Last spring, I had the privilege to meet a local legend Greg Miller at Flora-quest (a weekend-long outdoor adventure involving some of Ohio's best birders, botanists and all-around nature enthusiasts). I'd heard stories about Greg from my mother and from some of her birding friends, but to read about the feat that made him famous made me blush a little. I'd met one of the nation's top birders and was able to hang out with him during several meals over the course of the weekend. I was also able to hear about the 'real-live' Big Year from the man himself. The biggest thing that struck me about all of it was how funny and unassuming Greg was. It just made his stories that much more priceless. He was so good-natured that it was hard not to just find him fun and lovable and he was telling about tumbling down snow-banks and getting stuck in Florida mud. That said, I also knew that sometimes he could get so excited that he'd forget to do basic things like: plan ahead. After meeting Greg and then seeing the movie based on his Big Year (Jack Black plays him-- but Greg's name is changed) and two other birders' Big Years, I was ready to read the book to get the real deal. Particularly after finding out how little of the royalties on the movie he received (i.e. none), I wanted to support him by reading a book purchased to help benefit him. (Greg sells the book & signs it at many of his speaking engagements--- that is, if he doesn't get too excited and then forget the books!).That being said, how was the book? Solid. I enjoyed that it covered the three competing birders: Greg Miller, Sandy Komito and Al Levantin. I also really enjoyed that the author (Mark Obmascik) interwove birding history about the founding fathers of birding & birding guides. There was also a bit about the characters' personal lives, but I noticed a drastic difference between the book and the movie on this: Sandy Komito's personal life. In the book, the reader finds out that Sandy is a self made man and in the movie there's a whole subplot with not-"Sandy" and his wife having conception problems and her leaving him. In the book, none of this happens-- which makes me wonder if this was fabricated for the movie, or if this was left out of the book for respect of Komito. Also, in the movie not-"Greg" and his lady friend seem to get together after she breaks up with her boyfriend and in the book it explicitly states that she lets him know that they'd just be friends. I also felt that the book delved more into Greg's personal life than the personal lives of the other two characters-- at least their adult personal lives. I found this interesting in that I feel like it made the reader want to relate more with Greg than with the other two and it also made Greg look the most vulnerable and like the biggest risk-taker because of the amount of investment-- monetarily and health-wise that he sacrificed (in proportion with Sandy and Al).
The book also seemed to show more of the caution that the characters had for one another and in comparison, the movie had "Al's" character deciding to help "Greg's" character by bank rolling several trips that "Greg" wouldn't have been able to afford. In the book, there seems to be only one trip at most that "Al" might have made possible for "Greg" in order to see snowcocks. The book also focused much more on the actual money spent and mileage accrued and the author explains that the three birders allowed him to review their journals and receipts in order to make sure that he was as accurate as possible.
I think any one who enjoys competition can appreciate the story of the three men and I found myself intrigued at the fact that the author put himself in each of the men's shoes to explain feelings and the surroundings. I felt torn about this. I enjoyed the textures, but then I also found myself thinking, "well, how would he know what the waitress's smile was like?" So there were a few times where the believability was lost for me. However, I found myself sucked into the last 100 pages as the rivalry heated up and the underdogs kept facing taunting greetings like "Sandy Komito says hi." Would I teach this to my high-school students? Probably not, but I might recommend it to a few of them. Would I send it to my non-fiction loving grandfather? Definitely.
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