A review by mediaevalmuse
Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper

emotional hopeful informative inspiring

3.0

I was aware that Cooper was writing a memoir, but I picked it up now because I wanted to think about birds. It's cold where I am, and I haven't seen birds in my backyard since it dipped below 20 degrees.
This book did have Birding in it, but it's not a Birding guide. It's more of a memoir that includes Birding in addition to stories about traveling the world, living in NYC, being Black and queer, and working for Marvel in the 1990s. All of this is very interesting - as a nerd myself, I liked reading inside stories about what working for Marvel was like, and I think if I ever met Cooper, we'd have a lot to geek out about.

The strongest parts of this book, in my opinion, were when Cooper connects what's happening in his life to something that goes beyond just him. For example, I loved the way he described a particular bird using a self-invented myth: it brilliantly captured his emotional reaction to the animal without merely describing what it looked like. His insights into what happened to him in Central Park was also good because he grappled with a lot of complex things: his personal feelings, the expectations of other people, the broader social context of Black suffering and racism. In these moments, I felt like I was reading about how one man experienced the world, and that deeply personal take was inspiring.
The chapter on other birders in Central Park is also pretty fun. I loved learning not just about Birding but about the Birding community. The insight into this niche hobby is so wonderful, and I wish more communities were as lovely as Cooper describes.

I do think, however, that the framing of this book could be a little confusing. This book is framed as lessons learned from Birding, and while there is some of that, Birding sometimes disappears for long stretches at a time. From all the Birding tips and the list of the seven joys of Birding, I thought most of this memoir would be told with Birding as a recurring theme, and while that happened sometimes, I think travel is much more central.

I'm also not the biggest fan of Cooper's prose. It's fine - it does what it needs to do. And there are some good descriptions of the natural world. But it didn't wow me, which is unfortunate since so much of the memoir involves the awe of nature and Cooper's fierce determination to stand up for civil rights.
Lastly, I think there needed to be a bit more reflection. Much of the memoir flits from story to story with only a sentence or two that reflects on why it matters. Personally, I think memoirs are strongest when the author gives some kind of insight or lesson learned from the situation - something other than a recollection of facts and events.

TL;DR: Christian Cooper's memoir makes the author sound like a cool person who I'd love to hang out with. But it didn't wow me to the extent I was hoping. 
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