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A review by ralovesbooks
Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper
4.0
Thank you to Penguin Random House audio for my free copy!
The subtitle of this book is “Notes from a Black Man in a Natural World,” and that’s what prompted me to request this book from the publisher when it became available. I can hardly resist a book about birds, but this one seemed extra interesting from that point of view. When I started the audio production of the book, I realized that he is an infamous birder. I had forgotten that Christian Cooper was the man who took a video of a woman in Central Park when she called the police and falsely accused him of threatening her. It was the morning that George Floyd was killed in May 2020.
So, yes, the book is about birding, and Cooper describes his experiences seeing rare species and sharing the joys of the seven pleasures of birding. But that’s not all there is to this book, and in that way, the title sells it short. It’s about the author’s experiences as a Black queer man, growing up in Long Island, going to Harvard, and writing at Marvel. It’s about his total nerdery for science fiction, fantasy, and the natural world. I was impressed at how Cooper wove bird facts and sci-fi fandom through his personal narrative of family, travel, and career. This guy is Very Into Things, and I love soaking in the enthusiasm of a total nerd, which is a term I use with affection.
This book is also about racism and injustice and advocacy. It’s about how being part of a marginalized community in almost every setting takes almost constant effort, calculation, and decision-making. But the tone here isn’t weary or defeated. Cooper is earnest, enthusiastic, and clear-eyed.
Reading this book made me think about how we can’t separate our multifaceted selves from what’s visible to the world, like our interests or jobs. Who we are and what we have been through will affect how we move through the world. An integrated story is much more interesting, even if it’s messy. I recommend this book to memoir readers, birders of any degree, science fiction or comics fans, and anyone who wants to get more Black or queer voices in their reading life.
The subtitle of this book is “Notes from a Black Man in a Natural World,” and that’s what prompted me to request this book from the publisher when it became available. I can hardly resist a book about birds, but this one seemed extra interesting from that point of view. When I started the audio production of the book, I realized that he is an infamous birder. I had forgotten that Christian Cooper was the man who took a video of a woman in Central Park when she called the police and falsely accused him of threatening her. It was the morning that George Floyd was killed in May 2020.
So, yes, the book is about birding, and Cooper describes his experiences seeing rare species and sharing the joys of the seven pleasures of birding. But that’s not all there is to this book, and in that way, the title sells it short. It’s about the author’s experiences as a Black queer man, growing up in Long Island, going to Harvard, and writing at Marvel. It’s about his total nerdery for science fiction, fantasy, and the natural world. I was impressed at how Cooper wove bird facts and sci-fi fandom through his personal narrative of family, travel, and career. This guy is Very Into Things, and I love soaking in the enthusiasm of a total nerd, which is a term I use with affection.
This book is also about racism and injustice and advocacy. It’s about how being part of a marginalized community in almost every setting takes almost constant effort, calculation, and decision-making. But the tone here isn’t weary or defeated. Cooper is earnest, enthusiastic, and clear-eyed.
Reading this book made me think about how we can’t separate our multifaceted selves from what’s visible to the world, like our interests or jobs. Who we are and what we have been through will affect how we move through the world. An integrated story is much more interesting, even if it’s messy. I recommend this book to memoir readers, birders of any degree, science fiction or comics fans, and anyone who wants to get more Black or queer voices in their reading life.