What is so compelling about falconry? Tim Gallagher mines his lifelong obsession with falcons for an answer in this engaging volume interweaving me...
read full description
reviews
Feb 27, 2010
Dan
rated it: 
Tim Gallagher's Falcon Fever is a good if somewhat odd book. The author relates some great stories about his falconry experience - the best parts of the book. He also seeks to understand his own past, and his search for peace is also an important aspect. These parts speaks to many of us who use our own obsessions to fill holes in our souls. His travelogue about his trip to Italy and Sicily seeking a connection with Emperor Frederick II seems disjointed with the rest of the book. I'm a big F
More...
Jan 20, 2009
Liz
rated it: 
This book is really two books in one. The first half, about the author's troubled youth and his burgeoning interest in falconry, is fascinating. It's the kind of thing where you wonder, how do kids ever get interested in this? I learned that falconers/hawkers actually take baby hawks from the nest, a little upsetting when you think of how protective mama sparrows are of their babies. The second half is about his contemporary falconry and travels - that half is a snoozer! All it is is lists
More...
Jun 18, 2008
Ted
rated it: 
This is the best book I've read this year, and it came as a complete surprise. I had no previous interest in falconry, but I was familiar with Tim Gallagher's role in the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker and had enjoyed reading his book, THE GRAIL BIRD, which details the behind-the-scenes events that led to finding that iconic species. I had also seen Gallagher speak at Cornell once, and he seemed interesting and passionate about his work. I picked up FALCON FEVER purely out of curiosi
More...
Dec 18, 2008
Jocelyn
rated it:
About half-way through this book I wondered how he could keep talking on topic of falcons without making the reading dry. Surprisingly enough, the very next chapter was about him selling the reefer in his teenage years and the resulting five months spent in jail. The book is a mix of his rough personal life and his passion for falconry, making for an interesting read.
Jul 09, 2008
Crystal
rated it:
This is an interesting mix of travelogue, history, memoir and naturalist writing. Tim Gallagher writes about his own love of falconry, with a look into his past and his struggles as a young man with his abusive father. There's also a lot about Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor from the 1200s who also was an avid falconer. Gallagher spent a year "chasing Frederick's ghost" and the second part of the book mixes his travels as a falconer with his travels in Italy as he follows Frederic
More...
Jun 30, 2008
Allanna
rated it: 
I wanted to like this book. I really did.
But I just wasn't in the mood to get through it. I skimmed a little and will give it a try again sometime.
I would love to try falconry a try. The raptor birds are gorgeous.
But I just wasn't in the mood to get through it. I skimmed a little and will give it a try again sometime.
I would love to try falconry a try. The raptor birds are gorgeous.
Nov 06, 2008
Bob
rated it:
a little too much about his drunken father and all, but the falconry parts were great. and he's a good writer.
Nov 14, 2010
John
rated it:
Ok for a bus ride when you are trapped and have nothing better to do/read.
Jan 14, 2012
Apr 26, 2011
Jan 14, 2011
Dec 10, 2010
Jul 23, 2010
Mar 21, 2010
Jan 29, 2009
Aug 26, 2008
May 12, 2008
Apr 29, 2008
