First published 2023
Christian Cooper calls himself a "Blerd" and spends every spring watching migrating birds in Central Park. In May 2020, a routine morning of birdwatching turns into a confrontation with a dog walker that exposes deep racial tensions. Cooper records the encounter, and the video spreads across the nation. This New York Times bestseller tells Cooper's story before and after that moment. He shows how decades of birdwatching prepared him to navigate life as a gay Black man in America. Cooper traces his journey from his childhood discovery of birds at age ten through his career at Marvel Comics, where he created the first gay storylines. He describes birding expeditions across Africa, Australia, the Americas, and the Himalayas. The book reveals what birds like the Common Grackle taught him about accepting himself. Cooper explains how the skills he developed watching birds served him equally well at protests and in parks. He shows how he learned to claim space for himself and others like him.
Genres: african-american, memoir, biography-memoir, 21st-century, lgbt, birds, gay, bird-watching
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, found-family
Setting: Africa, Australia, Central Park, Himalayas, New York
Period: 2020
304 pages · Hardcover · Random House