Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird

Title: Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird
Author: Andrew D Blechman
G: 1704260
ISBN: 9780802118349
Publisher: Grove Press
Published: 2006
Binding: Hardcover
Language: English
Edition: 1
Number of Pages: 256
Section: Nature | Birdwatching Guides
Condition Note: Excellent, unmarked copy with little wear and tight binding. We ship in recyclable American-made mailers. 100% money-back guarantee on all orders.
Publisher Description: In the tradition of Robert Sullivan's best-selling Rats comes a whimsical and intimate look into the fascinating world of pigeons and the people they collect. Pigeons have been worshipped as fertility goddesses and used as crucial communicators in war by every major historical superpower from ancient Egypt to the United States, saving thousands of lives. Yet, without just cause, they are reviled today as "rats of the sky." How did we come to misunderstand one of mankind's most helpful and steadfast companions? Author Andrew D. Blechman traveled across the United States and Europe to meet with pigeon fanciers and pigeon haters in a quest to chronicle the pigeon's transformation from beloved friend to feathered outlaw. Pigeons captures a Brooklyn man's quest to win the Main Event (the pigeon world's equivalent of the Kentucky Derby), as well as a pigeon shoot where entrants pay $150 to shoot live pigeons. Blechman tracks down Mike Tyson, the nation's most famous pigeon lover, and he sheds light on a radical "pro-pigeon underground" in New York City. In Pigeons, Blechman tells for the first time the remarkable story behind this seemingly unremarkable bird.