelling the secrets of bird migration. How and why birds navigate the skies, traveling from continent to continent—flying thousands of miles across the earth each fall and spring—has continually fascinated the human imagination, but only recently have we been able to fully understand these amazing journeys.
-
-
BIRDS!
- By Dan on 04-28-24
By: Rebecca Heisman
-
Dragon Songs
- Love and Adventure Among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations
- By: Vladimir Dinets
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A born naturalist and a fearless traveler, Vladimir Dinets wrote travel guides, conducted field research, and lived a couple of lives before he was accepted into the PhD program in zoology at the University of Miami. He thought crocodiles were a dead-end research topic - survivors from the age of the dinosaurs but not much else - until he witnessed groups of up to seventy alligators performing mating choruses that included infrasound vibrations - a form of communication extremely rare in nature.
-
-
So good but missing one thing
- By beezkneez on 03-01-23
By: Vladimir Dinets
-
Lost Among the Birds
- Accidentally Finding Myself in One Very Big Year
- By: Neil Hayward
- Narrated by: Sam Devereaux
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Early in 2013 Neil Hayward was at a crossroads. He didn't want to open a bakery or whatever else executives do when they quit a lucrative but unfulfilling job. He didn't want to think about his failed relationship with 'the one' or his potential for ruining a new relationship with 'the next one'. And he almost certainly didn't want to think about turning 40. And so instead he went birding. Birding was a lifelong passion. It was only among the birds that Neil found a calm that had eluded him in the confusing world of humans.
-
-
Know a Birder? This will help you Understand.
- By Carole T. on 08-27-17
By: Neil Hayward
-
One More Warbler: A Life with Birds
- By: Victor Emanuel, S. Kirk Walsh
- Narrated by: Ridge Cresswell
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Victor Emanuel is widely considered one of America's leading birders. In One More Warbler, Emanuel recalls a lifetime of birding adventures - from his childhood sighting of a male Cardinal that ignited his passion for birds to a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Asia to observe all eight species of cranes of that continent. He tells fascinating stories of meeting his mentors who taught him about birds, nature, and conservation, and later, his close circle of friends who he frequently birded and traveled with around the world.
-
-
Did the narrator not familiarize himself with the subject?
- By Karen L. Mateer on 07-25-23
By: Victor Emanuel, and others
-
National Geographic Birding Basics
- Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Great Bird-Watching
- By: Noah Strycker
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Targeted to beginners and beyond, National Geographic's fun, inspiring guide to the art, craft, and science of bird-watching combines practical know-how and expert knowledge. Browsable and bursting with helpful illustrations and photographs, Birding Basics offers new ideas for when, where, and how to get to know the birds in your world.
-
-
Narration is very inviting
- By Anonymous User on 10-31-24
By: Noah Strycker
-
A Wing and a Prayer
- The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds
- By: Anders Gyllenhaal, Beverly Gyllenhaal
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Stephen Graybill
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the past year, veteran journalists Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal traveled more than 25,000 miles across the Americas, chronicling costly experiments, contentious politics, and new technologies to save our beloved birds from the brink of extinction. Through this compelling drama, A Wing and a Prayer offers hope and an urgent call to action: Birds are dying at an unprecedented pace. But there are encouraging breakthroughs across the hemisphere and still time to change course, if we act quickly.
-
-
Memoir disguised as nature
- By adel on 12-26-23
By: Anders Gyllenhaal, and others
-
The Bird Way
- A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"There is the mammal way and there is the bird way." But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors they have, for years, dismissed as anomalies or mysteries - what they are finding is upending the traditional view of how birds conduct their lives, how they communicate, forage, court, breed, survive. They are also revealing the remarkable intelligence underlying these activities, abilities we once considered uniquely our own.
-
-
Good Work but it doesn’t scale
- By Stanley Lippman on 07-02-20
-
A World on the Wing
- The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds
- By: Scott Weidensaul
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the past two decades, our understanding of the navigational and physiological feats that enable birds to cross immense oceans, fly above the highest mountains, or remain in unbroken flight for months at a stretch has exploded. What we've learned of these key migrations is nothing short of extraordinary. This breathtaking work of nature writing also introduces listeners to those scientists, researchers, and bird lovers trying to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges.
-
-
Fantastic book for any nature enthusiast
- By FernT on 05-23-21
By: Scott Weidensaul
-
Birds and Us
- A 12,000-Year History from Cave Art to Conservation
- By: Tim Birkhead
- Narrated by: Tim Birkhead
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the dawn of human history, birds have stirred our imagination, inspiring and challenging our ideas about science, faith, art, and philosophy. We have worshipped birds as gods, hunted them for sustenance, adorned ourselves with their feathers, studied their wings to engineer flight, and, more recently, attempted to protect them. In Birds and Us, award-winning writer and ornithologist Tim Birkhead takes us on a dazzling epic journey through our mutual history with birds.
-
-
Why birds ate important
- By Amazon Customer on 06-22-24
By: Tim Birkhead
-
A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- By: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
-
-
I don't leave reviews often, but . . .
- By Steven L Peck on 06-24-21
By: Jonathan Meiburg
-
Birdgirl
- Looking to the Skies in Search of a Better Future
- By: Mya-Rose Craig
- Narrated by: Mya-Rose Craig
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Mya-Rose—otherwise known as “Birdgirl.” In her words: “Birdwatching has never felt like a hobby, or a pastime I can pick up and put down, but a thread running through the pattern of my life, so tightly woven in that there’s no way of pulling it free and leaving the rest of my life intact.” Birdgirl follows Mya-Rose and her family as they travel the world in search of rare birds and astonishing landscapes. But a shadow moves with them, too—her mother's deepening mental health crisis. In the face of this struggle, the Craigs turn to nature again and again for comfort and meaning.
-
-
A Laborious Read, With a Good Message
- By Jim Cira on 05-14-24
By: Mya-Rose Craig
-
Life Lived Wild
- Adventures at the Edge of the Map (Patagonia)
- By: Rick Ridgeway
- Narrated by: Rick Ridgeway
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the beginning of his memoir Life Lived Wild: Adventures at the Edge of the Map, Rick Ridgeway tells us that if you add up all his many expeditions, he’s spent over five years of his life sleeping in tents: “And most of that in small tents pitched in the world’s most remote regions.” It’s not a boast so much as an explanation. Whether at elevation or raising a family back at sea level, those years taught him, he writes, “to distinguish matters of consequence from matters of inconsequence.” He leaves it to his listeners to do the final sort of which is which.
-
-
The hypocrisy and boasting ego. Blood boiling.
- By Amazon Customer on 12-30-21
By: Rick Ridgeway
Related to this topic
-
A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- By: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
-
-
I don't leave reviews often, but . . .
- By Steven L Peck on 06-24-21
By: Jonathan Meiburg
-
Lost Among the Birds
- Accidentally Finding Myself in One Very Big Year
- By: Neil Hayward
- Narrated by: Sam Devereaux
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Early in 2013 Neil Hayward was at a crossroads. He didn't want to open a bakery or whatever else executives do when they quit a lucrative but unfulfilling job. He didn't want to think about his failed relationship with 'the one' or his potential for ruining a new relationship with 'the next one'. And he almost certainly didn't want to think about turning 40. And so instead he went birding. Birding was a lifelong passion. It was only among the birds that Neil found a calm that had eluded him in the confusing world of humans.
-
-
Know a Birder? This will help you Understand.
- By Carole T. on 08-27-17
By: Neil Hayward
-
Life Lived Wild
- Adventures at the Edge of the Map (Patagonia)
- By: Rick Ridgeway
- Narrated by: Rick Ridgeway
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the beginning of his memoir Life Lived Wild: Adventures at the Edge of the Map, Rick Ridgeway tells us that if you add up all his many expeditions, he’s spent over five years of his life sleeping in tents: “And most of that in small tents pitched in the world’s most remote regions.” It’s not a boast so much as an explanation. Whether at elevation or raising a family back at sea level, those years taught him, he writes, “to distinguish matters of consequence from matters of inconsequence.” He leaves it to his listeners to do the final sort of which is which.
-
-
The hypocrisy and boasting ego. Blood boiling.
- By Amazon Customer on 12-30-21
By: Rick Ridgeway
-
Secrets of the Savanna
- Twenty-Three Years in the African Wilderness Unraveling the Mysteries of Elephants and People
- By: Mark Owens, Delia Owens
- Narrated by: Donna Postel, Sean Runnette
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this riveting real-life adventure, Mark and Delia Owens tell the dramatic story of their last years in Africa, fighting to save elephants, villagers, and - in the end - themselves. The award-winning zoologists and pioneering conservationists describe their work in the remote and ruggedly beautiful Luangwa Valley, in northeastern Zambia. There they studied the mysteries of the elephant population’s recovery after poaching, discovering remarkable similarities between humans and elephants.
-
-
A vivid view of the savanna in Africa, culture and wildlife!
- By Kd on 09-12-20
By: Mark Owens, and others
-
Full Circle
- A Pacific Journey with Michael Palin
- By: Michael Palin
- Narrated by: Michael Palin
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the hugely popular and successful Around the World in 80 Days and Pole to Pole, Michael Palin set off to meet another challenge: an anti-clockwise circumnavigation of the world's largest ocean, the Pacific.
-
-
Excellent, per usual
- By Enroute8 on 06-03-07
By: Michael Palin
-
In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond
- In Search of the Sasquatch
- By: John Zada
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the central and north coast of British Columbia, the Great Bear Rainforest is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, containing more organic matter than any other terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. The area plays host to a wide range of species, from thousand-year-old western cedars to humpback whales to iconic white Spirit bears. According to local residents, another giant is said to live in these woods.
-
-
Not a relatable book
- By RJK on 07-14-19
By: John Zada
-
A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- By: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
-
-
I don't leave reviews often, but . . .
- By Steven L Peck on 06-24-21
By: Jonathan Meiburg
-
Lost Among the Birds
- Accidentally Finding Myself in One Very Big Year
- By: Neil Hayward
- Narrated by: Sam Devereaux
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Early in 2013 Neil Hayward was at a crossroads. He didn't want to open a bakery or whatever else executives do when they quit a lucrative but unfulfilling job. He didn't want to think about his failed relationship with 'the one' or his potential for ruining a new relationship with 'the next one'. And he almost certainly didn't want to think about turning 40. And so instead he went birding. Birding was a lifelong passion. It was only among the birds that Neil found a calm that had eluded him in the confusing world of humans.
-
-
Know a Birder? This will help you Understand.
- By Carole T. on 08-27-17
By: Neil Hayward
-
Life Lived Wild
- Adventures at the Edge of the Map (Patagonia)
- By: Rick Ridgeway
- Narrated by: Rick Ridgeway
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the beginning of his memoir Life Lived Wild: Adventures at the Edge of the Map, Rick Ridgeway tells us that if you add up all his many expeditions, he’s spent over five years of his life sleeping in tents: “And most of that in small tents pitched in the world’s most remote regions.” It’s not a boast so much as an explanation. Whether at elevation or raising a family back at sea level, those years taught him, he writes, “to distinguish matters of consequence from matters of inconsequence.” He leaves it to his listeners to do the final sort of which is which.
-
-
The hypocrisy and boasting ego. Blood boiling.
- By Amazon Customer on 12-30-21
By: Rick Ridgeway
-
Secrets of the Savanna
- Twenty-Three Years in the African Wilderness Unraveling the Mysteries of Elephants and People
- By: Mark Owens, Delia Owens
- Narrated by: Donna Postel, Sean Runnette
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this riveting real-life adventure, Mark and Delia Owens tell the dramatic story of their last years in Africa, fighting to save elephants, villagers, and - in the end - themselves. The award-winning zoologists and pioneering conservationists describe their work in the remote and ruggedly beautiful Luangwa Valley, in northeastern Zambia. There they studied the mysteries of the elephant population’s recovery after poaching, discovering remarkable similarities between humans and elephants.
-
-
A vivid view of the savanna in Africa, culture and wildlife!
- By Kd on 09-12-20
By: Mark Owens, and others
-
Full Circle
- A Pacific Journey with Michael Palin
- By: Michael Palin
- Narrated by: Michael Palin
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the hugely popular and successful Around the World in 80 Days and Pole to Pole, Michael Palin set off to meet another challenge: an anti-clockwise circumnavigation of the world's largest ocean, the Pacific.
-
-
Excellent, per usual
- By Enroute8 on 06-03-07
By: Michael Palin
-
In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond
- In Search of the Sasquatch
- By: John Zada
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the central and north coast of British Columbia, the Great Bear Rainforest is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, containing more organic matter than any other terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. The area plays host to a wide range of species, from thousand-year-old western cedars to humpback whales to iconic white Spirit bears. According to local residents, another giant is said to live in these woods.
-
-
Not a relatable book
- By RJK on 07-14-19
By: John Zada
-
Cry of the Kalahari
- By: Mark Owens, Delia Owens
- Narrated by: Donna Postel, Sean Runnette
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of the Owens' travel and life in the Kalahari Desert. Here they met and studied unique animals and were confronted with danger from drought, fire, storms, and the animals they loved. This best-selling book is for both travelers and animal lovers.
-
-
Classic Book & Very Highly Recommended
- By Tropical Gal on 05-12-19
By: Mark Owens, and others
-
One Year Off
- Leaving It All Behind for a Round-the-World Journey with Our Children
- By: David Cohen
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In One Year Off, you can join the family on a trek up a Costa Rican volcano, cruise the canals of Burgundy by houseboat, and ride ferries through the Greek Islands. Later, as the Cohens wander further off the tourist trail, you can drive through the villages of Rajasthan, traverse the vast Australian Nullarbor, and discover the charms of Cambodia's Angkor Wat and the hidden shangri-las of northern Laos.
-
-
fun filled travellog
- By tarun on 07-22-19
By: David Cohen
-
The Dragon Behind the Glass
- A True Story of Power, Obsession, and the World's Most Coveted Fish
- By: Emily Voigt
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young man is murdered for his prized pet fish. An Asian tycoon buys a single specimen for $150,000. Meanwhile, a pet detective chases smugglers through the streets of New York. Delving into an outlandish realm of obsession, paranoia, and criminality, The Dragon Behind the Glass tells the story of a fish like none other: a powerful predator dating to the age of the dinosaurs.
-
-
A "must read" for all fish professionals.
- By Fishgen on 06-26-16
By: Emily Voigt
-
Lassoing the Sun
- A Year in America's National Parks
- By: Mark Woods
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many childhood summers, Mark Woods piled into a station wagon with his parents and two sisters and headed to America's national parks. Mark's most vivid childhood memories are set against a backdrop of mountains, woods, and fireflies in places like Redwood, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon national parks. On the eve of turning 50, and a little burned out, Mark decided to reconnect with the great outdoors. He'd spend a year visiting the national parks.
-
-
great narrator, lackluster story, wonderful themes
- By MT on 08-21-18
By: Mark Woods
-
Far and Away
- A Prize Every Time
- By: Neil Peart
- Narrated by: Brian Sutherland
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following in the tradition of Ghost Rider and Traveling Music, Rush drummer Neil Peart relates nearly four years of band tours, road trips, and personal discoveries in this introspective travelogue. From the ups and downs of a professional artist to the birth of a child, this revealing narrative recounts 22 adventures from rock's foremost drummer, biker enthusiast, husband, and father.
-
-
What a disappointment!
- By Philip G. on 12-02-16
By: Neil Peart
-
Almost Anywhere
- Road-Trip Ruminations on Love, Nature, Recovery, and Nonsense
- By: Krista Schlyer
- Narrated by: Marisa Vitali
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What do you do when your world ends? At 28 years old, Krista Schlyer sold almost everything she owned and packed the rest of it in a station wagon bound for the American wild. Her two best friends joined her - one a grumpy, grieving introvert, the other a feisty dog - and together they sought out every national park, historic site, forest, and wilderness they could get to before their money ran out or their minds gave in.
-
-
No a travelogue - its a diary
- By Jonathan on 12-29-20
By: Krista Schlyer
-
Getting Stoned with the Savages
- A Trip through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu
- By: J. Maarten Troost
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After two grueling years on the island of Tarawa, Troost was in no hurry to return to the South Pacific until he began to feel remarkably out of place in modern America. He knew it was time to set off again for parts unknown. Here he tells the story of his time on Vanuatu, a cluster of islands where he struggles against typhoons, earthquakes, and giant centipedes but finds himself swept up in the laid-back, clothing-optional lifestyle of the islanders.
-
-
My new favorite author!
- By L. Worthington on 08-28-07
-
Braver Than You Think
- Around the World on the Trip of My (Mother's) Lifetime
- By: Maggie Downs
- Narrated by: Rachel Fulginiti
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a child, Maggie Downs often doubted that she would ever possess the courage to visit the destinations her mother dreamed of one day seeing. "You are braver than you think," her mother always insisted. That statement would guide her as, over the course of one year, Downs backpacked through seventeen countries - visiting all the places her mother, struck with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, could not visit herself - encountering some of the world's most striking locales while confronting the slow loss of her mother.
-
-
Not Ypur Typical Ttavel Destinations
- By Pammerpower on 06-12-20
By: Maggie Downs
-
Reservation Restless
- By: Jim Kristofic
- Narrated by: Jim Kristofic
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the powerful and haunting lands of the Southwest, rainbows grow unexpectedly from the sky, mountain lions roam the desert, and summer storms roll over the Colorado River. As a park ranger, Kristofic explores the Ganado valley, traces the paths of the Anasazi, and finds mythic experiences on sacred mountains that explain the pain and loss promised for every person who decides to love. After reconnecting with his Navajo sister and brother, Kristofic must confront his own nightmares of the Anglo society and the future it has created.
-
-
It is a gift to see the world through Jim's eyes
- By Josh Boyle on 06-23-21
By: Jim Kristofic
-
Microadventures
- Local Discoveries for Great Escapes
- By: Alastair Humphreys
- Narrated by: Alastair Humphreys
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
So whats a microadventure? Its close to home, cheap, simple, short and 100 percent guaranteed to refresh your life. A microadventure takes the spirit of a big adventure and squeezes it into a day or even a few hours. The point of a microadventure is that you don't need lots of time and money to meet a new challenge. This practical guide is filled with ideas for microadventures for you to experience on your own or with friends and family, plus tips and advice on safety and kit.
-
-
Inspiring!
- By Peter Marshall on 10-19-19
-
Canoeing The Congo
- First Source to Sea Descent of the Congo River
- By: Phil Harwood
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Canoeing the Congo narrates the journey of Phil Harwood, who undertook an epic five-month solo attempt to canoe the Congo River in war-torn Central Africa. It was a historic 'first descent' from the true source in the highlands of Zambia. Just short of 3,000 miles long, the Congo River is the eighth longest in the world and the deepest river in the world, with a flow rate second only to the Amazon. Along the way, Phil encountered numerous waterfalls, huge rapids, man-eating crocodiles, hippos, aggressive snakes...
-
-
Adventure travel is human harassment
- By Kevin McCoffee on 10-26-13
By: Phil Harwood
-
Travels in Siberia
- By: Ian Frazier
- Narrated by: Ian Frazier
- Length: 20 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ian Frazier trains his eye for unforgettable detail on Siberia, that vast expanse of Asiatic Russia. He explores many aspects of this storied, often grim region. He writes about the geography, the resources, the native peoples, the history, the 40-below midwinter afternoons, the bugs. The book brims with Mongols, half-crazed Orthodox archpriests, fur seekers, ambassadors of the czar bound for Peking, tea caravans, German scientists, American prospectors, intrepid English nurses, and prisoners and exiles of every kind....
-
-
I Loved This Book
- By Sara on 01-05-14
By: Ian Frazier
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Better Living Through Birding
- Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
- By: Christian Cooper
- Narrated by: Christian Cooper
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christian Cooper is a self-described “Blerd” (Black nerd), an avid comics fan and expert birder who devotes every spring to gazing upon the migratory birds that stop to rest in Central Park, just a subway ride away from where he lives in New York City. While in the park one morning in May 2020, Cooper was engaged in the birdwatching ritual that had been a part of his life since he was ten years old when what might have been a routine encounter with a dog walker exploded age-oldracial tensions. Cooper’s viral video of the incident would send shock waves through the nation.
-
-
If you’re not a birder yet, you soon will be.
- By Anonymous on 06-19-23
By: Christian Cooper
-
Birding Under the Influence
- Cycling Across America in Search of Birds and Recovery
- By: Dorian Anderson
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Birding Under the Influence, Dorian Anderson, a neuroscience researcher on a pressure-filled life trajectory, walks away from the world of elite institutions, research labs, and academic publishing. In doing so, he falls in love and discovers he has freed himself to embrace his lifelong passion for birding.
-
-
Fantastic audiobook
- By Michael Hubka on 11-05-23
By: Dorian Anderson
-
The Big Year
- A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession
- By: Mark Obmascik
- Narrated by: Del Roy
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every year on January 1, a quirky crowd of adventurers storms out across North America for a spectacularly competitive event called a Big Year: a grand, grueling, expensive, and occasionally vicious, "extreme" 365-day marathon of birdwatching. For three men in particular, 1998 would be a whirlwind, a winner-takes-nothing battle for a new North American birding record.
-
-
Not for the Birds
- By Anonymous User on 09-18-04
By: Mark Obmascik
-
Birding Without Borders
- An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World
- By: Noah Strycker
- Narrated by: Luke Welland
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With an itinerary covering 41 countries, spanning all seven continents, and armed with a backpack, binoculars, and a series of one-way tickets, he sets out on the greatest adventure in the birding world. Along the way he meets a colorful cast of fellow birders—and discovers a world of blood-sucking leeches, chronic sleep deprivation, floods, war zones, ecologic devastation, and conservation triumphs.
-
-
Birding and travel. Win win.
- By Melinda Wheeler on 11-29-23
By: Noah Strycker
-
Slow Birding
- The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard
- By: Joan E. Strassmann
- Narrated by: Joan E. Strassmann
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many birders travel far and wide to popular birding destinations to catch sight of rare or “exotic” birds. In Slow Birding, evolutionary biologist Joan E. Strassmann introduces listeners to the joys of birding right where they are.
-
-
A combination of science and personal experience
- By IWONDER on 12-11-23
-
One More Warbler: A Life with Birds
- By: Victor Emanuel, S. Kirk Walsh
- Narrated by: Ridge Cresswell
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Victor Emanuel is widely considered one of America's leading birders. In One More Warbler, Emanuel recalls a lifetime of birding adventures - from his childhood sighting of a male Cardinal that ignited his passion for birds to a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Asia to observe all eight species of cranes of that continent. He tells fascinating stories of meeting his mentors who taught him about birds, nature, and conservation, and later, his close circle of friends who he frequently birded and traveled with around the world.
-
-
Did the narrator not familiarize himself with the subject?
- By Karen L. Mateer on 07-25-23
By: Victor Emanuel, and others
-
Better Living Through Birding
- Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
- By: Christian Cooper
- Narrated by: Christian Cooper
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christian Cooper is a self-described “Blerd” (Black nerd), an avid comics fan and expert birder who devotes every spring to gazing upon the migratory birds that stop to rest in Central Park, just a subway ride away from where he lives in New York City. While in the park one morning in May 2020, Cooper was engaged in the birdwatching ritual that had been a part of his life since he was ten years old when what might have been a routine encounter with a dog walker exploded age-oldracial tensions. Cooper’s viral video of the incident would send shock waves through the nation.
-
-
If you’re not a birder yet, you soon will be.
- By Anonymous on 06-19-23
By: Christian Cooper
-
Birding Under the Influence
- Cycling Across America in Search of Birds and Recovery
- By: Dorian Anderson
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Birding Under the Influence, Dorian Anderson, a neuroscience researcher on a pressure-filled life trajectory, walks away from the world of elite institutions, research labs, and academic publishing. In doing so, he falls in love and discovers he has freed himself to embrace his lifelong passion for birding.
-
-
Fantastic audiobook
- By Michael Hubka on 11-05-23
By: Dorian Anderson
-
The Big Year
- A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession
- By: Mark Obmascik
- Narrated by: Del Roy
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every year on January 1, a quirky crowd of adventurers storms out across North America for a spectacularly competitive event called a Big Year: a grand, grueling, expensive, and occasionally vicious, "extreme" 365-day marathon of birdwatching. For three men in particular, 1998 would be a whirlwind, a winner-takes-nothing battle for a new North American birding record.
-
-
Not for the Birds
- By Anonymous User on 09-18-04
By: Mark Obmascik
-
Birding Without Borders
- An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World
- By: Noah Strycker
- Narrated by: Luke Welland
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With an itinerary covering 41 countries, spanning all seven continents, and armed with a backpack, binoculars, and a series of one-way tickets, he sets out on the greatest adventure in the birding world. Along the way he meets a colorful cast of fellow birders—and discovers a world of blood-sucking leeches, chronic sleep deprivation, floods, war zones, ecologic devastation, and conservation triumphs.
-
-
Birding and travel. Win win.
- By Melinda Wheeler on 11-29-23
By: Noah Strycker
-
Slow Birding
- The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard
- By: Joan E. Strassmann
- Narrated by: Joan E. Strassmann
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many birders travel far and wide to popular birding destinations to catch sight of rare or “exotic” birds. In Slow Birding, evolutionary biologist Joan E. Strassmann introduces listeners to the joys of birding right where they are.
-
-
A combination of science and personal experience
- By IWONDER on 12-11-23
-
One More Warbler: A Life with Birds
- By: Victor Emanuel, S. Kirk Walsh
- Narrated by: Ridge Cresswell
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Victor Emanuel is widely considered one of America's leading birders. In One More Warbler, Emanuel recalls a lifetime of birding adventures - from his childhood sighting of a male Cardinal that ignited his passion for birds to a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Asia to observe all eight species of cranes of that continent. He tells fascinating stories of meeting his mentors who taught him about birds, nature, and conservation, and later, his close circle of friends who he frequently birded and traveled with around the world.
-
-
Did the narrator not familiarize himself with the subject?
- By Karen L. Mateer on 07-25-23
By: Victor Emanuel, and others
-
The Life of Birds (Updated Edition)
- By: David Attenborough
- Narrated by: David Attenborough
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds. Over 9,000 species, the most widespread of all animals: on icebergs, in the Sahara or under the sea, at home in our gardens or flying for over a year at a time. Earthbound, we can only look and listen, enjoying their lightness, freedom and richness of plumage and song. David Attenborough has been watching and learning all his life. His classic book, now fully updated with the latest discoveries in ornithology, is a brilliant introduction to bird behaviours around the world: what they do and why they do it.
-
-
Delightful and comprehensive, presented with masterful narration by David Attenborough.
- By Steve A on 06-27-24
-
The Bird Way
- A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"There is the mammal way and there is the bird way." But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors they have, for years, dismissed as anomalies or mysteries - what they are finding is upending the traditional view of how birds conduct their lives, how they communicate, forage, court, breed, survive. They are also revealing the remarkable intelligence underlying these activities, abilities we once considered uniquely our own.
-
-
Good Work but it doesn’t scale
- By Stanley Lippman on 07-02-20
-
Flight Paths
- How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration
- By: Rebecca Heisman
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the past century, scientists and naturalists have been steadily unravelling the secrets of bird migration. How and why birds navigate the skies, traveling from continent to continent—flying thousands of miles across the earth each fall and spring—has continually fascinated the human imagination, but only recently have we been able to fully understand these amazing journeys.
-
-
BIRDS!
- By Dan on 04-28-24
By: Rebecca Heisman
-
A Wing and a Prayer
- The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds
- By: Anders Gyllenhaal, Beverly Gyllenhaal
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Stephen Graybill
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the past year, veteran journalists Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal traveled more than 25,000 miles across the Americas, chronicling costly experiments, contentious politics, and new technologies to save our beloved birds from the brink of extinction. Through this compelling drama, A Wing and a Prayer offers hope and an urgent call to action: Birds are dying at an unprecedented pace. But there are encouraging breakthroughs across the hemisphere and still time to change course, if we act quickly.
-
-
Memoir disguised as nature
- By adel on 12-26-23
By: Anders Gyllenhaal, and others
-
Birding with Benefits
- By: Sarah T. Dubb
- Narrated by: Mia Hutchinson-Shaw, Evan Sibley
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Newly divorced, almost-empty-nester Celeste is finally seeking adventure and putting herself first, cliches be damned. So when a friend asks Celeste to “partner” with his buddy John for an event, Celeste throws herself into the role of his temporary girlfriend. But quiet cinnamon roll John isn’t looking for love, just birds—he needs a partner for Tucson’s biggest bird-watching contest if he’s ever going to launch his own guiding business. By the time they untangle their crossed signals, they’ve become teammates…and thanks to his meddling friends, a fake couple.
-
-
Too much sex
- By Nancy E on 06-22-24
By: Sarah T. Dubb
-
The Birds That Audubon Missed
- Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness
- By: Kenn Kaufman
- Narrated by: Mack Sanderson
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raging ambition. Towering egos. Competition under a veneer of courtesy. Heroic effort combined with plagiarism, theft, exaggeration, and fraud. This was the state of bird study in eastern North America during the early 1800s, as a handful of intrepid men raced to find the last few birds that were still unknown to science. The most famous name in the bird world was John James Audubon, who painted spectacular portraits of birds. But although his images were beautiful, creating art was not his main goal. Instead, he aimed to illustrate (and write about) as many different species as possible.
-
-
I LOVE the audible version of this book
- By NYC person on 10-01-24
By: Kenn Kaufman
What listeners say about The (Big) Year That Flew By
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stephen R Smith
- 07-17-23
Enjoyable
Especially if you’re a birder! Well written and nicely read. It is a good story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ramos
- 10-26-23
A detailed book, covers traveling and birding.
if you are planning a Big Year, this is a must read. Arjan describes how he planned and executed the plan.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brad
- 10-12-23
Beautiful
Every word in this book resonates with me. If you love birding, you’ll love this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Danielle K. Hawthorne
- 07-03-23
The Incredible BIG Year of Birding Ever!
Incredible journey that brought me around the world on exciting excursions from mountaintops to rainforests, deserts and more. Educational on so many levels and thoroughly enjoyable!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 07-29-24
Interesting story
Compared to other big year books this one had too much preaching and scolding instead of story telling
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- nick
- 10-14-23
Disappointing
The production on this really messed up. Scattered throughout are random chapters from a different book.
As for the story: It's difficult to tell how much is due to being lost in translation, but the narrative is very boring for much of the book. What should have been one of the most exciting adventure birding stories available frequently sounds more like a bullet point list of emotions, events, and occasionally birds. Frequent jumps back to earlier times in the the author's life tend to be more confusing than they're worth. His position of extreme privilege strongly influences the book in a bad way, and his brief address of it near the end seems highly insincere.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CalicoCat
- 12-14-23
An copycat "Big Year" birding travelog
The premise of this book was clearly to establish the author as a international record holder (2016) for seeing and cataloging birds in far-flung places. Normally, big birding years are in the nature of a personal challenge. Dwarshuis turns this around to poor effect. His bald-faced self-engineered and one-sided competition, constantly mentioned, with his predecessor of the previous year is always on his mind -- making this remarkable accomplishment read like a publicity "stunt".
This approach takes the wonder factor down several pegs and reduces his likability factor as does a "tantrum" and a "rage" at airport problems in Brazil. "One unforeseen setback...can trigger an uncontrollable tantrum. In such situations, steam comes out of my ears, and I have to restrain myself myself from kicking something." Also in the Brazil chapter: "in the departure hall ...boredom turns into frustration and finally into sheer rage". Really ? from a world traveler in remote places? What did he expect?
Dwarshuis even slips in a put-down of David Attenborough.
He is closely tethered to his home and home country, the Netherlands, throughout his complex year of fascinating destinations. The author does do a good job of mentioning conservation organizations & awareness...with nods to his many sponsors.
The narration is flat.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!