Providence of a Sparrow : Lessons from a Life Gone to the Birds

Rating:
Summary: disappointing
Review: "B," the charming sparrow who's the focus of this book, is a great character. however, the style of this book doesn't do him justice. the writing is far too wordy...i wonder if an editor even bothered to look at it. the whole book has this inflated feeling to it. i have birds and i dote on everything they do, but even i can't get into a book that spends pages and pages dwelling on the consitency of bird droppings.
i'm also troubled by the fact that the author never mentions that it's illegal to keep almost all wild birds as pets. because house sparrows (and european starlings) are not native, he was able to keep these birds. in most cases, you cannot keep and raise a wild baby bird as a pet.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book Ever About a Pet Bird!
Review: "Providence of a Sparrow" is simply the best book about a pet bird that I have ever read, and that means it even surpasses such charmers as "That Quail Robert" and "Arnie the Darling Starling." Chris Chester's close observations of a House Sparrow named B are equal parts wry, scientifically informed, and touching. I thought my wife Linda and I spoiled our birds, but Chris and his wife Rebecca go the extra mile for their feathered foundlings, and then several more miles on top of that. Chris weaves stories throughout his narrative about his father, Rebecca's belly dancing job, faithful cat Marlowe, and a host of other birds. But B demands and gets center stage in this truly amazing book that every animal lover should own.

Rating:
Summary: Cute, but needs a good editor
Review: As an animal story, this book has a lot to recommend it. The connection that the author felt to this bird and the amazing transformations in his life that this connection led to makes a great story. The possibility that the author and his wife are just a bit crazy adds rather than detracts from the charm of the story. And B, the bird who is the story's main character, is a bird that I wish I could have known.

On the other hand, the book is crying out for a good editor. It's verbose, overly so, and needs the kind of tightening that a good editor can provide. There's a lot of extra stuff that just detracts from the main story. There are also descriptions of events that are left hanging because of the use of ambiguous words or the apparent deletion of modifiers like "not" that completely change the sense of paragraphs.

The most bizarre thing, though, is the spelling and grammar errors. What editor worth his or her pay doesn't know how to spell "Xanax", for God's sake? It's not that there are thousands of these errors, but there are more than there should be and it's very distracting when you're reading the book. It also makes me wonder how the book ever got published if a competent editor never read it.

Still, the bird story is great. I was glad I read the book even though lots of parts annoyed the hell out of me.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: Because I have always had a passion for birds, and a special fondness for English Sparrows, I would likely have purchased this book as a matter of course. To find that Paul West, the distinguished novelist and teacher, described Chris Chester's "Providence of a Sparrow -- Lessons From a Life Gone to the Birds" as "a staggering, wholly unmawkish album of mingled lives, as if Charles Darwin were presiding over Noah's ark," cinched the deal for me. When someone of West's stature praises a book in such terms, it's a sure bet that the work so praised is nothing short of extraordinary. Indeed, Chester's memoir of his life with B -- the sparrow he raised and loved -- is an absorbing, poignant and exspansive story brilliantly written. The author's use of language is breathtaking; his wit remarkable. So much so that upon finishing "Providence," I immediately began to read it again.

Rating:
Summary: "Providence" Satisfies on So Many Levels!
Review: Don't be deceived by the title. This would be a gem of a book even if it WERE only about the author's life-altering relationship with a house sparrow. Fortunately, "Providence" is so much more, and ultimately so much more satisfying, as it roams with humor, poetry, candor and intelligence over many aspects of the author's life--his marriage, childhood memories, his struggle with depression, the death of his father, his philosophy about life and the afterlife, and so on. I alternately laughed out loud, cried, and nodded knowingly--sometimes within the space of a single page; I read passages aloud to my wife, who found it equally hilarious, poignant and profound. Chester's word choices are often unexpected--exquisitely so--and the cadence of his prose is captivating. "Providence" is, simply put, one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

Rating:
Summary: "Providence" Satisfies on So Many Levels!
Review: Don't be deceived by the title. This would be a gem of a book even if it WERE only about the author's life-altering relationship with a house sparrow. Fortunately, "Providence" is so much more, and ultimately so much more satisfying, as it roams with humor, poetry, candor and intelligence over many aspects of the author's life--his marriage, childhood memories, his struggle with depression, the death of his father, his philosophy about life and the afterlife, and so on. I alternately laughed out loud, cried, and nodded knowingly--sometimes within the space of a single page; I read passages aloud to my wife, who found it equally hilarious, poignant and profound. Chester's word choices are often unexpected--exquisitely so--and the cadence of his prose is captivating. "Providence" is, simply put, one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

Rating:
Summary: A Phenomenal Book
Review: Funny, tender, lyric, insightful and informative, "Providence of a Sparrow - Lessons from a Life Gone to the Birds" is, in my opinion, the best book ever written about an animal (in this case, a bird) and its relationship with a human being. Chester's prose is beautifully constructed and endlessly quotable. His description of canned cat food as "fish rectums packed in some sort of urine," is an amusing example. On his beloved House Sparrow's reaction to an exploding firecracker (the bird is napping at the time in Chester's hand): " . . . his neurons ignite for an instant, light up pathways unsealed from sleep; sentry calls to sentry with the message, 'You're safe in the hand that has never harmed you.' " The book is a universe.

Rating:
Summary: a sublime reading experience
Review: I appreciate the thoughtful, literary, witty and soulfilled look into the evolution that the author and his wife encountered when they found themselves B-taken in by a baby sparrow, (and all the other birds too). Mr. Chester's style is open and deep, whether speaking of his everyday life or their nestlings. Theirs is an amazing story blessed with rare relationships that moved me to reflect on my life events. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: That rare combination -- moving and funny
Review: I bought this award-winning book (Oregon Book Award for Creative Non Fiction, 2003) after reading recently a rave review of it by Angela Dombroksi in Boston's "Weekly Dig." I quote, "Intimate and profound, this memoir about finding destiny in a small creature is as sprawling as a John McPhee work, and qualifies as a study in natural history and avian behavior. Chester is humorous without being contrived and is a master of literary device. Few books can make you a better person. This one will." I thank this reviewer for pointing me toward a work that has easily found its place in my short list of all-time favorites. Yes, "Providence of a Sparrow" is a book with an animal (an unforgettable one) at its center; it also manages to say a lot more about the human condion than most traditional memoirs manage to convey. It's beyond me how an author can be so damn funny while being so enagaging, informative and touching. All I can say is that you should read this book. You really should.

Rating:
Summary: Great Writer - Great Stroy
Review: I bought this book on a lark. Typically when I do such things I go unrewarded. I am pleased to say that that this time I was rewarded. Chester is a great writer who is loony about birds, or maybe just cuckoo. Regardless, the story is very genuine and presented in a non-sappy manner which is much appreciated in our world of over-produced drivel. Whether or not you lovebirds I recommend that you swiftly go out and buy this book. Unless you are a solitaire old curmudgeon I think that you will read this and then go crowing to all of your friends about how good it is. Now excuse me while I creep back into my hole.