Beacon Press
Soaring with Fidel
An Osprey Odyssey from Cape Cod to Cuba and Beyond
Overview:
As Gessner pursues [the ospreys] down the Eastern Seaboard and even into Cuba with a BBC documentary team at his heels, a lively tale of fish-eating raptors, broken embargoes and a nail-biting race to the finish line ensues . . . Gessner finds his Mecca not in the thrilling launch or triumphant end of his own 7,000-mile migration, but in the living done in between.” — Jennifer Winger, Nature Conservancy Magazine
“An engaging, lyrical guide to osprey migration, Cuba, and a common humanity.” — Orion Magazine
“Gessner’s finest book, unpredictable in the best way, and funny, too; an adventure book and much more–a book of contact by a writer who quickly becomes an audible and visible presence.” — Clyde Edgerton, author of Solo
Book Reviews For Soaring With Fidel
“An interesting and complex book . . . In a surprisingly short amount of time, David Gessner has evolved into one of our most accomplished and singular writers about nature. While many authors treat their experiences in nature with a hushed earnestness and a suspect neatness, Gessner writes about the messy humanness of being outside.” — Mark Lynch, Bird Observer
“An ideal traveling companion and guide. Soaring with Fidel lets you hover for a while in the thermals of fine language, seeing the same old world from a fresh and invigorating altitude.” — Ben Steelman, Wilmington (NC) Star-News
“Hunter Thompson gone birding, pen in hand.” — Harford Courant
“Gessner’s travels are filled with small delights…as he stands on a rock above Cuba’s Sierra Maestra, watching ospreys rocket past, we wish we could be up there beside him, binoculars in one hand, a cold beer in the other.” — On Earth Magazine
“Soaring with Fidel is a grand and cheering journey on the wings of one of nature’s most sociable predators. It’s impossible to watch an osprey hovering above a crystal calm bay and not envy the great bird’s freedom. Now, thanks to David Gessner, we are invited to follow.”
— Carl Hiaasen
“Gessner’s rollicking road-trip account of 21st Century hawkwatching captures the essence of both migrating ospreys and the mixed bag of people who track them. Equal doses of Jack Kerouac and Roger Tory Peterson promise to enshrine Soaring with Fidel in the pantheon of great travel writing and natural history.” — Keith Bildstein, author of Migrating Raptors of the World
