Odd Birds & Fat Cats (An Urban Bestiary) - (An Urban Bestiary)

ERIC HOFFER BOOK AWARD CATEGORY FINALIST
Ravens in Berlin . . . Parakeets in Brooklyn . . . Chickens
in Tel Aviv . . . Spiders in Cognac. City creatures spark the imagination and
intellect in words and art by this father-daughter team.

Odd Birds & Fat Cats (An Urban Bestiary) is an
illustrated collection of brief observations on city creatures. Inspired
by the tradition of the medieval bestiary, bestiarum vocabulum, a
12th-century bestselling genre that chronicled animals and beings both
real and fantastical, the book features pithy impressions of birds and animals
that delight, confound, and edify, written by Peter Wortsman, coupled
with detailed naturalist artwork by his daughter, Aurélie
Bernard Wortsman.

Featured creatures include:

• Pigeons: “When, finally, it takes flight . . . this
  asphalt-colored bird is like a piece of the pavement which by some fluke of
  gravity broke loose and is foolishly falling upward by mistake." 

• Seagulls: “Fallen splinters of eternity, they hang
  overhead with the equanimity and mild disdain of angels in a medieval
  altarpiece, and unlike pigeons, refuse any direct contact with man."

• Ants: “Micro-managers in three-piece bodies,
  ants parody human antics to a tee. Or is it the other way around?"

• Dust mites: “Every time you scratch yourself or comb
  your hair, you are feeding the tiny intruders with the detritus of self."

With four-color images throughout, printed in a beautiful hardbound
edition, this one-of-a-kind volume will please the discerning animal lover,
traveler, art lover, iconoclast, and literati on your gift list—and, of course,
also you!

Sommario

Contents
Whose Zoo Is It? (A Foreword)   13

I * Odd Birds
Pigeons   20

Seagulls   22

The Raven and the Swift (Berlin, Germany)   24

Le Corbeau (Paris, France)   26

The Crow (Kyoto, Japan)   29

Red-Tailed Hawk   30

Rooster on the Loose   31

Chicken (Tel Aviv, Israel)   32

Praise for the Lone Peacock in the Valence Zoo (Valence, France)   33

The Monk Parrakeets of Green-Wood Cemetery (Brooklyn, New York)   34

II * Bugs & Microbes
Ants   38

Spider   40

A Spider in Paradise (Cognac, France)   41

Enculeur de Mouches (Paris, France)   42

Conjoined Firebugs (Berlin, Germany)   44

Dust Mites 46

A Milliliter of Love   48

The Vespa, a Wasp on Wheels (Rome, Italy)   50

Gutsy Bacteria   51

Water Bug   52

Retroviruses   54

III * Canines, Felines & Foragers
Cave Canem!   58

Beware of Cat!   60

The Riddle of the Sphinx   62

Waltzing with a Tiger   64

Like Pigs to the Slaughter (Ziguinchor, Senegal)   66

IV * Rodents
Squirrels   70

Subway Rats   72

Mouse Mummy   74

Experimental Guinea Pigs   77

V * Big Game
Buffaloes (Taos, New Mexico)   80

Texas Longhorn Cattle (Houston, Texas)   83

Whales Washed Up at Rockaway Beach (Queens, New York)   84

Going Ape Shit   86

Elephants of Forgetting (Paris, France)   89

VI * Anthropoids
Little Alien from the Planet Uterus   92

Family Members   94

Musclemen   95

Preserved Body Parts   96

Pedestrian Types   98

The Baby Carriage Contingent   100

The Disease of Self   101

The Smile   102

Size Places   104

Where Names Come From   105

How the Face Ages   106

Faithful Fear   108

Smells  109

The Uninterrupted Kiss   110

Looking Is a Faulty Glue   111

The Garbage Waltzes with the Wind   112

About the Creators   115
Acknowledgments   117

 

Info autore

Aurélie Bernard Wortsman is an artist, cartoonist, and the director of Andrew Edlin Gallery in downtown Manhattan, where she curated “Beverly Buchanan: Shacks and Legends, 1985-2011,” “Agatha Wojciechowsky: Spirits Among Us,” and “Beverly Buchanan: Northern Walls and Southern Yards.” Co-founder of the artistic cartoon duo Zou and Lou, her work has been exhibited at Wynwood Arts 29 in Miami and elsewhere. She first published her drawings at age five in her father’s column in the literary review Courants d’ombres. 

Riassunto

Ravens in Berlin . . . Parakeets in Brooklyn . . . Chickens
in Tel Aviv . . . Spiders in Cognac. City creatures spark the imagination and
intellect in words and art by this father-daughter team.

Odd Birds & Fat Cats (An Urban Bestiary) is an
illustrated collection of brief observations on city creatures. Inspired
by the tradition of the medieval bestiary, bestiarum vocabulum, a
12th-century bestselling genre that chronicled animals and beings both
real and fantastical, the book features pithy impressions of birds and animals
that delight, confound, and edify, written by Peter Wortsman, coupled
with detailed naturalist artwork by his daughter, Aurélie
Bernard Wortsman.

Featured creatures include:

• Pigeons: “When, finally, it takes flight . . . this
  asphalt-colored bird is like a piece of the pavement which by some fluke of
  gravity broke loose and is foolishly falling upward by mistake." 

• Seagulls: “Fallen splinters of eternity, they hang
  overhead with the equanimity and mild disdain of angels in a medieval
  altarpiece, and unlike pigeons, refuse any direct contact with man."

• Ants: “Micro-managers in three-piece bodies,
  ants parody human antics to a tee. Or is it the other way around?"

• Dust mites: “Every time you scratch yourself or comb
  your hair, you are feeding the tiny intruders with the detritus of self."

With four-color images throughout, printed in a beautiful hardbound
edition, this one-of-a-kind volume will please the discerning animal lover,
traveler, art lover, iconoclast, and literati on your gift list—and, of course,
also you!

Prefazione

• International, national, and local media
• Co-op available
• Galleys and eGalleys available
• National radio and podcast campaign
• National print campaign targeting arts and entertainment weeklies/monthlies and holiday roundups (author connections at Brooklyn Rail, Bomb, Hyperallergic, Whitehot Magazine, Mr. Beller's Neighborhood)
• Events in New York and Brooklyn; launch party at Andrew Edlin Gallery
• Promotion through peterwortsman.com

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Ruth Greenstein, Peter Wortsman
• Editore: Turtle point publishers
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Pubblicazione: 22.10.2024, ritardato
• EAN: 9781885983596
• ISBN: 978-1-885983-59-6
• Pagine: 112
• Categorie: Scienze umane, arte, musica > Arte > Tematiche generali, enciclopedie; NATURE / Essays, TRAVEL / Special Interest / General, Travel writing, Nature & the natural world: general interest, Literary essays, gift book; city creatures; animal lovers;