I found nothing funny or insightful here, just a “let’s take a look at one possible future... or maybe several” bottle episode.

I know [a:Hergé|2802356|Hergé|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1557855060p2/2802356.jpg] isn’t around anymore, but he would have approved of this blend of spy hijinx and character-based laffs.

I got a childlike sense of wonder from the descriptions of some of the most extreme bird behaviors. Imagine being a fish 600 feet deep and suddenly getting eaten by a bird! Murres can dive that far down, and they’re the only ones who really know how they find prey down there.

It's not a new guide, it's a guide for new birders, which is me! Good practical advice and somewhat simplified information, with an acknowledgement that the 300 birds included will not cover all the birds you're likely to encounter.

With around 700 species and half a continent to cover, the text gets small to make room for excellent illustrations of different morphs, flight silhouettes, etc., crammed in at 2 per page. Bring your reading glasses!

An amazing story of the survival of one of the fittest, and most sympathetic, protagonists YA fiction has seen recently.

This could have been a pop-philosophy book about natural science and epistemology called On Knowing Birds, if the author had wanted to play it that way.

In 100 essays, Ted Floyd builds up your ability to know about birds (by their appearance, by their sounds, by their behavior, by their location, time, and part of year).

And then he picks it all apart, challenging what you thought you knew about birds (populations, species, and so on) until you know how wondrously little we still know.

I was glad I kept a comprehensive North American field guide or other birding reference book handy while reading this, since having color photos available helped me to absorb more of it.

What the heck did I just read? No, seriously, I need a Genius annotation or a pop-up video to learn all the Joycean weirdness in this book. I assume the movie is just as rich in half-baffling weirdness.