My Fine Feathered Friend [Hardcover]

William Grimes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2002

Boy Meets Bird.
Boy Gets Bird.
Boy Loses Bird
An Urban Folktale.

One day in the dead of winter, New York Times restaurant critic William Grimes looked out the window into his backyard in Queens and saw a chicken, jet black with a crimson comb. Wherever it had come from, it showed no sign of leaving, and it quickly made a place for itself among the society of resident stray cats. Before long, the chicken became the Chicken, and it began to arouse not only Grimes's protective impulses but also his curiosity. He discovered that chickens were domesticated first as fighters, not food; that egg-laying is triggered by exposure to light; that chickens were a fashion statement in Victorian days. He began to probe the mysteries of gallinaceous behavior, learning to distinguish a dust bath from a death dance and how to cater to his guest's eclectic palate. And when the Chicken began to repay his hospitality with five or six custom-laid eggs per week, Grimes had an answer to the age-old conundrum of which came first: the Chicken.

And then one day, obeying some bird-brained logic of its own -- or perhaps the victim of fowl play -- the Chicken vanished, leaving Grimes eggless but with this funny, enlightening, and heartwarming tale to tell.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The arrival of a particularly cheeky chicken in his Queens neighborhood gives New York Times food critic Grimes the impetus for this entertaining little book about the unusual visitor and all things fowl. The bird touches down in Grimes's backyard without warning, and the reaction of the animal-loving author and his wife turns from surprise to delight when the chicken makes a home among their family of cats, staking out its own patch of turf in their backyard and brazenly taking its place in the "cafeteria line" for cat food. Grimes deftly sprinkles historical background and anecdotes about chickens into his chronicle of the bird's behavior and the reaction of neighbors and colleagues. He muses on the small adjustments he made in his own lifestyle to accommodate the chicken as a pet, and offers subtle, compelling observations about the ancient relationships between animals and humans, which have their place even in the city. The bird's moment of fame is short-lived it vanishes as mysteriously as it came only a few days after Grimes begins writing about the chicken in his column. The moment is a sad one for Grimes and his wife, but the chicken's short hiatus in Queens will be a boon for readers who chuckle their way through this well-told tale, proving once again that a good writer can make a meaningful story out of anything.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

As restaurant critic for the New York Times, Grimes knew something about chickens: "deep-fried, fricasseed, poached, boiled, broiled, jerked Jamaican, and coated in a luscious Albufera sauce." But when a large black hen appeared one winter day in his Queens backyard and happily settled down at the foot of a pine tree, Grimes and his wife were stymied. Where did it come from? Did it escape from the Bangladeshi neighbors' soup pot or from the live poultry market a few blocks away? In this charming if slight expansion of his Times article, Grimes recounts his growing fascination with the Chicken (as he came to call it) as it took over the yard, scratching for food and bullying the resident cats. He studied up on poultry lore and, when the Chicken started laying eggs, conducted comparison taste tests between his eggs and commercial organic products. (The Chicken won hands down.) Tragically, a few days after the Times story appeared, the Chicken disappeared as mysteriously as it had arrived. Was it a victim of fowl play? Did evil walk the streets of Astoria? An amusing trifle; for larger collections. (Illustrations not seen.) Wilda Williams, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: North Point Press; 1st edition (March 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865476322
• ISBN-13: 978-0865476325
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,738,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poultry In Motion, August 3, 2002

By 

tamara (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Fine Feathered Friend (Hardcover)

Who knew chickens could be so interesting and funny? When New York Times restaurant critic William Grimes finds a chicken in his New York City backyard, he learns how much surprising personality a chicken can possess. In this hilarious true story, Grimes chronicles how the chicken grew in his esteem from mere baffling presence to a source of constant entertainment. The chicken (simply referred to as The Chicken) co-exists with a cadre of Mafioso-like neighborhood cats, mercilessly making a sport of teasing the most anxious of the felines. The chicken embarks on a surprising and sometimes disquieting diet (chowing down on everything but the lawn furniture) and even survives assault by police helicopter. In between anecdotes, Grimes recounts fun fowl facts and a brief history of chicken breeding. Does this part sound boring? I would have thought so, too. In Grimes' deft hands, the tale is fascinating. (You'll learn why chicken breeding was actually a hot trend amongst the Glitterati as recently as 1944 and why some poor chickens were bred to have tail feathers over 15 feet long.) Grimes also has a delicious sense of humor that delivers chuckles and cackles with every page. Delightful illustrations, too. Engrossing us with a mere 85 pages, Grimes definitely subscribes to the "leave 'em wanting more" school. The book is a terrific, quick read for all -- from small-fry to the hard-boiled -- and would be a wonderful gift for anyone in need of good cheer.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking for entertainment, or building a chicken coop?, March 13, 2002

By 

Bernard Farrell (North of Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Fine Feathered Friend (Hardcover)

Either way, you can't go wrong with this book.

It's both and amusing and informative short read. I read sections to my wife each evening in bed and we chuckled our way to the books conclusion.

We're thinking of building a chicken coop soon, and the parts of this book where the author digresses from the main story line are very informative about chickens. For example, when chickens first were thought of as a food product.

I'd recommend it for anyone looking for a light read...

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great animal story., March 16, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: My Fine Feathered Friend (Hardcover)

I love this story about Chicken and the funny cats living together in the backyard of a big city. I laughed a lot and really enjoyed learning about chickens and eggs. Mr. Grimes is a nice man who loves animals, and is a great storyteller.