false 32659973 195600 1188469 1594630011 9781594630019 24 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181754661m/1188469.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181754661s/1188469.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1188469.To_See_Every_Bird_on_Earth_A_Father_a_Son_and_a_Lifelong_Obsession 3.49 87
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 Koeppel's obsession began at the age of eleven, in Queens, New York, when he first spotted a Brown Thrasher and promptly jotted the sighting in a notebook. Several decades, one failed marriage, and two sons later, he added an astonishing 517 birds to that list on a single trip to Kenya. Soon after, he ended the last romantic relationship he would ever have, scaled down his medical practice, and decided to see every bird on earth, becoming a "Big Lister," a member of a subculture of competitive bird-watchers worldwide, all pursuing the same goal. Over twenty-five years, he collected more than 7,000 species (of a known 9,600), becoming one of about ten people ever to do so.

To See Every Bird on Earth explores the thrill of this chase, the all-absorbing crusade at the expense of all else, and travel, to places both dangerous and dull, for the sake of making a check mark in a notebook. It's also the story of obsession-answering the questions why list? and why birds?-and how it defines us. A riveting glimpse into a fascinating subculture, To See Every Bird on Earth traces the love, loss, and reconnection between a father and a son, and explains why birds are so critical to the human search for our place in the world.]]> 249151 3.59 435 167 2005 2 0 false Wed Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 11 19:55:50 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 16 21:37:40 -0700 2008 more...]]>