Date: 12/25/24 8:48 am From: Anita Schnee <000003224553d416-dmarc-request...> Subject: A bird-book delight
Friends, please enjoy a wonderful bird-book I just found at the Fayetteville library. It is by novelist Amy Tan, THE BACKYARD BIRD CHRONICLES. Here s what she writes, which pretty much captures the joy of this richly illustrated (by Tan herself) journal (though, probably due to her confessedly perfectionist tendencies, it hardly does justice to her meticulous observations and winsome drawings): Creating the book "was pure fun, spontaneous, a bit of a mess. Perfection would have been the antithesis of spontaneity. There were no expectations. I could be openly naive and not self-critical. I could respect science and also allow playful anthropomorphism and a lot of wild guesses." So, just as she says, it's a delightful, day-by-day playful romp. It is also stuffed with interesting facts, observations from her Bay Area garden-habitat, and pinpoint-accurate art. It's a real gift. Not too late for the holiday season.
