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Why Peacocks?: An Unlikely Search for Meaning in the World's Most Magnificent Bird
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About This Book
When Sean Flynn's neighbor in North Carolina texted "Any chance you guys want a peacock? No kidding!" he stared bewilderedly at his phone. He had never considered whether he wanted a peacock. But as an award-winning magazine writer, this kind of mystery intrigued him. So he, his wife, and their two young sons became the owners of not one but three charming yet fickle birds: Carl, Ethel, and Mr. Pickle. In Why Peacocks?, Flynn chronicles his hilarious and heartwarming first year as a peacock owner, from struggling to build a pen to assisting the local bird doctor in surgery to triumphantly watching a peahen lay her first egg. He also examines the history of peacocks, from their appearance in the Garden of Eden to their befuddling Charles Darwin to their bewitching the likes of Flannery O'Connor and Martha Stewart. And fueled by a reporter's curiosity, he travels across the globe to learn more about the birds firsthand, with stops including a Scottish castle where peacocks have resided for centuries, a southern California community tormented by a serial killer of peacocks, and a Kansas City airport hotel hosting an annual gathering of true peafowl aficionados.
Reviews
"Journalist Flynn (3000 Degrees) returns with a wry and moving account of his time keeping peacocks at his North Carolina home ..."
"Blending memoir and natural history, this candid journey into the world of an unusual bird will spark the interest of fans of popular science."
"It's a sparkling confessional from a man who tries to protect the innocent and beautiful from a world that he knows all too well can be relentlessly awful."
"The narrative of Why Peacocks?"
"The writing is often witty, sometimes glorious, and his tales wry and charming."
"In the last few chapters, however, the tone shifts into a more somber mode."
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