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The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck: A Journey into the Himalayas and Down the Brahmaputra
Fifty-two years after the pink-headed duck was last seen in the wild, Rory Nugent set off for India in search of this rarest of Birds. Most scientists consider the duck extinct, but Nugent imaged that the bird was merely hiding. And he setoff to explore the least populated areas of NE India. "A magic Carpet Ride..".San Diego Union "A home run for Nugent..".Boston Globe "Top notch..".The Atlantic Fifty-two years after the pink-headed duck was last seen in the wild, Rory Nugent set off for India in search of this rarest of birds. Most scientists consider the duck extinct, but Nugent imagined that the bird was merely hiding. And he set off to explore the least populated areas of NE India. ""A magic Carpet Ride""-San Diego Union""A home run for Nugent""-Boston Globe""Top notch""-The Atlantic
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
July 13, 2021
Rory Nugent, the author of this book, is ostensibly on the hunt for a pink-headed duck that has not been verifiably seen since 1930. The elusive pink-headed duck used to be found in Northeastern India as well as Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam and Northern Bangladesh. The author travels to these places with the exception of Bangladesh by rickety cars, bus and even a small boat down the huge Brahmaputra river. The reader is entertained by his interactions with those he meets. My favorite story comes early in his adventures when he looks for anyone in the Kolkatt fowl market who has heard of his pink-headed duck. Returning the next day he is offered a number of ducks—with pink painted heads, one bird not even a duck. He good naturedly buys the birds and washes off the paint.
I feel his bread and butter is journalism. He carries a lot of camera equipment (few bird pictures) and hangs out a lot with “dangerous “ people such as Gurkha freedom fighters with their guns, bombs and trademark Kukri knives. It’s a fun travel book published in 1991. I believe Ghurkaland has settled down some, but check before going to these places! Happy pink-headed duck hunting.
I feel his bread and butter is journalism. He carries a lot of camera equipment (few bird pictures) and hangs out a lot with “dangerous “ people such as Gurkha freedom fighters with their guns, bombs and trademark Kukri knives. It’s a fun travel book published in 1991. I believe Ghurkaland has settled down some, but check before going to these places! Happy pink-headed duck hunting.
July 28, 2020
I enjoyed the structure of this book. The author visits various places in north-east India, in between battling the bureaucracy of New Delhi, where he returns between trips to obtain permission for the next step. The premise of the trip, of course, is to locate the thought-to-be-extinct pink-headed duck. But it seems to me the pink-headed duck is something of an excuse to get into some of the more remote parts of India. And while there is a bit of ornithological carry-on in the book, there is certainly not too much for those not that way inclined... it doesn't fixate, and actually covers off some other animals in equally as much detail.
On his search for the duck, the authors interaction with people makes interesting reading. Market salespeople, a bus driver, Gurkha 'terrorists', boys on the street, even a tantric cult leader. They all form a part of the narrative, along with most of the bureaucrats who he also managed to charm. As well as people, Calcutta, Sikkim, Darjeeling, Assam and the length of the Brahmaputra, as well as New Delhi are the locations visited, and they offer a good variation of setting.
I can't help but find the final couple of chapters were rushed. Perhaps it was the case with his actual travel, and he was being true to his experience in his writing, but the story did just seem to peter out. It also seems to me with a lot of books in this genre that there is either some artistic licence around the events (there are some bizarre things and some fantastic coincidences in the events of the book), or that the events occur over longer or multiple trips and the chaff is all removed from the wheat... I can't really say which is the case. Notwithstanding these 'criticisms', this is still a very readable and enjoyable book, and for those with a mild interest in ducks, or northeastern India, or vicarious adventure, give it a go.
So did he rediscover the pink-headed duck?
On his search for the duck, the authors interaction with people makes interesting reading. Market salespeople, a bus driver, Gurkha 'terrorists', boys on the street, even a tantric cult leader. They all form a part of the narrative, along with most of the bureaucrats who he also managed to charm. As well as people, Calcutta, Sikkim, Darjeeling, Assam and the length of the Brahmaputra, as well as New Delhi are the locations visited, and they offer a good variation of setting.
I can't help but find the final couple of chapters were rushed. Perhaps it was the case with his actual travel, and he was being true to his experience in his writing, but the story did just seem to peter out. It also seems to me with a lot of books in this genre that there is either some artistic licence around the events (there are some bizarre things and some fantastic coincidences in the events of the book), or that the events occur over longer or multiple trips and the chaff is all removed from the wheat... I can't really say which is the case. Notwithstanding these 'criticisms', this is still a very readable and enjoyable book, and for those with a mild interest in ducks, or northeastern India, or vicarious adventure, give it a go.
So did he rediscover the pink-headed duck?
August 24, 2017
Bird watcher Rory Nugent one day heard about the pink-headed duck (_Rhodonessa caryophyllacea_), a species of waterfowl once known from northeastern India. Its Hindi name gulab-sir, the last confirmed sighting of it was in 1935 by a sportsman hunting in the Darbhanga area of Bihar. Never a particularly common animal, it only turned up occasionally during in the Raj in such places as the open markets of Gangtok, Sikkim. Never successfully bred in captivity despite several efforts, the bird was presumed to have gone extinct when most of its prime habitat - marshland around Calcutta - was destroyed though some naturalists held out hope that it may have lingered on in other areas of marsh in the Bengal plain and in northeast India (much of it which is fairly isolated and not well explored by naturalists).
Nugent became enamored with the animal, sold his apartment, put his belongings into storage, and set out to India to try and find the animal. The book he wrote, _The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck_, is his account of his many months of travels in northern and eastern India.
The first half of the book is about him essentially asking about the bird, sometimes in areas and with people whom he suspects have little likelihood of knowing anything about the animal. He spends weeks investigating the fowl markets of Calcutta, checking in every day to see if one has turned up or if anyone knows anything about the bird. Though greeted with suspicion at first, the locals soon warm up to him, calling him the Duck Man, and while providing little if any information do show him many kindnesses. Eventually though as word gets out he is offering a reward for any information on the bird - or the bird itself - a parade of painted birds (including some birds that weren't even ducks) were offered to him for sale. After buying a few so that he could clean them off and set them free, he realized that he had established a precedent he didn't care much for - that he would buy just about anything - and he moved on.
Journeying to the capital of New Delhi, he spent literally months trying to get permission to visit some of the most remote areas of northeastern India. At first treated as if he were some sort of spy - though not a very good one - he is later treated as a crazy man (officials incredulous that he is looking for a mere duck), though later many of the officials at the ministry warm to him. Though they deny his requests repeatedly, they are not unfriendly and give him advice on how to appeal each decision as it is made.
As the lengthy process to grant him approval winds its way through the labyrinth of bureaucracy, Nugent took two side trips that had really nothing to do with his quest. During the course of his travels he met several individuals who implored him as a visiting westerner and obviously a journalist of some type to expose to the world their various causes. One, a Buddhist named Ganju Lama convinced Nugent to journey with him to Tibet to verify Chinese wrong-doing, but through a series of misadventures he does not actually reach Tibet. Another he met introduced him to key leaders - indeed the key leader, Subash Ghising - of the Gurkha National Liberation Front, people who impress among Nugent the "rightness" of their cause of Gurkha autonomy if not independence. All of this was interesting and at times hilarious but had absolutely nothing to do with the pink-headed duck (making for good travel writing but not so good natural history writing).
The second half of the book I found a bit more interesting and a bit more on-topic with the book's title. Just by happenstance meeting in a bookstore in New Delhi a man named Shankar Barua who had roughly similar interests, the two hatch a scheme (after Nugent finally won approval for his journeys) to buy a boat and journey down the mighty Brahmaputra River, an immense 2,900 kilometer river that begins in Tibet and winds its way through India and Bangladesh on its way to the sea. They purchase a boat that Shakar names _Lahey-Lahey_ (Assamese for "Slowly, slowly"), a tiny boat that is ten feet at the waterline, twelve long overall and "at her beamiest" is thirty-inches. Though Nugent, a sailor, admires her lines, the boat continually under whelmed most of the locals who saw it.
This journey was Nugent's best chance to spot the duck, and in truth he described very briefly a lot of the wildlife he saw, which included crested serpent eagles, storks, ibises, bitterns, kingfishers, Ganges dolphins, mergansers, pariah kites, and even a rarely seen fishing cat (though a bit too briefly I thought and there are no pictures of these animals; lots of nice pictures instead of the people he met, boats he saw, and some of the buildings and other sites). He saw lots of ducks - including a great many pochards, a species of which does faintly resemble the pink-headed duck in having a red head - I don't think I am spoiling anything by saying Nugent does not get his bird.
He has lots of adventures during his long river journey as he is treated with awe, suspicion, humor, or respect at various times because he was a "firang" or foreigner (being the first white person many along the river had ever seen; many had wondered what was the matter with Nugent that made him looked the way he did). Nugent and Shakar, warned of pirates and crocodiles, found little of either but did have trouble with a whirlpool. They met a variety of interesting people, including Tantrists (who believe that sexual energy is the purest form of energy) and "bongs" (sailors from Bangladesh, not recorded a great deal of respect by the Indians).
An interesting book, sometimes very funny, fairly light on natural history though a good travel essay otherwise.
Nugent became enamored with the animal, sold his apartment, put his belongings into storage, and set out to India to try and find the animal. The book he wrote, _The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck_, is his account of his many months of travels in northern and eastern India.
The first half of the book is about him essentially asking about the bird, sometimes in areas and with people whom he suspects have little likelihood of knowing anything about the animal. He spends weeks investigating the fowl markets of Calcutta, checking in every day to see if one has turned up or if anyone knows anything about the bird. Though greeted with suspicion at first, the locals soon warm up to him, calling him the Duck Man, and while providing little if any information do show him many kindnesses. Eventually though as word gets out he is offering a reward for any information on the bird - or the bird itself - a parade of painted birds (including some birds that weren't even ducks) were offered to him for sale. After buying a few so that he could clean them off and set them free, he realized that he had established a precedent he didn't care much for - that he would buy just about anything - and he moved on.
Journeying to the capital of New Delhi, he spent literally months trying to get permission to visit some of the most remote areas of northeastern India. At first treated as if he were some sort of spy - though not a very good one - he is later treated as a crazy man (officials incredulous that he is looking for a mere duck), though later many of the officials at the ministry warm to him. Though they deny his requests repeatedly, they are not unfriendly and give him advice on how to appeal each decision as it is made.
As the lengthy process to grant him approval winds its way through the labyrinth of bureaucracy, Nugent took two side trips that had really nothing to do with his quest. During the course of his travels he met several individuals who implored him as a visiting westerner and obviously a journalist of some type to expose to the world their various causes. One, a Buddhist named Ganju Lama convinced Nugent to journey with him to Tibet to verify Chinese wrong-doing, but through a series of misadventures he does not actually reach Tibet. Another he met introduced him to key leaders - indeed the key leader, Subash Ghising - of the Gurkha National Liberation Front, people who impress among Nugent the "rightness" of their cause of Gurkha autonomy if not independence. All of this was interesting and at times hilarious but had absolutely nothing to do with the pink-headed duck (making for good travel writing but not so good natural history writing).
The second half of the book I found a bit more interesting and a bit more on-topic with the book's title. Just by happenstance meeting in a bookstore in New Delhi a man named Shankar Barua who had roughly similar interests, the two hatch a scheme (after Nugent finally won approval for his journeys) to buy a boat and journey down the mighty Brahmaputra River, an immense 2,900 kilometer river that begins in Tibet and winds its way through India and Bangladesh on its way to the sea. They purchase a boat that Shakar names _Lahey-Lahey_ (Assamese for "Slowly, slowly"), a tiny boat that is ten feet at the waterline, twelve long overall and "at her beamiest" is thirty-inches. Though Nugent, a sailor, admires her lines, the boat continually under whelmed most of the locals who saw it.
This journey was Nugent's best chance to spot the duck, and in truth he described very briefly a lot of the wildlife he saw, which included crested serpent eagles, storks, ibises, bitterns, kingfishers, Ganges dolphins, mergansers, pariah kites, and even a rarely seen fishing cat (though a bit too briefly I thought and there are no pictures of these animals; lots of nice pictures instead of the people he met, boats he saw, and some of the buildings and other sites). He saw lots of ducks - including a great many pochards, a species of which does faintly resemble the pink-headed duck in having a red head - I don't think I am spoiling anything by saying Nugent does not get his bird.
He has lots of adventures during his long river journey as he is treated with awe, suspicion, humor, or respect at various times because he was a "firang" or foreigner (being the first white person many along the river had ever seen; many had wondered what was the matter with Nugent that made him looked the way he did). Nugent and Shakar, warned of pirates and crocodiles, found little of either but did have trouble with a whirlpool. They met a variety of interesting people, including Tantrists (who believe that sexual energy is the purest form of energy) and "bongs" (sailors from Bangladesh, not recorded a great deal of respect by the Indians).
An interesting book, sometimes very funny, fairly light on natural history though a good travel essay otherwise.
February 7, 2008
Interesting story of one man's travels through remote regions of India seldom seen by foreigners.
November 14, 2022
The pink-headed duck is (was?) a very rare species that was last reliably sighted in 1935.
American journalist Rory Nugent, hearing a mention of this long-lost duck, decided, on a whim, to try searching for it in east India. So he set off, on a long journey that took him from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Sikkim to Assam, with multiple stops at Delhi to tackle the Indian bureaucracy’s notorious red tape.
I began reading this book because of the pink-headed duck: I am very keen on natural history and the quest for a bird long presumed extinct, might be pretty exhilarating, or so I thought.
The fact of the matter, though, is that while Nugent does carry a picture around which he shows to people, and he quacks every now and then in the hope of hearing an answering quack, that’s it. I can understand that the duck was nowhere to be found, but he tells us next to nothing about it; what was known about it; who saw it and in what conditions, whether anybody since has tried to track it down… no, nothing.
And that is probably because at the heart of it this travelogue is not about the duck. Nugent potters about in Calcutta’s fowl market; hobnobs with the GNLF and Subhash Ghising; is readying to be smuggled into Tibet to cover the Tibetan freedom movement; and then goes on a Burma-to-Bangladesh boat trip in a flimsy little two-man boat. This book is all about his adventures, the people he meets, the interesting insights into everything from wealthy brothel-keepers in Delhi to sleazy Tantrics in Assam.
It’s interesting, but it’s not for anybody who’s really looking for some bird-love and not much more beyond that.
American journalist Rory Nugent, hearing a mention of this long-lost duck, decided, on a whim, to try searching for it in east India. So he set off, on a long journey that took him from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Sikkim to Assam, with multiple stops at Delhi to tackle the Indian bureaucracy’s notorious red tape.
I began reading this book because of the pink-headed duck: I am very keen on natural history and the quest for a bird long presumed extinct, might be pretty exhilarating, or so I thought.
The fact of the matter, though, is that while Nugent does carry a picture around which he shows to people, and he quacks every now and then in the hope of hearing an answering quack, that’s it. I can understand that the duck was nowhere to be found, but he tells us next to nothing about it; what was known about it; who saw it and in what conditions, whether anybody since has tried to track it down… no, nothing.
And that is probably because at the heart of it this travelogue is not about the duck. Nugent potters about in Calcutta’s fowl market; hobnobs with the GNLF and Subhash Ghising; is readying to be smuggled into Tibet to cover the Tibetan freedom movement; and then goes on a Burma-to-Bangladesh boat trip in a flimsy little two-man boat. This book is all about his adventures, the people he meets, the interesting insights into everything from wealthy brothel-keepers in Delhi to sleazy Tantrics in Assam.
It’s interesting, but it’s not for anybody who’s really looking for some bird-love and not much more beyond that.
September 12, 2022
Well although I am a big fan of travel stories, I was disappointed in this one. I had high hopes since it involved a trip to the Himalayas and down the famous Brahmaputra river in India but it just fell flat with me. The actual boat trip down the river was only the last 1/3 to 1/4 of the book and was the most interesting. Not sure why the chapters on the Gurkas was given so much space and what it had to do with the search with the duck....seemed like it could have been edited out without changing anything else about the book.
February 7, 2018
Thoroughly enjoyed the book. Picked it up thinking that it'd be about birds of East/North-East India. Surprisingly it turned out to be a fun book with an interesting narrative, covering not just the local flora and fauna but also the general life of people about the Brahmaputra in Assam, all placed in the backdrop of the author's search along the mighty river, in a rickety little boat, for the elusive and presumed-to-be-extinct Pink-headed duck.
December 30, 2025
Favorite Quote:
“Ghising points out that life in the hills has never been easy, but that Gurkhas view hardship and suffering as separate conditions. Hardship is part of everyday life, and it merely intensifies during a strike. Going to bed with a half-filled stomach is life as it is. Suffering, on the other hand, is something provoked by external forces: Calcutta and its oppression cause suffering” (p. 116).
“Ghising points out that life in the hills has never been easy, but that Gurkhas view hardship and suffering as separate conditions. Hardship is part of everyday life, and it merely intensifies during a strike. Going to bed with a half-filled stomach is life as it is. Suffering, on the other hand, is something provoked by external forces: Calcutta and its oppression cause suffering” (p. 116).
December 15, 2020
Charming travelogue of the author's search for an endangered/extinct duck species in northeastern India, visiting (among other places) West Bengal, Sikkim, and Assam. The author's apparent willingness to go along with people and plans that a normal traveler would flag as exhausting or dangerous allow for some great stories and a glimpse into 1980s India.
August 9, 2023
A light and (mostly) fun fast paced travel log through Northern India. It really didn't stay in one place for too long which made it easy to pick up and read. Sadly, the writing was unremarkable throughout the book. More detail, humor or poeticism could have gone a long way to make this book more memorable or engaging.
January 3, 2024
A light and (mostly) fun fast paced travel log through Northern India. It really didn't stay in one place for too long which made it easy to pick up and read. Sadly, the writing was unremarkable throughout the book. A bit more detail, humor or poeticism could have gone a long way to make this book more memorable or engaging.
July 28, 2023
interesting account of this dude’s travels in search of the possibly extinct (?) pink-headed duck. while the book’s pace seemed to wear itself out by the end, rory nugent certainly has a flair for engaging storytelling. overall, i enjoyed it quite a bit!
January 16, 2026
Although interesting, the book was ultimately unsatisfying. I didn’t expect him to find a (supposedly) extinct animal, but he left the book completely unwrapped up. Even a few more sentences could have made the book better than it was.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2019
Lots of interesting traveling in the far east. Never would I have dared do what Rory Nugent does.
June 24, 2024
I enjoyed this book by a birdwatcher adventurer, even though I felt it was ultimately more of a travel book than an India book.
November 29, 2024
Interesting journey down the Brahmaputra river
August 30, 2025
Gets a little bit boring
December 13, 2009
As the title suggests, this is a book about quest.
Set in India in the late 80s, Nugent starts his memoir by dropping us right in the thick of his journey: Calcutta, the fowl market. He follows his trained instincts (I'm guessing biologist/animal behaviorist, though he never really specifies) through that city, then on to New Delhi. He sojourns to Sikkim whilst awaiting a reply from the Indian higher-ups (he wants to go off the map), and then makes a return back to this land to sit with, of all people, Gurkha guerrillas actively engaged in war.
About two-thirds through the story, Nugent's request to travel the Brahmaputra is granted...though not without the help of some dark forces operating outside the Indian government. Through a stroke of fate/luck he meets a gentleman in a bookstore who is pondering the precise book he was looking for (Government Studies on the Rivers of India), and now he has his river partner.
Their trip down the Brahmaputra takes them all the way from Burma to Bangladesh. It's a truly astonishing feat to read about and to imagine. Nugent includes a picture of the boat that carries them: Lahey, Lahey (meaning slowly, slowly in Assamese). She's a mere thirty inches long from bow to stern! Their travels take them through the perils of the river, the dangers of pirates, and the thrills of animal sightings in country as wide and varied as the river itself.
Whether or not Nugent ever finds the pink duck is up to the reader to decide, and I appreciate that he chose to write the book this way. He holds his cards close to his chest as a writer, which makes some of the rare moments of vulnerability in the book all the more poignant. I loved his bird's eye view of India, and his willingness to chase all of the madness that he found along the way. I felt his tension, but I also saw in him what makes travel really work for anyone which is flexibility of mind and keen observation.
With all of my praise, I must say that the last two chapters were a real disappointment to me. They seemed rushed and almost soulless compared with the rest of the book. It could be Nugent's choice--as he and Shankar near the end of the river at Dhubri the landscape itself changes. There are more people, rampant racism, pollution, and rogue groups (if his description of the Tantric cult he observed doesn't freak you out, well...). Although he highlights some warm spots to provide a bit of depth (i.e. Shankar's family) it wasn't enough to bring it home for me, and wasn't the finish that I had hoped for after the strength of the rest of the story.
Overall, though, I'd still give the book a solid recommendation. I read it while on a trip, and I think that's definitely a good way to do it. Either way, Nugent will inspire you to become a better traveler.
Set in India in the late 80s, Nugent starts his memoir by dropping us right in the thick of his journey: Calcutta, the fowl market. He follows his trained instincts (I'm guessing biologist/animal behaviorist, though he never really specifies) through that city, then on to New Delhi. He sojourns to Sikkim whilst awaiting a reply from the Indian higher-ups (he wants to go off the map), and then makes a return back to this land to sit with, of all people, Gurkha guerrillas actively engaged in war.
About two-thirds through the story, Nugent's request to travel the Brahmaputra is granted...though not without the help of some dark forces operating outside the Indian government. Through a stroke of fate/luck he meets a gentleman in a bookstore who is pondering the precise book he was looking for (Government Studies on the Rivers of India), and now he has his river partner.
Their trip down the Brahmaputra takes them all the way from Burma to Bangladesh. It's a truly astonishing feat to read about and to imagine. Nugent includes a picture of the boat that carries them: Lahey, Lahey (meaning slowly, slowly in Assamese). She's a mere thirty inches long from bow to stern! Their travels take them through the perils of the river, the dangers of pirates, and the thrills of animal sightings in country as wide and varied as the river itself.
Whether or not Nugent ever finds the pink duck is up to the reader to decide, and I appreciate that he chose to write the book this way. He holds his cards close to his chest as a writer, which makes some of the rare moments of vulnerability in the book all the more poignant. I loved his bird's eye view of India, and his willingness to chase all of the madness that he found along the way. I felt his tension, but I also saw in him what makes travel really work for anyone which is flexibility of mind and keen observation.
With all of my praise, I must say that the last two chapters were a real disappointment to me. They seemed rushed and almost soulless compared with the rest of the book. It could be Nugent's choice--as he and Shankar near the end of the river at Dhubri the landscape itself changes. There are more people, rampant racism, pollution, and rogue groups (if his description of the Tantric cult he observed doesn't freak you out, well...). Although he highlights some warm spots to provide a bit of depth (i.e. Shankar's family) it wasn't enough to bring it home for me, and wasn't the finish that I had hoped for after the strength of the rest of the story.
Overall, though, I'd still give the book a solid recommendation. I read it while on a trip, and I think that's definitely a good way to do it. Either way, Nugent will inspire you to become a better traveler.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2013
I really enjoyed this book - the imagery and description of Nugent's journey was very good. I felt like I was in Northeast India. I enjoyed experiencing it, despite the fact that his happened decades ago. It amazes me that people can do things like this - pick up and leave and just travel the world. It's something I would love to be able to do (but I don't have the guts for it). And even if some of the stories are a little outlandish - it was enjoyable if not always believable. But then again, who am I to say that the outlandish didn't happen.
The only disappointment I had, was at the end. I felt like there was so much energy and detail put into the first nine-tenths of the book, and then the last chapter was a rush to the finish. I finished and thought to myself - really? This is how it ends? But sometimes real life leaves us with that feeling.
The only disappointment I had, was at the end. I felt like there was so much energy and detail put into the first nine-tenths of the book, and then the last chapter was a rush to the finish. I finished and thought to myself - really? This is how it ends? But sometimes real life leaves us with that feeling.
December 17, 2007
Rory Nugent takes the reader on a fascinating journey into the heart of deepest India. Constantly fighting Indian beauracracy, Nugent takes a raft down the Brahmaputra River searching for the long thought extinct Pink-headed Duck. Though ornithologists gave up on the duck years ago there are still reported (but unconfirmed) sightings, Nugent goes to find the bird himself. Although natural history is the basis of Nugent's book, the content deals more with the authors hardships of traveling in third world Asia. For anyone who enjoys ornithological natural history travel books or just plain ole adventure travel. Awesome!
August 1, 2010
The author is certainly persistent in his search for a duck in India that may be extinct, but one suspects that the pink-headed duck was just an excuse for a travel adventure in India. The duck is certainly the only thing that really keeps the narrative in one piece since this is really a series of shorter and longer pieces about various travel adventures that the author participates in. Entertaining reading, however, for the armchair traveler.
September 3, 2009
I related to this book as I have traveled India and it is as frustrating as he say's but this is what I recall often and treasure. I must make another trip to India.
Once at a party I told some guests that I had just read a great travel book "The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck", they all thought it was hilarious and it was.
Once at a party I told some guests that I had just read a great travel book "The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck", they all thought it was hilarious and it was.
August 20, 2009
After browsing through a used book store this book stumbled into my view. Around the time I got this book, I was discovering the genre of travel memoirs, so I got the "Pink Duck book" as it has come to be known in my house. This was an entertaining yet informational book and I am glad I bought and read it.
July 30, 2011
A fantastic voyage. Although not the best writer I have come across, the style is easy to read, and the content is fascinating. The book sometimes meanders for too long, sometimes spends too short a time on a topic, but all in all a good read. I learned quite a lot about Gurkhas, Sikkim, the Brahmaputra, Kali's breast and of course, pink-headed ducks.
August 21, 2015
This book managed to combine my love of birds, travel adventure and anthropology. It is the true story of a man who is obsessed with finding a pink-headed duck. He travels all over India chasing leads. As a woman, I would never be able to do this kind of backpack traveling alone and I find it
thrilling to tag along on Rory's adventure. He is a great story teller and very brave.
thrilling to tag along on Rory's adventure. He is a great story teller and very brave.
January 6, 2008
It starts out interesting, but then you keep reading, and the end you think, gee why did I read this?
April 11, 2009
a wonderful ride through spectacular country
May 26, 2009
Funny, fascinating true adventure of Nugent's quest for the pink-headed duck.
June 2, 2009
A hard-to-find book that is worth finding. And reading.
September 11, 2007
Entertaining but I've read better books of this genre.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews