{"product_id":"9781616201364","title":"The Birds of Pandemonium","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Birds of Pandemonium\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Michele Raffin\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“A remarkable book. Reading about the birds of Pandemonium will make you laugh and cry; it will make you see more clearly the need to take care of our planet; and it will confirm that one person with a passion can make a difference.” —Jeff Corwin, nature conservationist and host of \u003ci\u003eAnimal Planet\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Each morning at first light, Michele Raffin steps outside into the bewitching bird music that heralds another day at Pandemonium Aviaries. A full symphony that swells from the most vocal of more than 350 avian throats representing more than 40 species. “It knocks me out, every day,” she says.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Pandemonium, the home and bird sanctuary that Raffin shares with some of  the world’s most remarkable birds, is a conservation organization dedicated to saving and breeding birds at the edge of extinction, with the goal of eventually releasing them into the wild. In \u003ci\u003eThe Birds of Pandemonium, \u003c\/i\u003eshe lets us into her world--and theirs. Birds fall in love, mourn, rejoice, and sacrifice; they have a sense of humor, invent, plot, and cope. They can teach us volumes about the interrelationships of humans and animals.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Their amazing stories make up the heart of this book. There’s Sweetie, a tiny quail with an outsize personality; the inspiring Oscar, a disabled Lady Gouldian finch who can’t fly but finds a brilliant way to climb to the highest perches of his aviary to roost. The ecstatic reunion of a disabled Victoria crowned pigeon, Wing, and her brother, Coffee, is as wondrous as the silent kinship that develops between Amadeus, a one-legged turaco, and an autistic young visitor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e As we come to know the individual birds, we also come to understand how much is at stake for many of these species. One of the aviary’s greatest success stories is breeding the gorgeous green-naped pheasant pigeon, whose home in the New Guinea rainforest is being decimated. Thanks to efforts at Pandemonium, these birds may not share the same fate as the now-extinct dodo.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Birds of Pandemonium\u003c\/i\u003e is about one woman’s crusade to save precious lives, and it offers rare insights into how following a passion can transform not only oneself but also the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A delightful account. Its appeal is ageless, her descriptions riveting, and her devotion to the birds remarkable.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eJoanna Burger, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Parrot Who Owns Me\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A fascinating and rarely seen glimpse behind the scenes. The joy she gets from her close relationships with these amazing animals and her outsized commitment to them comes through loud and clear in this engaging and joyful book.” —Dominick Dorsa, Curator of Birds, San Francisco Zoo\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Reading this wonderful book, one cannot help but realize how much intelligence and beauty there is throughout the bird world. The birds are Michele Raffin’s teachers, awakening a deep sense of commitment to caring for our collective future . . . This book is about reconnecting with the nature of birds, and the nature of ourselves.”\u003cbr\u003e —Jon Young, author of \u003ci\u003eWhat the Robin Knows\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Birds of Pandemonium\u003c\/i\u003e does for rare birds what Susan Orlean’s \u003ci\u003eThe Orchid Thief\u003c\/i\u003e did for rare orchids, Joy Adamson’s \u003ci\u003eBorn Free \u003c\/i\u003edid for lions, and Jane Goodall did for chimpanzees and apes . . . With vibrant photographs of its spectacularly plumed lead characters, \u003ci\u003eThe Birds of Pandemonium\u003c\/i\u003e is a rich suet, seeded with both hearty information and delectable flights of fancy.” —\u003cb\u003eHeller McAlpin, NPR.org\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Charming, self-effacing and extremely reverent.” —\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Captivating.” —\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Breezily written and briskly paced.” —\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Michele Raffin has written a delightful account of her adventures caring for injured and abandoned birds. It is a good read, full of wonderful accounts of bird behavior, demonstrating caring, learning, sociability, adaptability, and a will to live. Its appeal is ageless, her descriptions riveting, and her devotion to the birds remarkable. I couldn't put it down for wanting to follow her adventures.” —\u003cb\u003eJoanna Burger, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Parrot Who Owns Me: A Story of a Relationship\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “[A] lovely memoir-cum-how-to manual for starting an aviary from scratch . . . Learning from the birds, Raffin has made Pandemonium into a true sanctuary.” —\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBooklist \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Raffin’s passionate advocacy for birds is reminiscent of Jane Goodall’s support for great apes. The author emerges as a knowledgeable and, above all, endearing champion of animals, who practices what she preaches.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Avian ‘personalities’ predominate in the book, but there are human angles, too, such as how Raffin manages the ups and downs of her demanding calling, the funny family dynamics as she wheedles yet one more bird into the menagerie, and the backstory exposing the secretive 'boys' club of bird breeders with which she contends. The book closes triumphantly with the birth of a rare green-naped pheasant pigeon chick, a notoriously difficult bird to breed in captivity . . . Raffin’s self-deprecating humor endears.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A remarkable book. Reading about the birds of Pandemonium will make you laugh and cry; it will make you see more clearly the need to take care of our planet; and it will confirm that one person with a passion can make a difference.” —\u003cb\u003eJeff Corwin, nature conservationist and host of \u003ci\u003eAnimal Planet\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781616201364\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Algonquin Books","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40868966564046,"sku":"9781616201364","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/O_bc89c456-2f59-472f-a96e-2ebae66ddc70.jpg?v=1644224333","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781616201364","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}