Jeremy Mynott

Birdscapes does indeed examine birds in our imagination and in the experience of humans who notice them, so Mynott's subtitle is quite accurate but does not capture the breadth of his imagination or the depth of his thinking. How else explain his inclusion of Aristophanes, Homer, Plato and Aristotle beside Monty Python, burlesque theater, Shakespeare, Thoreau, Ted Hughes, John Clare and just about every English language field guide to birds. Reading this book, I laughed at times, I pondered at times, I enjoyed Mynott's thoughts and words throughout.… (meer)

Much like The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology, this book is dense and overflowing with information. Sadly, I wasn't able to finish this one, either, before I had to return it to the library. I will say that I enjoyed Mynott's writing style more than Birkhead's, possibly because Mynott brings a literary background (former chief executive of Cambridge University Press) compared to Birkhead's science background (he's an avian ecologist). But I also preferred how this book was organized, too. I still skipped around in the text, but I think I'll probably check it out again in the future and finish it up.… (meer)