A Supremely Bad Idea by Luke Dempsey (c. 2008)

I am reading A Supremely Bad IDea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All, by Luke Dempsey (c. 2008). I actually won a free copy of this book for my Early Reviewer duties over at www.librarything.com (I get the book for free from the publisher, but have to provide reviews on it) and it just happened to coincide with my September topic!



Dempsey is a Brit displaced to New York City, where he happens upon a couple of friends (a married couple, Don and Donna Grafitti) who introduce him to the pure joy and yes, madness, of birding. A full review will follow, but as soon as I picked this one up, I couldn't put it down. It's a tender, funny little book about the fragile natural world we live in, the beauty within, how standing still makes the canvas come alive, and also friendship. These three travel all over the U.S. and their stories are incredibly funny. I've learned more about birds (most of them in my own backyard or close to) in 124 pages than I have so far in life. Dempsey's style of writing is conversational, funny (in a sweet, not crude, way) and his love for birds, just the pure fact of them, comes shining through.

Review to follow.

Carolyn
Admin

Review of A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See it All, by Luke Dempsey (c. 2008)

I never know what I am going to get with doing the Early Reviewers program, but this book was such a pleasant surprise. I loved it. It has a little bit of a lot of things, which may annoy some people, but for me, it was like spending time with friends who introduced me to the wonder of birding; and the joy to see a bird just to ... see it. Dempsey is kind of a lost soul, Brit in America, who befriends (and vice versa) two of non fiction's best personalities, Don and Donna Grafitti, and the three traverse the United States in search of "seeing" birds of all stripes. This was a wonderful, layman's introduction to birding and I now find myself looking everywhere I go, to catch a glimpse, and to learn, about the birds around me. Although primarily about the birds, their waning habitats and their behaviors, it's also a great friendship story, about how three people keep their passion alive and accept each other for exactly who they are. That is a rare find in fiction or non fiction these days. There are a lot of reviews that bash how there are better birding books out there. Of course there are, this doesn't purport to be the be all, end all or definitive text on any one species. It is one human's joy. I loved the sarcastic view of the various Americans, all the while, Dempsey still makes it clear how much he loves his adopted country. Having been Small Injustices Woman a time or two (recently, in Tulum when an American Dunce Family was feeding iguanas Wonder Bread in front of the bright yellow sign saying how harmful that was to them), that was one of my favorite parts ~ saving wildlife everywhere from Dunce Families. Hopefully, this will spark a movement! Overall though, this is a warm, tender, funny/quirky book and I highly recommend it.

4 stars out of 5

Carolyn
Admin