Homing by Jon Day
A feral history of home, and our relationship with that most unloved bird.
Precise and poignant * Spectator *
I love Jon Day's writing and his birdsA marvellous, soaring account * Olivia Laing *
A compelling blend of personal memoir, nature writing and popular science, Day's book considers the humble pigeon, probably our oldest companion species. * Mail on Sunday *
Homing did something I thought would be impossible - made me fall in love with the humble, familiar feral pigeon. It is both a repository of fascinating stories and memorable characters, and a deeply felt personal enquiry into the nature of 'home'. Every page of this beautifully written book brought me pleasure * Charlotte Higgins *
'A terrific book which explores the sport inside out, as well as our own human concept of what home is' * Daily Telegraph *
In this lucid and beguiling book, Jon Day has written marvellously interwoven tale of our two species * Jonathan Raban *
A meditation that swoops agilely over topics from tyranny of technology to the paradoxes of parenting and the rewards of simply staying put. . . . A joyful, richly rewarding book * Mail on Sunday *
Big-hearted and quietly gripping * The Guardian *
[A] Vivid evocation of a remarkable species and a rich working-class tradition...a charming defence of a much-maligned bird * Daily Mail *
Day's stories from the history of human-pigeon relations are well chosen and well told ... there's a great deal to like in the simple imagery of a young family and their pigeons growing up together in an east London home * Literary Review *
This beautiful book by an English lecturer-cum-pigeon fancier reveals eerie parallels between human and bird life ... [A] beautiful book about unbeautiful birds * The Observer *
Jon Day takes on the humble racing pigeon to ask just what home is, how we establish it, miss it and depart and return to it. He elevates this heroic bird to its rightful place in natural history and our history too, and celebrates its shared instinct with us for home... the art his own family and academic career... He has many fascinating accounts of how we've exploited these miraculous birds' homing instincts in war and peace... Day swoops and soars over many fields of art and science to unravel our instinct for home
Endlessly interesting and dazzlingly erudite, this wonderful book will make a home for itself in your heart * Prospect Magazine *
I totally love Jon Day's new book Homing. For people who recognise that feeling familiar to Freud, of being homesick for nowhere, Jon's sense of making a particular home, or of knowing your way back to one, is a miracle-narrative of birds and men. Humane and beautifully navigated, it is hands down a book of the year -- Andrew O'Hagan
A dazzlingly erudite memoir about family, children and pigeon-fancying. An unlikely combination perhaps, but Day pulls it off. * Prospect Magazine *
Day's stories from the history of human-pigeon relations are well chosen and well told ... there's a great deal to like in the simple imagery of a young family and their pigeons growing up together in an east London home * Literary Review *
I love Jon Day's writing and his birdsA marvellous, soaring account * Olivia Laing *
A compelling blend of personal memoir, nature writing and popular science, Day's book considers the humble pigeon, probably our oldest companion species. * Mail on Sunday *
Homing did something I thought would be impossible - made me fall in love with the humble, familiar feral pigeon. It is both a repository of fascinating stories and memorable characters, and a deeply felt personal enquiry into the nature of 'home'. Every page of this beautifully written book brought me pleasure * Charlotte Higgins *
'A terrific book which explores the sport inside out, as well as our own human concept of what home is' * Daily Telegraph *
In this lucid and beguiling book, Jon Day has written marvellously interwoven tale of our two species * Jonathan Raban *
A meditation that swoops agilely over topics from tyranny of technology to the paradoxes of parenting and the rewards of simply staying put. . . . A joyful, richly rewarding book * Mail on Sunday *
Big-hearted and quietly gripping * The Guardian *
[A] Vivid evocation of a remarkable species and a rich working-class tradition...a charming defence of a much-maligned bird * Daily Mail *
Day's stories from the history of human-pigeon relations are well chosen and well told ... there's a great deal to like in the simple imagery of a young family and their pigeons growing up together in an east London home * Literary Review *
This beautiful book by an English lecturer-cum-pigeon fancier reveals eerie parallels between human and bird life ... [A] beautiful book about unbeautiful birds * The Observer *
Jon Day takes on the humble racing pigeon to ask just what home is, how we establish it, miss it and depart and return to it. He elevates this heroic bird to its rightful place in natural history and our history too, and celebrates its shared instinct with us for home... the art his own family and academic career... He has many fascinating accounts of how we've exploited these miraculous birds' homing instincts in war and peace... Day swoops and soars over many fields of art and science to unravel our instinct for home
Endlessly interesting and dazzlingly erudite, this wonderful book will make a home for itself in your heart * Prospect Magazine *
I totally love Jon Day's new book Homing. For people who recognise that feeling familiar to Freud, of being homesick for nowhere, Jon's sense of making a particular home, or of knowing your way back to one, is a miracle-narrative of birds and men. Humane and beautifully navigated, it is hands down a book of the year -- Andrew O'Hagan
A dazzlingly erudite memoir about family, children and pigeon-fancying. An unlikely combination perhaps, but Day pulls it off. * Prospect Magazine *
Day's stories from the history of human-pigeon relations are well chosen and well told ... there's a great deal to like in the simple imagery of a young family and their pigeons growing up together in an east London home * Literary Review *
Jon Day is a writer, critic and academic. He is the author of Cyclogeography (Notting Hill Editions, 2015) and Homing (John Murray, 2019), which was a book of the year in the Guardian, The Spectator, Daily Telegraph and Observer, and was longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award. He is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books, and his essays and reviews have also appeared in the Financial Times, New York Review of Books, Bookforum, n+1, Guardian, The Spectator and many others. He teaches English and creative writing at King's College London.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781473635401 |
| ISBN 10 | 1473635403 |
| Title | Homing |
| Author | Jon Day |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | John Murray Press |
| Year published | 2020-03-05 |
| Number of pages | 272 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |