Customer Reviews

The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

To categorize "The Big Year" as simply a birding book is to sidestep the universality of this crisply written narrative. Three men spend 365 days to satisfy a burning desire to observe more species of birds than anyone else in North America. The ultimate prize is no more than bragging rights and a place in the record books. This is obsession, nothing more or less, at its finest.

How many people are actually able to pursue their dreams? Going after a big year record takes the willingness and ability to hop a plane at a moment's notice, to travel to the kind of locales that people a little less loony would eschew, to spend copious amounts of time and money pursuing birds who very well might not be there by the time you arrive.

Obmascik captures the whole picture in a lively book that reveals the occasionally desperate spirit of the competition, the nature of the competitors and, with finely researched science and historical writing, enough background information to help the new initiate understand just why this particular sport is interesting and how it came to be. This isn't simply a book for birders. It's an actively written account that transcends birding, one that offers up a unique slice of humanity to the interested reader.

As an expeienced birder I often find books about the subject less than entertaining. Not the case with The Big Year. I read it in one sitting and enjoyed every page.

I know one of the characters, Greg Miller, and ran into another, Sandy Komito during one of his numerous chases for rarities 1998, the year the book is based upon. So perhaps my enthusiasm is a little overblown, but not by much.

Mark Obmasik does an excellent job of capturing the obsession that sometimes develops among birders. His style is entertaining and very readable. I especially enjoyed the wild helicopter chase! Birding is an exciting past time. Obmasik captures that excitement.

A big year in birding is like an Ironman length triathlon. Sometimes you just have to gut it out, but in the end it is a memorable experience no matter who wins. Obmasik tells the story in a way that helps you to understand what a big year is like for the participant. Greg Miller's story is especially compelling. He has the smallest budget, the least free time,and is out of shape physically and emotionally. Yet he still manages the astounding feat of seeing over 700 species in North America in a single year.

A fun read for birders and non birders too.

I read the excerpt of this book in my son's Sports Illustrated (January 19, 2004 issue) and immediately ordered a copy The Big Year. Who would have thought that three bird watchers offer the story for an article in Sports Illustrated. But this is a story of an "extreme" sport. Bird watching at the level described in The Big Year is competitive, compulsive, and compelling. When I received the book last weekend I could not put it down until I found out who won the competition and how the year ended for the three competitors. The writing is outstanding and the picture drawn of the three competitors leaves you thinking you know them. The Big Year is a great read.

If you enjoyed Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder, Wild America: The Record of a 30,000 Mile Journey Around the Continent by a Distinguished Naturalist and His British Colleague or anything by Scott Weidensaul, you'll enjoy Obmascik's account of an unlikely collection of birders bent on breaking records.

The concept of the Big Year is pretty simple: see as many birds as possible. Since its inception, this simple concept has ballooned into a circus of maxed out credit cards, exorbitant helicopter flights and boat rides, visits to dumps on the Mexican border, and Christmas dinners in isolated Chinese restaurants. This book chronicles three competitors and their attempts at Birdwatching glory: Sandy Komito (the hardcore favorite, record-holding former construction worker), Greg Miller (the longshot computer programmer, working with limited resources) and Al Levantin (the rich, passionate retired chemical company tycoon).

As I see it, this book has two real strengths:

1.) For those of us who dream of dropping everything, getting in a car with a pair of binoculars and seeing all the birds that had previously only been pictures in field guides, this book is both fulfilling and inspiring. Fulfilling, in that at the end of a long day, its a passable substitute for having the time to actually go out and see the rare birds. Inspiring, in its affirmation that anybody--even you--can do it, as long as you're willing to sacrifice.

2.) The subjects of the story are developed into character so nicely in journalistic prose. You'll learn to root for the underdog, respect their sacrifice, and pity all of them for their clinically obsessive behavior.

I'd encourage anyone interested in adventure or birding to read this book. You won't be disappointed, and probably won't be able to put it down.

Another good book on the subject of doing a Big Year in birding.There have been others written before.The classic for North America is "Wild America" by Roger T. Peterson and James Fisher written in 1955 when their goal was to see 600 birds in one year.There have been others since, which pushed the bar to the 700 level.One of the best in my estimation was Kenn Kaufman's "Kingbird Highway" personal story of getting 671 birds in 1972.He did this at 18 without a car,or even a driving license,all for under 1000 dollars,including half of which went for plane flights to Alaska.Now there's a challenge to beat!
This new book now has birders competing in the 700's.Where is the limit,who knows.You'll have to read the book to find out which of the three won.I will tell you this much,715 was not enough.
While an excellent book;I believe there is a screaming ommission.There should have been a checklist showing which birds each one got as well as those missed.This would have taken only a few pages and would have set the standard for future books of this type.The book would also have benefited from the inclusion of some photos of several of the people involved.
There was an excellent article about this book in the 19 January 2004 edition of Sports Ilustrated.It included several photos and several of my non-birding friends told me they really enjoyed it.
A great read for all birders as well as anyone who enjoys competition and perseverance.
This in an update.The book was made into a movie by the same name and was released in 2011.I went to the movie and it was excellent .See my review of the movie dated January 13, 2012.

Mark Obmascik has documented the "Big Year" of three extreme birders - Sandy Komito, Al Levantin and Greg Miller - as they try to beat a record and each other during 1998. This is more a sporting competition than natural history or science. They could just as easily had been train spotting for the largest number of different boxcars. The goal is of course to record the largest number of bird species seen in one year and they have a tough standard to play against. James Vardaman had recorded 699 birds in 1979, Benton Basham had seen 711 in 1983, Komito himself had gotten 721 in 1987, and Bill Rydell had gotten 714 in 1992. In 1998 all were trying to beat 721 and all were unbelievably driven. I won't tell you who won, but it certainly is a remarkable tale indeed!

As a sometimes birder who is a professional biologist I understand the thrill of the chase and at least these listers are not killing their quarry. However, I am a bit astonished at the amount of money and time some of these extreme birders will spend to get over 700 birds on their list in a year. I have only about 250 birds on my life list (I'm not against listing) and I doubt that I will ever make 500 for my life.

The story of their competition to reach over 721 birds in a single year is gripping, but I tend to agree with at least one of the left behind wives that they are also a little bit out of their minds. Everybody has a right to follow their dream (as long as they don't hurt others in the process) and birding is relatively harmless. I personally would prefer to get to know the birds a bit better than that. Perhaps that is a bit of academic snobbishness, but it is also my individual taste.

In any case I recommend this book to anyone who would like to try to understand the drive to record the maximum number of birds seen in a year.

What an eye-opening fabulous journey this book was - - I had no idea the degree to which people sought out birds for their life lists. I have done a little bird watching and found it fun. This was an amazing adverture and I was so swept up by the story I have ordered copies for friends that I want to share this with - - it is much too good to keep to myself!

No, I'm not being sarcastic. I mean it. Big Year is full of laughs, twists and yes, some touching moments. I love bird watching and road trips but the guys in Big Year are hard core competitors who operate on an entirely different plain than the novices.

The book is so well written that you can almost see yourself sitting in the backseat of Sandy Komito's Skuamobile as he prowls down the highway looking for birds. In fact, it's so vivid that Big Year would actually make a darn good movie. While reading it I kept imagining James Cagney or Oscar Levant as Komito, Gregory Peck or Walter Pigeon as Al Levantin and a very young Jimmy Stewart as Greg Miller, the wonderful optimist who decides to do a Big Year on the cheap.

The things these guys encounter while pursuing their passion such as mountain lions, cowboys with potbellied pigs, the horrors of economy flight, crocodiles, frozen graves, and icy cold outhouses are the stuff of adventure novels with a good sized dollop of comedy thrown in.

The Big year is fascinating, fun, and daydream inducing. I and most of the readers of the book will probably never get closer to a Big Year than vicariously through the book but after reading it I have started thinking that maybe, just maybe I could survive a one county Big Day. I loved the book and even my non nature loving friends found themselves laughing out loud when I read sections of it to them.

This book is terrific--so long as one doesn't think about the thousands of dollars these three men spend in pursuit of their obsession. I admire their creativity, persistence, and energy, but to max out several credit cards is more the height of irresponsibility than anything else. Even so, I loved reading the book. It is written with just the right mix of humor and excitement--yes, excitement in birding! I'll never do a Big Year myself, but this book puts you right in the thick of the chase.

THE BIG YEAR tells the stories of three men determined to set a new record in North American birding. Not exactly the sort of topic that sounds like it would have mass appeal, right?

I will say at the outset that yes, I am a birder, but no, I have never attempted a Big Year, or even a Big Day. Still, when I read the write-up of this in a book club catalog, it was too much for me to resist. I'm glad I allowed temptation to take hold. As a birder, I certainly identified with the excitement each of these men felt upon sighting a new or unique species. I enjoyed the more avian terminology. Most of all, I enjoyed reading about three men obsessed with their goal to the point of maxed out credit cards, strained relationships and loss of work. In other words, I enjoyed the stories of those who dared to follow their obsession to the extreme. Anyone who has ever wished they could just take a break from their regular life to follow a dream will find this an enjoyable read.

The three men chronicled are as different from one another as they could be. Sandy Komito is a self-made working class man, who already had attained a Big Year record. Brash, charismatic and determined to have a leg up on the others, he muscles his way to birding "hot spots" ahead of the others, often leaving a greeting with other birders to say "Sandy says 'hi.'" Al Levantin is recently retired and a devoted husband, whose wife tells him that now is the time to follow his dream. His birding exploits look a bit like the XGames as he cycles, hikes and packs into difficult viewing venues across the continent with an ease and grace belying his retired status. Greg Miller is a recently divorced, out-of-shape, computer specialist racing the clock to bring everything into Y2K compliance at a New Jersey nuclear power plant. It is the interplay of the three very different men, and their very different approaches to meeting the same goal, that is the real core of the book. I found myself cheering on one in particular, but another reader may find themselves pulling for one of the other two. Obmascik does an excellent job of detailing all the salient character traits of each birder, while maintaining a fair and neutral stance toward each. Favorites are not played, which allows readers to choose for themselves.

Along the way, we experience birdfall at spring migration along the Gulf Coast, the vexing gray owl in the northern Minnesota boglands I remember from my own youth and the harsh extremes of Attu Island in Alaska, as birders seek to add rare bird sightings from migrants blown east from Asia. In the end, one birder sets an incredible record of 745 bird sightings in 1998, a record unlikely to ever be surpassed. Want to know who it was? Read THE BIG YEAR.