Fowl Weather (Hardcover)

by Bob Tarte (Author) "Linda sprang up from her chair to reheat her food in the microwave yet again..." (more)
Key Phrases: hose demon, purse finder, golden orb weaver, Stanley Sue, Testament Terrace, Grand River (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This follow-up to Tarte's popular Enslaved by Ducks, which introduced the somewhat neurotic writer; his supportive wife, Linda; and their animals—first a bunny and then an expanding menagerie of parrots, ducks, turkeys, cats and more bunnies—has a somewhat darker undertone, but should still delight readers with its humorous "Dave Barry on a farm" sensibility. Tarte begins with an admission that his life of caring for 30-odd animals had become pretty run-of-the-mill, and that he "longed for the unexpected, and that was always a mistake." What he gets, over the next five years, includes his father's death, his mother's diagnosis with Alzheimer's, a garden pest control/philosopher who doesn't really know anything about gardening, and the sudden deaths of some of his favorite pets. Despite the many wacky barnyard moments, Tarte doesn't play it safe: he deftly explores his concern that "dark undercurrents had risen to the top like worms after a rain, and the worms were now in charge." But with the help of family, friends and a new parrot named Bella, he overcomes his setbacks and sees that the "mixture of wildness and comfort" created by his beloved animals "was life itself in miniature." (Mar. 16)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
On the web-footed heels of Enslaved by Ducks (2003), Tarte serves up another helping of his always interesting life surrounded by animals. From the first chapter, when Stanley Sue, a parrot, is discovered chewing up the wooden bread box, the reader is plunged into the often chaotic world of the Tartes, in which Bob is obsessing about the hose demon or the whereabouts of his mother's lost purse and wife Linda is popping another gel pack into the microwave to soothe her bad back. Along the way we meet Lulu, a spoiled Pekin duck; Moobie, a large white cat who insists on Tarte holding her water bowl; and Bertie, a rabbit who lost his tail to Stanley Sue. Mixed in with animal adventures are the realities of daily life, of alleged master gardeners who don't understand soil, and of Bob's mother, whose increasing signs of Alzheimer's disease weave a softly melancholy thread through the narrative. What Tarte discovers is that his animals give him his center and focus and that for all the headaches they can cause, they also provide a form of sanity. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 306 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565125029
• ISBN-13: 978-1565125025
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #271,337 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fabulous book, March 9, 2007

By	Brian OMalley (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fowl Weather is a very, very, very funny book but that is almost misleading. In these days, when meanness is mistaken for wit, it is a startling work of art that sees the great and small passages of life, with humor. Bob Tarte has written a very brave, funny book. It is very difficult to say precisely what it's about because it is about life unfolding or maybe unraveling. It's about those moments, parents, pets or even things that make up our notion of self and how they can be taken away and the little things, like the sound of a bird or a spider's web, that can make it endurable. It's a book that deals with daunting issues like mortality with graceful wit. Many of the incidents in this book, say sock monkeys, a purse, or parrots, have never been juxtaposed in the history of literature. It is an outstanding read.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ANOTHER AMAZING FEAT!!, November 23, 2007

By	Elaine Campbell (Rancho Mirage, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I finished reading this book several days ago, but I had to recover somewhat from the death of not only one of Bob Tarte's favorite pets, but a favorite of his readers as well, in order to review it.

The final scene of the book, when a "real" goodby is said to this wonderful being, rather than a call from a vet, is one of the most moving I have read in literature. I dare you not to cry when you read it.

Of course this book is more serious than Enslaved by Ducks because difficulties arise, as they do from time to time in life, in bundles. But still there are so many moments when one is roused to hilarious laughter that they are countless.

As a Southern Californian, I found life in rural Michigan to be fascinating. I guess I never thought about Michigan, never having been there, as being more than a state with a lake, enormous auto manufacturing plants, and Detroit where social problems come to light from time to time in newspaper headlines. Interesting too to know what a Michigan winter is like. In short, I feel almost as if I have travelled there.

But above all there is the wonderful and glorious parade of natural life spread out like a banquet for the reader to admire, revere and become acquainted with. Not only do they live with a highly skilled writer, they live with two people who love them unquestionably a great deal.

It's been a wonderful journey reading these two books. Unforgettable, really!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Librarians - make sure this book is in your collection!, September 12, 2007

By	E. Fox (Oregon Coast USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's hard to know what else to add to the 24 other 5 star reviews! I'm a poultry enthusiast who has found both of Bob's books to be poignant journals of how our pets own us. Without overly anthropomorphizing their pets, Bob manages to give us a home movie of them that is sometimes a bit Fellini, sometimes a bit Andy Griffith. The balance of wry humor, cozy anecdotes, and dark obsessions create a great read that is truly genius and satisfying. I heartily recommend this book to reading clubs, because there's something for everyone in here.