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Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness Paperback – Illustrated, April 21, 2011
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Crow Planet richly weaves Haupt's own "crow stories" as well as scientific and scholarly research and the history and mythology of crows, culminating in a book that is sure to make readers see the world around them in a very different way.
- Print length257 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateApril 21, 2011
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.65 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-100316019119
- ISBN-13978-0316019118
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"In a lyrical narrative that blends science and conscience, Haupt mourns the encroachments of urbanization, but cherishes the wildness that survives."―Liesl Schillinger, New York Times
"With her sensitivity, careful eye and gift for language, Haupt tells her tale beautifully...immersing us in a heady hybrid of science, history, how-to and memoir."―Erika Schickel, Los Angeles Times
"A personal book, one that uses [Haupt] and her fondness for crows to cast its interests toward large concepts such as conservation, the environment, and learning to live more thoughtfully."―Irene Wanner, Seattle Times
"If you live in a city and want to expand your awareness of the natural world, CROW PLANET would be a compelling and inspirational book. If you love or hate or are mystified by crows, it is an essential one."―Joseph Bednarik, The Oregonian
"A delightful meditation on our role in the natural world...[Haupt] provides a rich context for exploring the relationship between humans and nature."―Diana Hartle, Library Journal, Starred review
"Haupt writes gracefully about the interactions between crows and humans in the urban landscape and what those interactions portend for the future of the zoöpolis. A fresh take on conscious living in the everyday world."―Kirkus Reviews
"Haupt enlivens her observations with tidbits from crow mythology and history [and] succeeds in humanizing the object of her naturalist obsession and affection.
―Publishers Weekly
"Gently provocative."―Deborah Blum, New Scientist
"Haupt takes a philosophical look at her own backyard investigation of a crow's life and challenges the view that an urban existence is detached from wilderness, while exemplifying the joy that can come with nurturing a curiosity with a raucous little bird."―Seed
"An engaging book-long essay on the interconnectedness of life."--Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D., author of Alex and Me
"Lyanda Haupt has spun the natural life of neighborhoods, and most poignantly the surpassing intelligence of crows, into the kind of gold only the most gifted writer and naturalist could fashion. Crow Planet is a small treasure, a conversion experience of truth, wit, and re-enchantment that remakes the world and our place within it."--Paul Hawken, author of Blessed Unrest and Natural Capitalism
"The fiction (sometimes the hope!) that you can escape from nature by living in the city is as sad as it is widespread. This book will remind you to open your eyes to the mundane--it will make the city a far richer place for you."--Bill McKibben, author of The Bill McKibben Reader
"Haupt captures crows wonderfully in elegant prose and weaves a thoughtful tale that connects them from St. Benedict's philosophy of lecti divina of 480 CE to our growing awareness of our kinship to, and dependence on, the rest of life."--Bernd Heinrich, author of Mind of the Raven
About the Author
Her writing has appeared in Image, Open Spaces, Wild Earth, Conservation Biology Journal, Birdwatcher's Digest, and the Prairie Naturalist. She lives in West Seattle with her husband and daughter.
Product details
- Publisher : Back Bay Books; Illustrated edition (April 21, 2011)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 257 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0316019119
- ISBN-13 : 978-0316019118
- Item Weight : 8.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.65 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #460,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #736 in Bird Field Guides
- #870 in Ecology (Books)
- #1,265 in Environmentalism
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Lyanda Lynn Haupt is a naturalist, eco-philosopher, and speaker whose writing is at the forefront of the movement to connect people with nature in their everyday lives. Her newest book is Mozart's Starling.
She is the author several books, including The Urban Bestiary; Crow Planet, which won the 2010 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award; Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent; and Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds, winner of the Washington State Book Award.
Lyanda lives in Seattle with her husband, teenage daughter, cat, four chickens, and Carmen the starling, who features in her latest book. She is available for keynotes and speaking engagements on the themes she addresses in her writing, as well as book readings and signings, and classes about writing creative non-fiction. Upcoming events are listed on her website at LyandaLynnHaupt.com
Praise for The Urban Bestiary:
"The challenge of our time is the movement from rural villages to big cities where nature seems gone. Haupt's brilliant book restores nature in our lives and uplifts that relationship with stories full of wonder, awe and love." (David Suzuki, author of The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature)
Praise for Crow Planet:
"A completely charming and informative book on the pleasures of keeping one's eyes open." (David Sedaris)
"In a lyrical narrative that blends science and conscience, Haupt mourns the encroachments of urbanization, but cherishes the wildness that survives." (New York Times)
"An inspired meditation on our own place in nature....You will never again look at crows in the same way again." (Washington Post)
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Much of this book is a love psalm to the author's own philosophy and lifestyle and she uses crows much more as icons for her eclectic orientation than as topics of study. And that is perfectly fine. Eclectic folks and their outlooks are just as valid and often more fun than plenty of other people I've met.
I suppose Haupt could be described as an eco-freak but, if so, she is surely one of the more palatable ones. She might be described as a serendipitous philosopher but that probably tags almost anyone who takes charge of their life on their own terms instead of The Company's or The Government's terms. She certainly deserves to be labeled a talented writer because she writes with an entertaining style that, oddly enough, actually resembles the congenial writings of one Elizabeth Bacon Custer – widow of the gentleman whose famous military career ended in abrupt and smoky fashion along the Little Bighorn River in 1876.
Eclectic or not, what Haupt has to say here is very worth listening to. She makes a very strong case for “living the MINUTES of our lives right” wherever we are because each minute has value and opportunity that we shouldn't let escape.
She also regularly reminds the reader that the question is often more important than the answer.
The author takes us along on an urban naturalist's journey and through it we gain insights into the web of living things in which we are all enmeshed. Grim environmentalism this is not. If you're looking for the harsh statistics and glum forecasts of doom that pervade our media, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a dry and dusty reference manual to the genus Corvus, keep browsing. If however you hunger for a celebration of nature (and crows!) and something to bring the joy back to caring about and living in our environment, then this is the portable feast you need.
45 minutes later, I had a new copy in my hands. Months later, I'm still reading it with delight, over and over. My friend was so right. This will be a perfect gift, and my own copy goes high on my shelf, right alongside Betty MacDonald's The Egg and I, and Colin Fletcher's The Thousand-Mile Summer, two books that are also not just about rural egg production or nature hiking.
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