Big Twitch: One Man, One Continent, a Race Against Time-A True Story about Birdwatching [Paperback]

Sean Dooley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

As a self-proclaimed twitcher—a birdwatching extremist who travels around the country trying to catch a glimpse of as many species of birds as possible—the author took a year off in 2002 with the goal of seeing 700 birds and thereby breaking the national record for most birds seen in one year. In this amusing memoir, he recounts his quest, including how he spent all of his inheritance from the untimely death of his parents to make his dream a reality. Populated by unusual characters and interesting species of birds, this part confessional–part travelogue for both bird nerds and the general population follows the author as he works out what it means to be normal despite his unusually avid compulsion toward twitching.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dooley makes his living in Australia writing television comedy scripts, but his real passion is bird-watching—in fact, he'll frequently "twitch," dropping whatever he's doing to travel hundreds of miles for a brief glimpse of a recently sighted rare species. In 2002, he set out to break the record for the most birds spotted throughout the Australian territories in a single year. The effort to track down more than 700 species takes him from a sooty owl sitting on a tree branch in the early hours of New Year's Day to a blue-faced parrot finch climbing a blade of grass on Christmas Eve. Stories about frustrated efforts to spot various birds show a winning humor, but without any pictures of birds or their habitats, all the locations start to blur together. The amiable, conversational tone keeps the story from getting dull, and the Aussie cultural references are easily deciphered, but Dooley's accomplishment in the end feels anticlimactic. (Aug. )
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Birding is known as twitching in Britain and the Commonwealth. Serious twitchers chase rare birds to rack up serious life lists, and really serious twitchers try to see more species in one year than any of their peers. Dooley, a comedy writer, tried to break the Australian record of 700 bird species seen in 365 days, and he records the events in this marvelously funny memoir. He loves birds and twitching, but also sees his hobby with the clear, sarcastic eye of a man who is aware that most others find serious birders seriously weird. As the author takes a year off work, blows through his inheritance, and travels thousands of miles crisscrossing the Australian continent, his hilarious commentary on his own sanity will keep even the nonbirding reader in stitches. Prepare to laugh out loud. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1741145287
• ISBN-13: 978-1741145281
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #911,461 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Twitch, September 8, 2006

By 

K. Freeman (Apple Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Big Twitch: One Man, One Continent, a Race Against Time-A True Story about Birdwatching (Paperback)

Australian birder Sean Dooley describes his Big Year, an effort to break the record for the most birds seen in Australia (and environs) in a year.

I loved this birding memoir. Dooley is a lively, humorous, engaging writer, and his Australian slang makes his voice particularly come alive, at least for this American reader. He conveys a passion for his pursuit and a concern for wildlife and the environment without sanctimony.

Clearly, there are scads of awesome birds in Australia, and undoubtedly they have the best common names of any birds anywhere. The species list at the back of the book is an entertainment in itself.

I am at a loss, however, to explain Mr. Dooley's difficulty in finding women who bird. Maybe it's a cultural thing?

Definitely recommended, especially for American readers to whom the language and most of the species will be engagingly exotic.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome read!, May 20, 2010

By 

Lulubelle (DFW metroplex area) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Big Twitch: One Man, One Continent, a Race Against Time-A True Story about Birdwatching (Paperback)

This is a great book! I found it engaging, funny and educational. It is well worth the money spent. I have read it several times and each time I find myself laughing or totally caught up in the chase. Would love to bird with him!

3.0 out of 5 stars Exciting Adventure, October 24, 2010

By 

Tero "we are all made of stars" (MO USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Big Twitch: One Man, One Continent, a Race Against Time-A True Story about Birdwatching (Paperback)

For birders only. Finished the whole book, but there are no pictures. Used a field guide to get a general idea.

Probably the only such book on Australia.