To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifelong Obsession

by Dan Koeppel
To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifelong Obsession  
published April 25th 2006 by Plume Books
binding Paperback
isbn 0452285399   (isbn13: 9780452285392)
pages 304
description What drives a man to travel to sixty countries and spend a fortune to count birds? And what if that man is your father?

Richard Koep...more
date added
06-13-07



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Laurasmoot
Laurasmoot rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
01/28/08

Read in January, 2008
The author writes about his father's birdwatch quest-- one of the handful of people in the world that has checked more than 7,000 birds off on his life list. It's not the way I birdwatch, but it's kind of weird and fascinating, and the competitive lister birdwatchers help push the science of ornithology in interesting ways. To get the interesting stuff out of this book though, like John Audobon being kind of a loser for most of his life, or how and why his father became such a driven birdliste...more
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Erin
01/25/08

bookshelves: environment-nature-science
Read in January, 2006
An inspiration for fledgling (hah) birders and compulsive list-makers like me. A son chronicles his father's discovery of birding as a child and subsequent rise into the ranks of famous listers--people who travel the globe trying to check birds off their life lists. I feel so...insignificant.
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Christina
Christina rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
05/29/08

Read in May, 2008
A son's chronicle of his father's obsessive bird watching. The author succeeds in making a somewhat obscure topic interesting. He introduces the reader to the sub-culture of birding "big-listers", people who travel the world to see thousands of species. The author's psychoanalytic explanation for his father's obsession is enforced repetitively, to the detriment of the story's flow.
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Tobias
06/04/08

Read in February, 2007
Honestly fairly difficult for me to get though, despite not being long at all. The focus on birding in this story is just so different from mine, I found myself gritting my teeth a lot. A LOT. ...And reading especially irritating passages to anyone near me so they could understand why it took me about a month to make it through this <300 page book.
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Valerie
Read in July, 2005
Finished this book in a marathon all-day reading session, and, not unlike the compulsive big-list birders, I immediately wrote it down on my book list. It is the story of a man (the author's father) who, after a divorce, pushes everything aside to look at birds. Eventually everything revolves around the pursuit of birds.
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Ken
Ken rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
06/09/07

bookshelves: birds
Read in May, 2007
This book really is more about Koeppel's relationship with his father, and less about birding. If you're looking for an impressive world-birding travelogue, I recommend Phoebe Snetsinger's Birding on Borrowed Time. For a great book about birding, check out Kaufman's Kingbird Highway.
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Jenni
Jenni rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
06/21/08

Read in June, 2008
Actually, I couldn't finish this book; I tried several times. It is well-written and I love birds, but there is too much bird-listing data and not enough memoir. However, it might just be this time in my life. Perhaps I'll pick it up later, finish it, and give it another star.
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rachel
Didn't finish. I liked the story but lost patience for the audio book format. I may try again with a proper book at some point.
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Laura
08/23/08

Read in January, 2008
I love birding. After reading this book I realized I will never have a life list like the most obsessed birders!
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Sharon
10/24/07

A compelling read, for the most part. Made me meditate on the drive to compile lists.
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brian
09/02/07

A surprising delight given my absolute disinterest in the subject matter.
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Debbie
Debbie is currently reading it (review of isbn 1594630011)
04/29/08

bookshelves: currently-reading
Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in March, 2008
I'll be lucky to finish this one. A bit birdy.
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Brent
Brent marked it as to-read (review of isbn 1594630011)
07/30/08

bookshelves: to-read
 

Jason
Jason marked it as to-read
08/18/08

bookshelves: nature-travel-writing, to-read
 

Kristen
Kristen marked it as to-read (review of isbn 1594630011)
09/04/08

bookshelves: to-read
 

Julezee
Julezee marked it as to-read (review of isbn 1594630011)
08/19/08

bookshelves: to-read
 

Michelle
Michelle is currently reading it (review of isbn 1594630011)
09/02/08

bookshelves: currently-reading
 

--tw
--tw marked it as to-read
09/03/08

bookshelves: still-only-a-compulsive-purchase, to-read
 


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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 3.49 (47 ratings)
avg rating (this edition): 2.62 (8 ratings)
number of reviews: 12






other editions

To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifelong Obsession (Hardcover)
To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Life Long Obsession (Audio CD)
To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifelong Obsession (Audio Cassette)