Tuco and the Scattershot World: A Life with Birds

by Brian Brett

“[Brett’s] writing is so vivid, the observations so telling, that a reader can virtually feel the smooth heft of a collected egg in the palm of a hand or hear the goofy, honking dawn call of the peacock.” —Globe & Mail on Trauma Farm

A raucous biography of a remarkable parrot and an incisive exploration of how we relate to those who are different from us.

Both a biography of an irreverent African Grey parrot—given to asking “Whaddya know?” and announcing “Party time!”—and an exploration of the history of birds/dinosaurs, the relationships between humans and birds, our notions of language and intelligence, and our tendency to “other” anything that is different from us, Tuco also describes Brett’s own painful experience of being othered as an androgyne. Provocative, profound, hilarious, and moving, Tuco is most of all the extraordinary story of Brett’s decades-long relationship with this singular bird, what Brett calls “a story we made together.”

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Canada, Nature, Animals, Birds

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2015

About the author

Brian Brett, former chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada and a journalist for four decades, is best known as a poet, memoir writer, and fictionist. He is the author of twelve books including the poetry collection, “The Colour Of Bones In A Stream,” and the novel, “Coyote: A Mystery.” His memoir, “Uproar’s Your Only Music,” was a Globe and Mail’s Book Of The Year selection by Ronald Wright: “The most exciting Canadian book I’ve read all year. ” His best-seller, “Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life,” won numerous prizes, including the Writers’ Trust annual award for best Canadian non-fiction book. His new poems: “To Your Scattered Bodies Go” won the CBC poetry prize in 2011. A collection of poems and prose poems about an endangered watershed in the near-arctic, “The Wind River Variations” has just been released. He is currently completing the third of a trilogy of memoirs, “Tuco And The Scattershot World: A Life With Birds.”

Reviews

[Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's be clear.... The Scattershot World refers to Brian Brett's fantastically scattershot way of thinking about and seeing the world, and not Tuco's. The Amazon Grey Parrot who is Tuco, well - he's just outstandingly cerebral, and quite typically mischievous. He's fun!

Brett is not.

He's a lot like me - a square peg sorta guy who never developed normal discriminating awareness. Blunt and brash as a Douglas Fir Tree stump. But not dumb, in which trait Tuco also is decidedly lacking.

And like me, Brett grew into an adult with arrested development.

My excuse was adolescent ethical dissent from the norm, while Brett pleads arrested physiological development as the root cause of his scattershot world.

'Scattershot' - by the way - refers in Brett's case to getting several rounds of buckshot in his caboose from an irate farmer-neighbour's shotgun while he was rooting around in the old man's barn as a kid.

My own scattershot thinking refers to the effect my meds have on the odd bipolar recurrence: my wandering thoughts get exploded into tiny fragments.

Stops 'em every time.

As the buckshot told Brett he too was over the top. But did he change his tune?

No.

Now he revels in that quality, as you'll see if you read this. Poor guy, fascinating as his conversation may be - and as this book is for sure.

Not me.

I'm like Pavlov's pets, who've learned by hard experience to mind their P's & Q's. Getting my thoughts zapped into scattershot is not my cuppa tea. But I found peace out of it all, so I'm glad!

You know, some books should be sipped slowly like fine wine.

But this BOOK is enjoyable only while you're dodging its shrapnel.

Tuco, as a pet, would make my life full of fun -

But having Brian Brett for a friend would upset my psychological Apple Cart.

He's nevertheless written a stunning self-portrait, much to his credit -

And it's for sure this is one book I'll NEVER forget.

[Linda Leafloor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read with just a little more than I wanted to know about birds. But what comes through loud and clear is the author's concern for our planet and all the life it sustains. If we could begin to feel the empathy and oneness with all life, and with this environment we share, perhaps we would find a way to save ourselves. At the very least, we would enjoy a kinder, gentler existence.

[Debbie Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this far reaching memoir, Brian Brett explores his life and his relationship with an African grey parrot. Within a wealth of anecdotes about bird behaviour and the natural world, he dares to ask big questions. What is human knowledge? Why are we so cruel to one another and to the other creatures that inhabit this world? Reading this book reminded me of reading the best novels of Tom Robbins. The journey winds and twists and deepens. Afterwards, I’m not sure that I can recall everywhere that I visited, and if you asked me what the story was about, I would have to give you several answers. But I do know that the journey was profound. This is an excellent book. It does what all excellent books do. It makes you think.

[Zoom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted SO MUCH to love this book. But I didn't. I loved the concept (memoir of an intersex man with an African Grey parrot) and I found the anecdotes entertaining. But every time I started to get into the book, it would veer off into history and self-indulgent philosophical ramblings. And I would slog through those, over and over again, just to get through them and back to the good stuff.

I also found the graphic descriptions of bird torture (mostly for commercial trade) disturbing. The kind of people who read books about parrots probably don't need to have their noses rubbed in bird torture stories.

know a lot of people loved it, but this book just wasn't enjoyable for me. I almost abandoned it, but I persevered because that's what I do.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first few chapters of this book, but then it became too plodding for me. I guess I was more interested in the author's life than in the parrot's, and the endless information re the treatment of birds and the environment just became too much. I thought the underlying premise about being "other" was very interesting, and I wish Brett had revealed more about his own life. I thought he is a very good writer.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. However, there was a lot of very dry historical and evolutionary information that I just had to skip over. I had a good cry at the end, when Tuco passed away. I have a parrot myself, and if I cried like over a bird I only knew vicariously, how will I feel when my Morgan passes?

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a long time to read. I would put it down for extended periods but always came back to it. It was a compelling read encompassing autobiography, nature, philosophy all wrapped in the story of the author's African Grey parrot. An unusual book.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be prepared to be surprised and delighted - odd, quirky, non-linear - all told a brilliant and sensitive book that is most certainly not exclusively about a parrot.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philosophy,Religion Natural Science and of course the parrot ,filtered through the amazing perspective of Brian Brett. A very interesting look at humankind.

[Malcolm Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introduced me to the concept of "other". Great book!

[Eaton Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Read this week after the author's death, prompted, finally, by my passion for birds.

Brian was a great storyteller, and I wish the memoir had been shorter and had stuck more closely to his own experiences, with more specificity and fewer generalities. Any of the anecdotes could have been successfully expanded. It needed editing (and, so saying, it likely had been worked on a lot, and had gotten much better through the process). While reading, I often had to read fragments that were presented as sentences aloud to confirm they weren't actually sentences or stylistic tics. I found the book repetitive, with entire anecdotes appearing twice--why? Irritating.

I was particularly keen on the chapter about animal communication but found some of the chapters a slog.

Perhaps it could have been an excellent braided essay with the scholarship breaking up the personal narrative?

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book after hearing the author interviewed on CBC. I was predisposed to like it because I liked him, but I struggled to get into it at first. Then I realized that's because I couldn't categorize it - memoir? Natural history of birds? Philosophy book? Once I let go of any expectations that it could fit neatly into a particular genre, once I could just appreciate and enjoy each chapter, each page, each sentence on its own merits, I loved it. It's a sometimes rambling and meandering sort of journey, but a fascinating and heartfelt ride with an intelligent, observant and insightful guide.

[Sarah]

I read this because someone I love sees themself in this story, and I wanted to better understand them. I think I see what they see, and why they connect to it, but because of the personal nature of my reading, it feels wrong to attempt to assign a star rating.
That said, I enjoyed the way Brett explores the ways in which people have interacted with birds throughout history, and the pathways our brains have mapped in an attempt to connect to birds. He jumps around a bit and it's hard to follow at times, but he does always eventually find his way to the point.

[David Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a lovely memoir about the author's relationship with his parrot Tuco as well as his troubled childhood and his musings about the future of mankind. I don't normally write reviews but this story was truly touching and I highly recommend it. Tuco was quite a character to share your life with and I am so glad that Brian shared his story with us.

[Peter Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am half way through having been directed to it from a charming CBC interview with the author. There's a short book here in an otherwise long book that others describe as meandering. I would call it uneven. Don't be put off by the first chapter as I nearly was. I thought it needed a good editor.

[Brent Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Thoughtful Book for Thoughtful People

I loved pretty much everything about this book. There is nothing I have read lately that goes from Zeus to Abacus and ends up with entropy. Well written and compelling.

[Jack Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a didactic trip through the natural world With his best friend TUCO an African Grey Parrot, reflecting on how humans do the "other" so well.
Brian has honed his craft over the years and deserves the success his humor and skill reveal.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy all of Brian Brett's book, his storytelling ability carries me along. And I loved Tuco, but I could've had a little less detail on birds in general, but much of it was quite interesting. However, I enjoyed his other books more. 3.5

[Juliet Melville-Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be a book filled with wonderful and educational information on our feathered friends. Unexpected, but just as wonderful, was the author's autobiographical information. I thank him for letting me get to know a bit about himself.

[Diana Stevan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this memoir, a story about a man and his parrot and what they learn from one another. I had the pleasure of meeting Brian Brett, when he was writer-in-residence in Campbell River. He's an award-winning poet as well. A great read!

[Leenta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the interaction with the bird AND other animals. They are more clever than we give them credit for.

[Jen J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautifully written, though very very dense. A lot of the endless facts went over my head, unabsorbed, but I loved the world this book drew me into.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd but true to form.

[Kay McCracken · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving tribute to Brett`s parrot, Tuco, and to birds in general. As always Brett never fails to astonish me with his keen observations and his wonderful way of expressing his love of the things in this world, his world, that matter most. I leaned a lot, I laughed, was astonished, and I cried.

Had my hard cover copy signed after listening to Brian on a panel at the Vancouver Writers` Festival on Granville Island in Vancouver on October 24, 2015.

[Vontel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have purchased and read Trauma Farm, an excellent book which I highly recommend, and some of Brian Brett's poetry. I had the opportunity to attend one of his readings a few years ago (Trauma Farm and selected poetry), with great appreciation. Highly articulate in person and on the page about many aspects of, and observations about, his varied life and relationships, including time as a civic politician in the lower mainland and farming on Saltspring Island, as well as writing. If you have the opportunity to attend one of his readings, I recommend taking advantage of it.

I am looking forward to reading Tuco.

[Nicole Plotkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book really quickly, and for that reason, probably didn't give it its due. There are so many interesting and complex topics considered, that I feel as though I could read it many more times, in order to learn more about these topics - particularly with respect to the concept of Othering and how we treat animals, evolution, climate change, anthromorphism, bird/animal languages, and so many others. Each paragraph felt like an encyclopedia's worth of information.
This is also the kind of book that I would never have known about, picked up, if it weren't for my book club, and for that I am grateful.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a book club selection. I got about 2/3 of the way through. Brett has had a fascinating life and there were interesting bits, but ultimately it was too "scattershot" for me. Your mileage may vary.

[Lucille · Rating 5 out of 5]

it has been a long long while since i cried - sob cried - at the end of a book. tuco! tuco! tuco! interspecies companionship, seeing otherness, meditations on every nature of thinking and feeling and being. brian brett is my kind of writer: clear, moving, funny, real, loving.

[Alexis]

Read for book club.

[Heather Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant exploring of many topics particularly human behaviour and the harm it causes, tempered with hope