Dreambirds: The Strange History of the Ostrich in Fashion, Food, and Fortune - Hardcover

Nixon, Rob

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312245408 ISBN 13: 9780312245405

Publisher: Picador USA, 2000

Synopsis

The ostrich is one of nature's misfits: a gigantic bird that can neither fly nor sing. But the fin-de-siecle fetish for feathers made ostrich plumes more precious than gold. Rob Nixon grew up near the South African desert where ostriches first boomed, and had an early passion for the outsize bird. Later, his rejection of apartheid led him to immigrate to the United States, where he encountered a new wave of ostrich mania: American ranchers were trying to convert the gawky bird into a low-cal cuisine. Part memoir, part travelogue, Dreambirds is a natural history of a fantasy and a beautifully crafted, candid revelation of a man's soul.

About this title

About the Author:

Rob Nixon is a professor at the University of Wisconsin. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly, the Village Voice, and Outside magazine. He has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation, among others. Originally from South Africa, he now lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador USA
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0312245408
• ISBN 13: 9780312245405
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 289