The Big Year by Mark Obmascik
Each year, hundreds of people set out across North America determined to set a new record in a spectacularly competitive event. Is it tennis? Golf? Racing? Poker perhaps? No, it's bird-watching, and a contest known as the Big Year - a grand, gruelling, expensive (and occasionally vicious) 365-day marathon to identify the most species. THE BIG YEAR is the rollicking chronicle of the 275,000-mile odyssey of three unlikely adventurers who take their bird-watching so seriously it nearly kills them. From Texas in pursuit of the Rufus-capped Warbler to British Columbia in search of Xantus' Hummingbird, these obsessive enthusiasts brave roasting deserts, storm-tossed oceans, infested swamps and disgruntled lions (not to mention some of the lumpiest hotel mattresses known to man) as they vie to become North America's number one bird-watcher in what would prove to be the biggest Big Year of them all... This captivating tour of human and avian nature, of courage and deceit, of passion and paranoia reveals the extremes to which Man will go to pursue his dreams, to conquer and to categorize...
A true and unexpectedly exhilarating tale of guile, obsession and competitiveness as rich and involving as any novel.. You will care * The Week *
An adrenaline rush of a book... about an obsession almost as mad as it is magnificent * YORKSHIRE POST *
An exciting road trip of a story... This sense of thrilling liberation, forays into uncharted territories and an understanding of what drives these men is as much part of the story as the quest itself * THE LIST *
An adrenaline rush of a book... about an obsession almost as mad as it is magnificent * YORKSHIRE POST *
An exciting road trip of a story... This sense of thrilling liberation, forays into uncharted territories and an understanding of what drives these men is as much part of the story as the quest itself * THE LIST *
Mark Obmascik has been a journalist for over two decades, most recently at the 'Denver Post', where he was lead writer for the newspaper's Pulitzer Prize. He has also won the National Press Club Award for his environmental journalism. An obsessed birdwatcher himself, he lives in Denver with his wife and sons.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780857500694 |
| ISBN 10 | 0857500694 |
| Title | The Big Year |
| Author | Mark Obmascik |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Transworld Publishers Ltd |
| Year published | 2011-12-08 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |