false 230866 1 0 695913 0807085782 9780807085783 4 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177350106m/695913.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177350106s/695913.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/695913.Soaring_with_Fidel_An_Osprey_Odyssey_from_Cape_Cod_to_Cuba_and_Beyond 3.75 20
One September, after writing about ospreys on Cape Cod for years, David Gessner impulsively decided to follow the birds on their annual migration. Each fall these graceful raptors, with wingspans of up to six feet, cruise over the eastern United States, then soar over Cuba and winter in South America, returning north with the spring. In 2004, Gessner went along for the ride, traveling illegally into the mountains of Cuba and deep into Venezuela as he competed with the crew of a BBC documentary to be the first to follow the full migration, trailing the birds by car, boat, foot, and plane. He called his favorite osprey Fidel.

Soaring with Fidel is about the exhilaration of migration, but it is also a deeper meditation on the nature of human happiness. In describing the thrill of travel, the antics of these swashbuckling birds, and the cast of characters he meets (and drinks with) along the way—including scientists, students, tour guides, and an online group of birders—Gessner gives us a profound lesson in the importance of following what you love.

"From the tidal marshes of Cape Cod to jungle lakes in Venezuela, David Gessner lets nothing—not language barriers, not empty pockets, not steely-eyed Cuban bureaucrats or American embargoes—stop him from following the migration of the osprey. Just reckless enough to be lucky, Gessner wins over everyone he meets. Soaring with Fidel has wings."
—Scott Weidensaul, author of Living on the Wind

"Because of its robust passion and focus, Soaring with Fidel would have probably been a favorite of Teddy Roosevelt's. It's Gessner's finest book, unpredictable in the best way, and funny, too; an adventure book and much more—a book of contact, written by a writer who quickly becomes an audible and visible presence. Soaring with Fidel demonstrates that you can 'pick up one thing and find the rest of the world hitched to it.' If you've experienced a passion that you failed to follow—or that you did follow—then this is your book."
—Clyde Edgerton, author of Solo

"Exhilarating, hilarious, tender, this is David Gessner at his best. Call it whatever you want—osprey lust, wanderlust, migratory unrest—but when Gessner decides to follow the birds he loves from Cape Cod to Cuba to Venezuela and back north, over thousands of miles of mountain, swamp, and sea, we all benefit."
—James Campbell, author of The Final Frontiersman


"Equal doses of Jack Kerouac and Roger Tory Peterson promise to enshrine Soaring with Fidel in the pantheon of great travel writing and natural history."
—Keith L. Bildstein, author of Migrating Raptors of the World

"Gessner's account is filled with nitty-gritty details about the days and nights of an itinerant birder and beautifully detailed descriptions of ospreys in action. When actual observations were not possible, he imagined what the ospreys were doing and writes intelligently…A grand adventure, not just for birders and nature lovers." —Kirkus, review in the January 15th issue

"Soaring with Fidel is a grand and cheering journey on the wings of one of nature's most sociable predators. It's impossible to watch an osprey hovering above a crystal calm bay and not envy the great bird's freedom. Now, thanks to David Gessner, we are invited to follow."
—Carl Hiaasen, author of Nature Girl

"Gessner's travels are filled with small delights. He has a great gift for conveying reverence without sanctimony, and even at his most sardonic and self-deprecating, his sense of wonder at the osprey never falters. As he stands on a rock above Cuba's Sierra Maestra, watching ospreys rocket past, we wish we could be up there beside him, binoculars in one hand, a cold beer in the other." —OnEarth

"An engaging, lyrical guide to osprey migration, Cuba, and a common humanity. On his impulsive journey, Gessner meets other devotees of this magnificent raptor, and experiences the thrill of following what he loves."
—Orion Magazine

"Gessner seldom sets out deliberately to be funny, as Bill Bryson does, but his deadpan, self-deprecating humor ("I had vast experience in not seeing birds") makes him an ideal traveling companion and guide. Soaring With Fidel lets you hover for a while in the thermals of fine language, seeing the same old world from a fresh and invigorating altitude."
—Wilmington (NC) Morning Star News

"This probing investigation of the migratory flight of the osprey embraced several unexpectedly, exciting adventures . . . I found Gessner's book a most interesting read."
—NH Union Leader

"He gives an occasional nod to Henry David Thoreau, perhaps to assure us that, yep, he's read the masters, but his style—well, imagine Hunter Tompson gone birding, pen in hand." —Hartford Courant

David Gessner is the award-winning author of several books, including Return of the Osprey and The Prophet of Dry Hill (Beacon / 8568-5 / $19.95 hc). He is editor of the literary journal Ecotone and assistant professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. Each summer, Gessner migrates north to Cape Cod.]]> 230866 3.84 489 104 2007 1398622 1584653582 9781584653585 3 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1183297552m/1398622.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1183297552s/1398622.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1398622.Sick_of_Nature 3.94 18
In diverse, diverting, and frequently hilarious essays, Gessner wrestles with father figures both biological and literary, reflects on the pleasures and absurdities of the writing life, explores the significance of place for both his work and his sense of well-being, and rails at the confines of the nature genre even as he continues to find fresh inspiration for his writing in the natural world. In the end, he learns to embrace--or at least tolerate--the label he once rejected.

Whether kicking at the limits of his category or explaining why he was fired from his job as a bookstore clerk; whether recalling his youthful obsession with Ultimate Frisbee or recounting an adventure in the jungles of Belize; whether lampooning his own writerly envy of Sebastian Junger or raging at the over-development of Cape Cod or searching for solace in nature in the wake of September 11, Gessner ranges from the personal to the natural in lyrical reflections on writing, self, and society.

In a powerful concluding essay, Gessner moves from the arrival of coyotes in the suburbs of Boston to the birth of his first child in an extended meditation on his characteristic themes of wildness, place, and creativity.]]> 230866 3.84 489 104 2004 1399353 1565122542 9781565122543 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1183304250m/1399353.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1183304250s/1399353.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1399353.Return_of_the_Osprey_A_Season_of_Flight_and_Wonder 4.09 11 David Gessner, an able chronicler of the natural world, here recounts the slow reintroduction of the fish hawk to Cape Cod. He offers learned but lightly spun information on their natural history and behavior, matching what he has read to what he has seen as a close observer of these birds in the wild. (He wryly notes, "Sometimes sitting out on the marsh for hours on end is simply boring"--but entirely necessary.) Gessner's memoir documents the fortunes of a single species and celebrates the virtues of committing to a single place, a commitment that, he writes, "the modern world works against." It's a welcome addition to the natural history of raptors and of New England alike. --Gregory McNamee

]]> 230866 3.84 489 104 2001 979248 0971930848 9780971930841 3 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/979248.Reimagining_Place_Ecotone 4.57 7 230866 3.84 489 104 2005 979246 0874518032 9780874518030 0 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179961474m/979246.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179961474s/979246.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/979246.A_Wild_Rank_Place_One_Year_on_Cape_Cod 4.29 7
Gessner's introspection during a year spent writing in the family's weathered cottage portrays another struggle, too. For a young writer just beginning his career, such mighty literary forebears as Thoreau can be imposing, if not paralyzing. Yet the process of sorting through and making peace with the memories of his genetic father gives Gessner the power to declare artistic independence from his literary one. Seeing "something tremendously heroic" about his father's determination to perform mundane tasks in the face of imminent death brings Gessner to realize that "our minds have minds of their own. Reality is fabulous, yes, but we also crave something more. Symbol, perhaps. Meaning." In the end, what Cape Cod comes to mean for Gessner is not just freedom from the past, but love and nobility in the face of death.]]> 230866 3.84 489 104 1997 979245 0807085685 9780807085684 0 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179961472m/979245.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179961472s/979245.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/979245.The_Prophet_of_Dry_Hill_Lessons_From_a_Life_in_Nature 4.00 7 230866 3.84 489 104 2005 4782759 9780979140389 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1222307043m/4782759.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1222307043s/4782759.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4782759.Ecotone_Reimagining_Place 4.67 3 230866 3.84 489 104 2008 3446785 0816519242 9780816519248 1 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3446785.Under_the_Devil_s_Thumb 3.67 3 David Gessner first moved to Colorado in the wake of a bout with cancer. In Under the Devil's Thumb, this young New Englander takes readers on a joyous quest to discover the mysteries of the western landscape and the landscape of the soul as well. In the West Gessner began to rewrite his life. Under the Devil's Thumb is a story of rugged determination and sweat, as well as humor, adventure and hope. In and around his new hometown of Boulder, Colorado, Gessner hiked hard and ran alongside flooded creeks. He found that the West was a place of stories—stories that grow out of the ground, flow out of the dirt, work their way through one's limbs, and drive people to push their physical limits. Hiking up scree slopes toward the Devil's Thumb, a massive outcrop of orange rock that attracts climbers, hikers, and contemplaters, Gessner reflects on the illness he has so recently survived. He pushes his physical limits, hoping to outrun death, to outrun dread. He finds momentary transcendence in the joys and self-inflicted pain of mountain biking. "Nothing but the hardest ride has the power to flush out worry, mind clutter, and dread." In tranquil moments he seeks a chance to recover an animal self that is strong and powerful enough to conquer mountains, but also still and quiet enough to see things human beings ignore. In the mountain West, Gessner finds what Wallace Stegner called "the geography of hope." He finds within himself an interior landscape that is healthy and strong. Combining memoir, nature writing, and travel writing, Under the Devil's Thumb is one man's journey deep into a place of healing.]]> 230866 3.84 489 104 1999 6320116 0874518024 9780874518023 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6320116.A_Wild_Rank_Place_One_Year_on_Cape_Cod 5.00 1 230866 3.84 489 104 1997 5945535 0807085790 9780807085790 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5945535.Soaring_with_Fidel_An_Osprey_Odyssey_from_Cape_Cod_to_Cuba_andBeyond 5.00 1
A Book Sense Notable Title

David Gessner has long been fascinated by ospreys, graceful raptors with wingspans of up to six feet, renowned the world over for their swashbuckling dives into the ocean. One year, inspired by their annual trip south that crosses numerous borders, Gessner picks up and follows them. With early mornings fueled by strong Cuban coffee, evenings passed sampling local beers, and days spent alongside a cast of international characters in cars, ferries, planes, or on foot, Gessner discovers the beauty of impulsively following what you love.

"An engaging, lyrical guide to osprey migration, Cuba, and a common humanity."
—Orion Magazine

"Gessner's travels are filled with small delights. He has a great gift for conveying reverence without sanctimony, and even at his most sardonic and self-deprecating, his sense of wonder at the osprey never falters. As he stands on a rock above Cuba's Sierra Maestra, watching ospreys rocket past, we wish we could be up there beside him, binoculars in one hand, a cold beer in the other."
—George Black, OnEarth

"A grand and cheering journey on the wings of one of nature's most sociable predators."
—Carl Hiassen, author of Nature Girl

"From the tidal marshes of Cape Cod to jungle lakes in Venezuela, David Gessner lets nothing—not language barriers, not empty pockets, not steely-eyed Cuban bureaucrats or American embargoes—stop him from following the migration of the osprey. Just reckless enough to be lucky, Gessner wins over everyone he meets. Soaring with Fidel has wings."
—Scott Weidensaul, author of Living on the Wind

"Because of its robust passion and focus, Soaring with Fidel would have probably been a favorite of Teddy Roosevelt's. It's Gessner's finest book, unpredictable in the best way, and funny, too; an adventure book and much more—a book of contact, written by a writer who quickly becomes an audible and visible presence. Soaring with Fidel demonstrates that you can 'pick up one thing and find the rest of the world hitched to it.' If you've experienced a passion that you failed to follow—or that you did follow—then this is your book."
—Clyde Edgerton, author of Solo

"Exhilarating, hilarious, tender, this is David Gessner at his best. Call it whatever you want—osprey lust, wanderlust, migratory unrest—but when Gessner decides to follow the birds he loves from Cape Cod to Cuba to Venezuela and back north, over thousands of miles of mountain, swamp, and sea, we all benefit."
—James Campbell, author of The Final Frontiersman

"Equal doses of Jack Kerouac and Roger Tory Peterson promise to enshrine Soaring with Fidel in the pantheon of great travel writing and natural history."
—Keith L. Bildstein, author of Migrating Raptors of the World

"Gessner seldom sets out deliberately to be funny, as Bill Bryson does, but his deadpan, self-deprecating humor ("I had vast experience in not seeing birds") makes him an ideal traveling companion and guide. Soaring With Fidel lets you hover for a while in the thermals of fine language, seeing the same old world from a fresh and invigorating altitude."
—Wilmington (NC) Morning Star News

"David Gessner, author of Soaring With Fidel, said, 'There will be a huge hole in the Cape literary community. I have done a brunch for every one of my books and had planned on doing them for each future book. Each time Jack and Bess made it a personal celebration. It was a great way to interact with Cape people, and Cabbages and Kings will be deeply missed.'"
—Shelf Awareness

"This probing investigation of the migratory flight of the osprey embraced several unexpectedly, exciting adventures . . . I found Gessner's book a most interesting read."
—NH Union Leader

"He gives an occasional nod to Henry David Thoreau, perhaps to assure us that, yep, he's read the masters, but his style—well, imagine Hunter Tompson gone birding, pen in hand."
—Hartford Courant

"As Gessner pursues [the ospreys] down the Eastern Seaboard and even into Cuba with a BBC documentary team at his heels, a lively tale of fish-eating raptors, broken embargoes and a nail-biting race to the finish line ensues . . . Gessner finds his Mecca not in the thrilling launch or triumphant end of his own 7,000-mile migration, but in the living done in between."
—Jennifer Winger, Nature Conservancy Magazine

"An interesting and complex book . . . In a surprisingly short amount of time, David Gessner has evolved into one of our most accomplished and singular writers about nature. While many authors treat their experiences in nature with a hushed earnestness and a suspect neatness, Gessner writes about the messy humanness of being outside."
—Mark Lynch, Bird Observer]]> 230866 3.84 489 104 2008