Charlie was probably kidnapped by a sailor in the Australian, outback and traded to a wicked opium peddler in Hong Kong, where he was rescued from abuse by the author. He returned her kindness with 25 years of clowning and instruction in the remarkable ways of parrot kind. He traveled the world with the Topping family and their entourage of children and animals before they settled in Scarsdale, New York. In this suburb he put down roots, as it were, and excavated himself a tree house in the family garden. Along the way he learned to speak several languages including Chinese, English, Spanish and Crow (the bird kind). He was self-educated and acquired his unusual knowledge on a need-to-know basis.
Charlie's family consists of Seymour (Top) and Audrey Topping and their five daughters. He knew and addressed everyone by name. Top, as Charlie called him, is currently Administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes and Professor of Journalism at Columbia. But at the beginning of Charlie's adventure Top was a correspondent for the New York Times covering Vietnam and the Far East. By the time the family moved to Scarsdale, Top was Managing Editor of The New York Times. Audrey--author of the book--is a mother of five, animal lover, journalist and photographer. She has written and illustrated several books about China and has published in many major magazines, including The New York Times Magazine, Life, Time, Science, and The Readers Digest. She was the first journalist to write the story and photograph the underground army of China's first emperor. It was a cover story for National Geographic and Horizon magazines.
The story of Charlie begins in the now legendary British Crown Colony of Hong Kong, where Charlie, after his rescue, participates in the rather unusual family life of expatriate journalists in the East. Everywhere they go, this family are accompanied by their current entourage of animals, often with very funny results.
Charlie, because of his cocky personality and powers of speech, captivates the friends of the family, both the obscure and the famous. In Scarsdale Charlie experiences the various stages of life with his five "sisters"--from childhood through the miseries of teen-agers to love and marriage. He responds to celebrations, joy, death, loss, and depression, until he finally finds himself.
You will laugh as you travel in the company of Audrey and Charlie and his varied flock and experience their unpredictable career through several cultures and a lot of history, and even a bit of philosophy. This book may answer the ongoing question whether a parrot is a thinker or just another birdbrain (or it may not). However you decide, it is worth the read and the ride for the pleasure of living a while in the author's mind with Charlie on your shoulder. It is a funny, sweet book you will read and press on your friends.
