Customer Reviews

Rare Birds: An American Family

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Great book. Not only well written but written with the insight of a mature, intelligent sensitive human being. Great insight into the human condition. The author comes from a unusally talented and creative family and as this book demonstrates is as creative as any of them. Telling us the story of his family gives us alot information about the political climate in the USA and its effect on individual citizens. Extremly interesting and varied Family members from the world's must prolific bird watcher to a Leftist screen writer who fought with the Abraham Lincoln`Brigade in the Spanish Civil War.

Dan Bessie implies that we ALL have such people in our families. Frankly - I doubt that. Certainly, if we all had his talent, we could make much of our own oddballs and eccentrics, but in the final analysis we would still only be colouring the grey. His family is and was extraordinary.

"Rare Birds" is an affectionate sketch of an abnormally talented and unusual family. Mr Bessie - being a modest man (judging by how little he refers to himself in the narrative) - would doubtless take issue with that summation, but it is nonetheless true.

In another century, the father of a famous family of writers (Patrick Bronte) acknowledged his own rather eccentric attributes, but at the same time pointed out to his daughter's biographer that if he had been one of the world's "concentric" men he would not, in all probability, have produced such children as his were.

Mr Bessie can, in a way, lay claim to the same process. Talent only occasionally emerges from nowhere, with no previous indication of its existence. Even with the most fascinating material, more illustrious writers have failed to grip the imagination of the reader. Mr Bessie's almost tangible affection and respect for his subjects shines through the narrative.

"Rare Birds" can be as strongly recommended to scholars of the McCarthy witch-hunt period as to those who simply enjoy good writing. Mr Bessie grew up in one of the most unnerving and nervous periods of US history and his personal reflections are both telling and educational.

After reading "Rare Birds" by Dan Bessie I thought, "What a family!". Every family has a few characters or maybe a semi-famous person. But, in "Rare Birds" I was totally fascinated by the wide range of interesting and famous family members. I especially liked the chapters on his Uncle Harry Burnett and the Turnabout Theatre. The book is written in a relaxed style that makes you feel like you're having a conversation with the author. It made me want to search out my own family tree, shake it and see who falls out. Fascinating and enjoyable book!

This is a truly heartfelt look into a talented, creative and outspoken family. From the wild west days to the Spanish Civil War, Mr. Bessie examines and tells the tales of his family with warmth and wit. These are people who lived life, not coasted through it. The exhaustive research is evident yet the author honestly points out when the trail goes cold and he is left with only oral history or speculation. Above all, he treats each life with respect and love even when he doesn't wholly approve. Not just a truly entertaining read, it prompts all of us to really get to know our own family members, rare or otherwise, in a meaningful way before we find it's too late.

What a family! After reading RARE BIRDS, you'll want to shake your own family tree to see what flies out. Dan Bessie's book is a delicious slice of the American pie and should be tasted by everyone.

Enchanting description of fascinating people, creative, funny, brave relatives. From a record-breaking birder aunt to puppeteer uncles, a Hollywood blacklisted father and much more. My only regret is that they were not MY family. Bessie writes so engagingly that you feel as you know tham all. A book for everyone..those who remember the tragic Hollywood Blacklist days, those who don't, those wanting to know the wonders of a creative, exciting family. We all have rare birds in our family or wish we did.

"Rare Birds, An American Family" by Dan Bessie (University Press of Kentucky, 2001), gives an extremely personal look at one person's family history. Yet it's also a peek into just about everyone's family history, applied with a widely-sweeping paintbrush.

And it is a piece of art. Dan Bessie manages to take each family member - from ancestors he never met but whom who he heard all the stories about, to candid accounts of his closest relations - and give telling, engaging, entertaining, and poignant accounts of each of their lives. Every story Dan tells gives the reader an intimate snapshot of a real human life. Not all the folks are heroes but neither are they all villains. Somehow, he manages to engage their true humanity in all its beauty and warts.

"Rare Birds" shows that families are made up of characters, so many characters as different, and the same, as the fabrics in a well-worn, comfortable, and somehow exciting tapestry that's been handed down generation after generation after generation . . . and still loved with each and every touch of another human experience.

Students of human nature, genealogists, biography lovers, and anyone who simply has a thing for a good character study will enjoy "Rare Birds." Dan Bessie is the consummate storyteller.


-- Linda Alexander, author, "Reluctant Witness: Robert Taylor, Hollywood, & Communism"

On a background of flawlessly researched history and detail, Dan Bessie paints his family stories of eccentricity, sadness, and triumph-over-adversity. He weaves his own mythic connection to the joys and sufferings of his highly creative lineage, as well as to a few seedy characters who don't share his blood but whom are in his blood nevertheless. Dan says that in microcosm, all families share the same threads. This may be so, but it is rare to find an author who doesn't slide off into judgement and criticism, using relations as targets for unfinished emotional business. Dan Bessie does not make the mistake of cluttering up these vivid and heroic characters with his own gunk, which leaves plenty of space for the color and magic of his family to shine through. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in writing their family story, a quintessential starting point for any writer. My hope is that I too will discover as many redeeming qualities in my own batch of goofy relatives.