{"product_id":"the-bedside-book-of-birds-isbn-9780385547130","title":"The Bedside Book of Birds","description":"\u003cb\u003eFeaturing a new foreword by Margaret Atwood!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this stunning assemblage of words and images, novelist and avid birdwatcher Graeme Gibson offers an extraordinary tribute to the venerable relationship between humans and \u003cbr\u003ebirds.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e From the Aztec plumed serpent to the Christian dove to Plato's vision of the human soul growing wings, religion and philosophy use birds to represent our aspirational selves. Winged creatures appear in mythology and folk tales, and in literature by writers as diverse as Ovid, Thoreau, and T. S. Eliot. They've been omens, allegories, and guides; they've been worshipped, eaten, and feared. Birds figure tellingly in the work of such nature writers as Gilbert White and Peter Matthiessen, and are synonymous with the science of Darwin. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGibson spent years collecting this gorgeously illustrated celebration of centuries of human response to the delights of the feathered tribes. \u003ci\u003eThe Bedside Book of Birds\u003c\/i\u003e is for everyone who is intrigued by the artistic forms that humanity creates to represent its soul.\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eGlobe and Mail \u003c\/i\u003eBest\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eBook of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The most compulsively readable of a clutch  of bird-themed books out this autumn. Taking in everything from classic nature-writing  to poetry via folklore and Mayan creation myths, \u003cb\u003eThe Bedside Book Of Birds\u003c\/b\u003e is by  no means for 'twitchers' only.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003ci\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e (London)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The perfect book for armchair  ornithologists with an eye for words as well as feathers.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Daily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e (London)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A wonderful collection of poetry and prose, folk tales and myths, which pay tribute  to our feathered friend. . . . A perfect Christmas present, even for non-anoraks.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003ci\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e (UK)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Anyone who has watched birds, studied them, given them the  least attention,will find this a treat. It is a compilation of writings that celebrate  themany ways people have engaged with birds - made companions of them,mythologised  them, hunted and eaten them. There's an account of a mocking thrush drinking from  Charles Darwin's hand on the voyage of the Beagle, and of a woman in Ohio who incubated  50 hens' eggs by laying them alongside the body of her dying, fevered husband. This  book is well worth buying for the illustrations alone.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003ci\u003eNew Scientist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The beauty  of the writing and the illustrations contained in \u003cb\u003eThe Bedside Book of Birds\u003c\/b\u003e is matched  by the beauty of the physical book itself. Great pains have been taken by the author  and the publisher to make this book a work of art, and they have succeeded marvellously.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Globe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The most spectacular bird book of the year.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Globe and  Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"\u003c\/i\u003eAn astoundingly beautiful book . . . featur[ing] some of the most sublime  writings to be found on the subject.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Globe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003cb\u003eThe Bedside Book of Birds\u003c\/b\u003e is a superb gift, a compulsive must-have, for the bird-lover, the storyteller, and  the anthropologist in the family.  As a collection it is exemplary of how fascination  can re-order the world.  Readers will be thinking feathered thoughts for days and  they will be happier.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Calgary Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This book in the hand is worth two on  the shelf.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Calgary Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A beautiful volume, sumptiously illustrated.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe  Vancouver Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[Gibson]’s book is a stunner. The wealth of imagery and the range  of intelligence are grand, the kinds of relationships with birds he sets out nearly  bewildering…. It’s what I’ll take to bed tonight to incite my dreams.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—Barry Lopez\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Gibson's own graceful and erudite essays tell of the pleasure, fear, confusion,  or hope that birds inspire, and their imperiled place in nature.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Oprah Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Gibson's preambles are as satisfying as the texts and accompanying illustrations.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGRAEME GIBSON was born in London, Ontario, in 1934. He was the author of three novels, \u003ci\u003eFive Legs\u003c\/i\u003e (1969), \u003ci\u003eCommunion\u003c\/i\u003e (1971) and \u003ci\u003ePerpetual Motion\u003c\/i\u003e (1982), and of two bedside companions, \u003ci\u003eThe Bedside Book of Birds\u003c\/i\u003e (2005) and \u003ci\u003eThe Bedside Book of Beasts\u003c\/i\u003e (2009). An important spokesman for Canadian cultural identity, Gibson was the initial organizer and a founding member of the Writers' Union of Canada, and was its chairman in 1976. He was also an organizer and founding member of the Writers' Trust, a non-profit organization, and was subsequently its chairman. From 1987 to 1989, he was president of the Canadian Centre of International PEN. In 1990, he won a Toronto Arts Award for writing and publishing, and, in 1992 he received the Order of Canada. Graeme Gibson died in September 2019.","brand":"Nan A. Talese","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300693135589,"sku":"NP9780385547130","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780385547130.jpg?v=1767738299","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-bedside-book-of-birds-isbn-9780385547130","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}