From Publishers Weekly
Once, when Peterson was in a Nairobi restaurant, the headwaiter addressed him as "Bwana Ndege," or "Mr. Bird." And Mr. Bird he was: naturalist Peterson's 1953 classic,
A Field Guide to the Birds, introduced a quick way of identifying live birds that is well known and used today as the Peterson Identification System. The Peterson Field Guide series is used by experts and novices alike. But Peterson also wrote a regular and delightfully personal column for
Bird Watcher's Digest from 1984 until his death in 1996. This selection of small gems, carefully collected by current
Digest editor Thompson, displays many of Peterson's little-known interests as well as fascinating descriptions of birding adventures in the wilds of Africa, Mexico and New York City. Peterson also displays an elegant and precise writing style. While there's often a certain elegiac quality to Peterson's last essays, in which he recalls some of his naturalist friends and peers who have died, this collection overall stands as a tribute to the joy he experienced through birding: "To take a chance once in a while and to get away with it is to feel alive." 80 color photos.
(Nov. 16) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Peterson's first
Field Guide to the Birds was published in 1934, leading to countless numbers of field guides following in its wake. He observed that birds "are the most intensely alive of all creatures, often moving, darting, hopping, flying, or at times, migrating thousands of miles." He was one of the world's most renowned naturalists, and reading this collection of 42 of his columns from
Bird Watcher's Digest offers much insight into his perspective on the changes he saw in his lifetime. He wrote the column "All Things Reconsidered" from 1984 until his death in 1996, covering an array of topics: his birding adventures, the lives of certain species, and the growth and changes in bird watching, for example. Bill Thompson, editor of
Bird Watcher's Digest, sees that Peterson was an expert illustrator and writer as well as a photographer and lecturer. Each of the book's essays is illustrated with Peterson's photographs--80 in all. Bird-watchers will love the book, and non-bird-watchers who read it will want to join the ranks of birders.
George CohenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
