Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World [B2044]

2023 HCDJ in nice clean condition. Central Park birder Christian Cooper takes us beyond the viral video that shocked a nation and into a world of avian adventures, global excursions, and the unexpected lessons you can learn from a life spent looking up. 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-old racial tensions. Cooper's viral video of the incident would send shock waves through the nation. In Better Living Through Birding, Cooper tells the story of his extraordinary life leading up to the now-infamous incident in Central Park and shows how a life spent looking up at the birds prepared him, in the most uncanny of ways, to be a gay, Black man in America today.

From sharpened senses that work just as well at a protest as in a park to what a bird like the Common Grackle can teach us about self-acceptance, Better Living Through Birding exults in the pleasures of a life lived in pursuit of the natural world and invites you to discover them yourself. Equal parts memoir, travelogue, and primer on the art of birding, this is Cooper's story of learning to claim and defend space for himself and others like him, from his days at Marvel Comics introducing the first gay storylines to vivid and life-changing birding expeditions through Africa, Australia, the Americas, and the Himalayas. Better Living Through Birding recounts Cooper's journey through the wonderful world of birds and what they can teach us about life, if only we would look and listen.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Less about birding than an autobiography, I'm thankful for the perspective presented."; "Cooper is an excellent writer. I really enjoyed his narrative voice and turns of phrase as he brings us through his fascinating life. His advocacy on racial justice, queer rights, and environmental conservation are just as much a part of him as his birding. Cooper's storytelling chops elevate an already interesting life into a story I didn't want to put down."; "Cooper takes an incident that thrust him into immediate fame and uses it to share his story and give people a chance to get to know him and what he loves. A memoir that gives him a chance to share the journeys of embracing his sexuality and love of travel, nature, and birding. You don't have to be a birder to appreciate the joy and comradery he finds with his fellow birders. So well-written."