You might know Christian Cooper as the Black birdwatcher who was verbally assaulted by a white woman in Central Park in a viral video. But I could tell right away from the first chapter of this book that Cooper is a very talented writer with a fascinating story that would have made for a great memoir without his unexpected viral moment. Cooper shares his travels and love of nature, tales of his time writing for Marvel, his experiences growing up in an a family full of activists and sci-fi nerds, and so much more. And through it all, of course, he ties everything back to birds. I've never been particularly drawn to birds, but I was completely drawn in by the way Christian Cooper talks about them. He does a fantastic job of showing what birds can teach us about ourselves and the world around us.

Memoirs are very much not my thing, generally, but I was intrigued by a book combining both birding (a casual but growing hobby for me), LGBTQ+ experience, and racism. I loved the interplay of bird facts, birding observations that were easily translatable to real lived experience, and snippets of Cooper's life. He has a fascinating background and offers the perfect amount of introspection as he details realizing he was queer as a child, working his dream career at Marvel, traveling the world, and navigating a tricky relationship with his parents. I found it poignant that the racism he endured in Central Park was relegated to the final chapters - he made it very clear that this one viral EVENT did not define his life. I appreciated the background he shared about his protesting and arrests, a passion for social justice handed down from his parents. Racial undercurrents line the majority of the stories Cooper shares as his Blackness is an integral part of his life. Being threatened by a specific white woman in the Ramble is just another blip in the radar. He's honest and direct, and has lived a robust life so far. I appreciated knowing more about him.

Honestly, it's probably a disservice to constantly introduce Christian Cooper as the Black birder from The Incident in Central Park 2020, but I understand that's going to bring many to the book who may not otherwise read it. This is a memoir of which The Incident is only one chapter, and it is a fascinating and full life to learn about. From birding to comics, growing up gay and Black in America--Cooper is able to draw together history and contexts that inform his own place (grudgingly occupied, but put to the best use he can find) in American history.

I loved this book! I first learned about Christian Cooper after the infamous central park incident where a white dog walker threatened to call the police on him (he was birding and asked her to put her dog on the leash which is the regulation there). This catalyzed action in some many ways -- political action and also (which he is happy for - more people and more BIPOC people getting into birding). He identifies with marginalized groups as a black man who is gay and a self-described nerd. He is a Trekkie (huge Star Trek fan), loves comic books (worked as a creator at Marvel as well as created his own), and loves birds!!! His book does not dwell on the incident which got him into the headlines, it is more about his life and his relationship with his parents (very interesting and moving), and his incredible world travels and visits to Central Park to see the birds. He also includes birding tips which I found helpful as a novice birder myself. I enjoyed his stories so much that I could not put this book down. He is a pleasure to learn about. I highly recommend this book.


Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for an ARC and I left this review voluntarily.

All I knew about Christian Cooper before reading this memoir came from the mainstream and social media's coverage of the viral video showing a Central Park confrontation between a black birdwatcher and a white woman whose dog was unleashed. Christian Cooper is that black birder. And his memoir, Better Living Through Birding, is so much more than a response to that Shambles event in May of 2020.

Cooper's book is a good example of how fascinating an "ordinary" life can be. He is a gay man who came of age in the difficult days of AIDS, a talented and creative writer in the television and comics industry, a global traveler who has gone to great lengths to add to his bird life list, a black social justice activist, and a truly informed and enlightened human being.

I enjoyed the broadness of his experiences, although there were times when I wished for more words about the birds. I was especially moved by the last section of the book in which Christian tells his "side" of the incident in the park and expresses his own feelings about racism and intolerance in this country.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

I am so grateful that I got to read this important book! Like many others, I had heard of Christian Cooper because of "the incident" in Central Park on Memorial Day in 2020. However, this book is about SO much more than one incident. I learned about birding, the comic book world, and most importantly, about what it has been like for Mr Cooper to grow up and live life as a Black gay man. The book is beautifully written, and I look forward to recommending it to our library patrons.

Better Living Through Birding is not actually a book about birding, but a memoir of a Black, Queer, birder.

Christian Cooper invites us to journey through his past as he recalls experiences in life that brought him to where he is today. I found his writing very captivating. He is descriptive in the way of fiction and so it's easy to settle into the book and imagine the scenes of Central Park or other places he visits in life.

Cooper is an activist, born from activist parents. He shares his experience with activism in regards to racism and LGBTQ+ movements. He draws parallels with birding and how birding skills also helped him assimilate to the racism of American culture.

While no family or life is perfect, he writes about his experiences in childhood and about his parents with a lot of empathy. Even when it comes to the infamous Central Park incident that we all know about, he approaches it with empathy for all parties involved. That comes through in his writing in relations to other people and the birds he has come to love. It makes him easy to relate to and understand. I really hear what Cooper is saying in his writing.

Throughout the book are Cooper's Seven Pleasures of Birding and Birding Tips that I think broke up the longer sections really well and tied into his life in more ways than just bird watching.

As a reader of Science Fiction and Fantasy I really appreciated how Cooper shares his love for these worlds and how they gave him an escape when he felt like he didn't live in a world that was socially accepting of his queerness.

I have already recommended this book to people I know that are birders and can't wait to buy it for friends.

As a queer birder, I was very excited to pick up this book, and it did not disappoint! Cooper has a way of telling stories that hooks you in instantly, and I read this in one sitting. I was charmed by his ability to capture the pleasures of birding and the enthusiasm I have experienced encountering some of the same birds in the wild as him.

This is much more than a birding creed, and is a true autobiography, following Cooper from his childhood in Long Island, struggling with his sometimes contentious relationship with his parents and his paralyzing fear of being outed as gay, and his travels in adulthood. I was obviously in it for his reflections on being queer and a birder, though I did end up enjoying his long venture into comic book editing world, despite my eyes glazing over on the longer name-dropping parts.

Those looking for an in-depth look into his encounter with a woman in Central Park in 2020 may be disappointed, as his thoughts on that event are largely restricted to the penultimate chapter and the introduction. However, he touches on it with remarkable grace.

The title belies the scope of this moving and often very funny memoir. Birding may be Cooper’s passion, but his experiences and insights are far-reaching. Not just for birders!

Christian Cooper's encounter with another person named Cooper shot him squarely into the national spotlight, in which a frazzled woman, looking more like she's strangling her dog than protecting it, is filmed by a man she's accusing of threatening her, his calm voice saying "Go ahead. Call the police." But there is so much more to this man than what the media chose to highlight.

By now everyone is familiar with this woman who used her white femaleness to weaponize a man of color who was only asking her to leash her dog, as not only was it unlawful to let dogs run free in Central Park's Ramble, it was harmful to the habitat of the birds he had been seeking. All his life. In this generous memoir, he remembers growing up black, gay, "other" in two categories, son of teachers in Eastern Long Island. Closeted until his college years, he developed a passion for birds at an early age, relishing their plumage as well as their unique songs. Mr. Cooper includes detailed accounts of several of his many travels. Also, rooted in his DNA is his family's love for fantasy and science fiction, which has allowed him "dream jobs" with Marvel and DC.

And then this, a strong sense of justice pervades the family since having been pushed in a stroller to protests by his activist mother and father. So here is an account from deep within personal experience, and the reader is rewarded with insights and information, beautifully rendered. Yes, this book changes the way one looks at the world and the creatures that populate it. To the uninitiated like myself who take birds for granted, Christian Cooper has opened a world of possibilities.

4 stars
Better Living Through Birding
Christian Cooper

We all have heard the story and seen the video of Mr. Cooper's interaction with a white woman in Central Park. This memoir is a fascinating look into birding, life as a gay black man and Cooper's foray into birding. It also speaks to the ramifications of his video going viral after filming Amy Cooper (no relation) making a false 911 call. The compassion shown by Mr. Cooper to Ms. Cooper is incredible.
This book is a must-read. I think I need to go get some binoculars and start to do some birding myself.
I highly recommend this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley.

I was excited about reading this book because of Cooper’s notoriety in the wake of the Central Park birding incident in 2020. I wanted to support him in his work, but as it turned out, he didn’t need me to prop him up. Christian Cooper is one amazing guy who is intelligent, witty, charming, and describes himself as one of the few “black, gay, nerdy” birders in America.

This is not a birding guidebook, but rather a memoir of his life, each chapter related to a birding experience or knowledge. And wow, what an interesting life he has had. He starts a chapter, for example, discussing the parenting skills of the Emperor Penguin before morphing into a story of his own family and relationship
With his father. He touches on his childhood experiences coming to grips with his sexuality, his love of science fiction, his time writing for Marvel Comics, and living in New York City on 9/11. With honesty but not histrionics, he discusses his spirituality, racism, prejudice and other hot button topics he has lived in a way most of us have not. Woven throughout are pearls of wisdom about birds and birding (I will forever more use the very useful tip of keeping my eye on the bird as I bring the binoculars to my eyes). Despite a life full of drama, Cooper’s love of nature and of birds has given him an enviable positive outlook on life.

I’m very much looking forward to his new National Geographic series, “Extraordinary Birding,” and following this extraordinary man’s future ventures.

Many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC of this book which I received in exchange for my honest opinion.

Birds yes but also a memoir of man who has lived a very interesting life. Cooper's viral moment in Central Park propelled him into the public consciousness but we didn't learn much about him at the time except that he was a birder. He's so much more. Most importantly, he loves birds and this is keyed to different birding experiences. But he also worked for Marvel. He's got a very good sense of humor, something we don't always see in memoirs. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. An excellent read.

This is an excellent combination of memoir and birding! As a newbie to the world of birding, I was definitely nerding out on the bird facts and stories and wound up learning a lot of new, interesting facts about bird species. I greatly enjoyed getting an insight into Christian’s life and learning about his unique perspectives. This book is beautifully written, and I especially liked the birding tips and the seven pleasures of birding!

Thank you to NetGalley and Christian Cooper for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

When I say it was an honor and a privilege to get approved by Random House to read an advanced copy of Christian Cooper's Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World, it is a sentiment that is one-hundred-percent genuine. I'm a middle-aged white woman in the reasonably secure suburbs of New Jersey. Like most of the news-watchers of the New York City area, I first heard about Christian Cooper when he had an infamous interaction with a white woman named Amy Cooper in Central Park. It was Christian's own video and his sister who uploaded it that made him a viral sensation. He was not prepared for that.

Immediately, since I'm in social circles of comic book nerds, people were posting that Christian used to work at Marvel Comics. I got an email from a mutual friend and former Marvel and DC Comics editor, Bunche, alerting me to what a peaceful sweetheart Christian Cooper is. Bunche is among the coworkers mentioned in Christian's chapter of being at Marvel Comics which brings me to a key point about Better Living Through Birding—pay attention to the summary; this is a memoir not a book on birding. There are some excellent tips for birding especially in Central Park, but it is not a guide book to birding. I point this out because I noticed other reviewers saying they were disappointed or that they did appreciate reading about Christian's personal (ie, gay) romantic life in several countries.

Trust me, there is nothing graphicly depicted simply because he talks openly about his social life. All he says is that he spent the night with this man or that man. One of them ends up being a racist, which Christian only discovers after their tryst. It's the most benign and vanilla way to present dating. If that offends you, I don't know what to tell you. Guide books on animals have more details about mating rituals.

What you do get is a well-written memoir about the life of a person who goes from being a little gay boy hating himself and afraid to a brilliant man with a talent for the spoken word of human language and bird songs. He can identify any bird in Central Park by its sounds, location, and slightest movements. Christian Cooper is the hero of his story and he doesn't take full credit. His parents, who did eventually divorce, each had their periods with him showing support. His father Francis wasn't interested in birding, but loved being outdoors. Francis took his little boy to go on birding walks all the time and this is when Christian met the most influential people of his passion. Was his father great? Hell, no. He was often mean. In time, Francis married a woman named Miriam who brought out the best in him. By then, Christian was already a Harvard graduate and professional writer and editor.

The chapters are long. There are only thirteen—perhaps done on purpose to challenge readers to let go of old traditions and superstitions in order to make room for new ones. Christian lightly touches upon his own feelings of religion and faith. His love of the planet led him to seeing the divine all around in nature, as a pagan respecting the animals, plants, and stars.

The birding community has grown since the pandemic. Cooper notes this as well. People were suddenly told not to go into work and to work from home. Folks who had been tethered to the padded grey panels of cubicles could be at their kitchen tables with a laptop next to a window. Place a bird feeder out there and, as if by magic, a new world of birding opened up to them. Even more impressive is that because of Cooper's notoriety from the Amy Cooper Incident, black people were able to see themselves where they hadn't before.

What makes this book exciting as a reading experience is that Cooper's honesty with life's downward spiral moments are then uplifted through his poetic descriptions of birds' appearances, calls, and a particularly unique behavior of chimney swifts. Cooper shares his global travels in tangible descriptors. He's been through parts of South America, Africa, Asia (making a harrowing trip to the Mt. Everest base camp), and even into the racially tense Deep South of the United States.

Nothing can stop a birder with this level of dedication and nobody should. Not a white woman having her own issues; not a cop who sees everyone as a suspect. Nearly a year to the very day from the incident (as Cooper prefers to call his run-in with Amy Cooper), he caught another white woman with her dog off its leash in Central Park's Ramble. She was nicer at first, but after realizing she was being captured on video of her violation of the leash law, she turned on him. The outcome wasn't viral, but very nearly the same.

Cooper, in his humbleness and passivity, doesn't want people to focus on those incidents as racial. He emphasizes that he and all the birders were told by the Parks Department to video people violating the leash law. Instead, Cooper would like people to work on themselves and demand change so that violence by law enforcement against black people makes a dent in the systemic, global racism problem. He goes into particular cases like George Floyd and Philando Castile which is why I made a content note at the top.

Chapter two is when Cooper explains the source of his birding love. His own "spark bird" was the Red-Winged Blackbird; that means the bird that first ignited his interest. Coincidentally, I saw my first one while reading his book.

By the end, if a reader isn't hoping to see a Kirtland's Warbler or a Blackburnian or a shimmering Grackle, I would be shocked.

Summary:

The memoir of Christian Cooper is inspiring! From his lifelong activism against racism and climate change to his personal life of being a rare black gay nerd from Long Island with his dream job at National Geographic (as host and consulting producer of Extraordinary Birder), this is a book that actually gives a reader hope.

Rating: 5 stars

The weirdest thing is that the book this stellar memoir reminds me of is Know My Name by Chanel Miller. Both authors are tremendous writing talents who were thrust into the spotlight as a victim. And both of them have stories that are so much deeper and more interesting than the one thing everyone knows about them. I wish their opportunities to share their stories were not tied to what made them famous, but nonetheless I'm glad they capitalized on their moment to create something wholly beautiful.

I savored this memoir, because there was so much detail to appreciate. Between Christian Cooper's history as a bona fide Black nerd who made huge strides at Marvel comics, his fraught family history told with grace, his history with activism, his flavor of paganism, and of course the birding, this is a jam-packed book! It's very inspiring. It's also a great reminder not to assume how people feel about things. It would take a lot more than one racist white lady with an off-leash dog to ruin Central Park for Christian Cooper.

I could not finish enough of this book to be able to leave a comprehensive review, but I hope it finds its audience and I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

From the publisher: Central Park birder Christian Cooper takes us beyond the viral video that shocked a nation and into a world of avian adventures, global excursions, and the unexpected lessons you can learn from a life spent looking up.

This is a compelling memoir of an ordinary person thrust into the limelight after an encounter in New York City’s Central Park with an unleashed dog and its owner.

Christian Cooper is a regular guy who found fame when he asked Amy Cooper to leash her dog in an area of Central Park known as the Ramble during bird migration. She reacted by calling the police on him, and his video of her behavior went viral. I don’t know whether Christian Cooper was asked to write a memoir or it was his idea, but he’s a good writer and I enjoyed it a lot. He’s funny, and thoughtful about his word choices.

I suspect some readers who pick up this memoir will be disappointed because there’s too much about birds. I suspect some birders who pick up this memoir will be disappointed because there isn’t enough about birds. Cooper takes us through his years before and after the video, documenting his life as a Black, male, gay, birdwatching nerd and sprinkling in birding tips as he goes.

I might not seem to have a lot in common with Cooper – I’m a white straight woman – but I am a birdwatcher and a nerd who loves Star Trek, and I’m about the same age as Cooper. Our shared pop culture experiences resonate! Reading Better Living Through Birding was like sitting down with a friend for coffee. Christian Cooper is a confident guy who stands up for what he believes in. His birding by ear skills sound legendary. He’d be fun to bird with.

I liked that the memoir covered a lot of ground and a lot of normal issues. Awkwardness with dad. Frustration with mom. Pushing the boundaries at work. Spending free time obsessed with a hobby. Modeling behavior after a character from pop culture. Dealing with coming out as gay. Encountering casual racism. This may or may not be the memoir for you, but if it intrigues you at all I recommend giving it a chance.

I read an advance reader copy of Better Living Through Birding from Netgalley. It is scheduled to be published on June 13, and it will be available at the Galesburg Public Library.

Some people should not write autobiographies, but Christian Cooper is not one of them.

However, marketing is, as always, everything, and your enjoyment of the book will be directly impacted by what you expect. I walked into this knowing nothing except that Cooper is a birder and the Black man who was threatened by a White woman and her off-leash dog in Central Park. But I am often down for learning more about lives that are wildly different than mine, and as an amateur birder and a fan of NYC, it seemed like it could work.

Spoiler alert: It did, probably because I quickly realized that it’s an autobiography.

Contents: An Incident in Central Park; Blackbird; The Book of Ramus; Halcyon Days; In a Happy Place; Knocking Down Doors in the House of Ideas; Life Turned Upside Down; Elegy; On Top of the World; Family Matters; The Tragedy of Francis; Another Incident in Central Park; Out of Alabama.

It opens with ‘An Incident in Central Park,’ a teaser if I ever saw one. Beginning en media res, Cooper is racing disheveled through the park… toward a bird: “The rarest songbird in North America, Kirtland’s Warbler is a creature even more unlikely to be spotted in Central Park than the gay Black nerd with binoculars looking up at it.” It’s a cute chapter and shares both his love of birding and why so many people are attracted to birds. ‘Blackbird’ opens with the misidentification by settlers of a species, then relates his own exposure to birding as a child, as well as identifying his uniqueness: “Like everyone else, I had to sort through aspects of my identity and where I fit in the social taxonomy, which labels fit and which chafed, and how the world might have misidentified me and pegged my kind all wrong.” I loved this chapter for it’s back and forth, it’s demonstration that programs that help bring children of all backgrounds into interacting with nature can foster a life-long passion, and Cooper’s acknowledgement of the complicated relationship with his dad, and the far less complicated and healthy one with a birding mentor.

‘The Book of Ramus’ is where I learned about the disturbing Eleonora’s Falcon which had the reputation of stashing live prey for later feeding. The chapter itself is more focused on adolescence and college at Harvard, navigating being gay and how sci-fi books, movies and comics provided escape. The college transition was fascinating, and when Cooper says “The random combination of young men who formed our rooming group freshman year was something of a …. United Colors of Benetton ad,” I laughed, realizing Cooper must be a cohort. I would have loved more detail on the Harvard years.

‘Halycon Days’ explores life outside of college, opening up with a first international trip to Buenos Aires and realizing black skin color meant something different in another country. This trip largely becomes about exploring being both Black and gay, and for bird-focused people, might be the most confusing. I found it insightful and sweet.

‘In a Happy Place’ continues in NYC, focusing on Central Park birding, both the skill of doing it and the birding culture, and if you didn’t know there was one, well, join the club of the clueless. He also does us the courtesy of explaining the difference between Red-bellied (common) and Red-headed (rare) woodpeckers: “The Red-Bellied also sports red on the head…its ridiculous name stemming from the fact that if the bird were stunned unconscious and fell on its back at your feet, you might be able to spy in all that creaminess a couple of reddish feathers in a small patch near the base of its legs.” I giggled when I read this, and the next time the red-bellied was at my feeder, I was lucky enough to see the three red feathers on its belly as it awkwardly tried to eat from the sunflower feeder.

‘Knocking Down’ talks quite a bit about one of Cooper’s other loves, comics. His first job was followed by a long stint at Marvel in various roles, eventually leading the way with the first character to come out of the closet. I have yet to see a Marvel movie since 2012 or so, but Cooper general keeps the nerd detail to general levels, or contextualizes it for the newbies. There’s some name-dropping in this section that’s a little less interesting, particularly when Cooper gets to head his own spin-off. But I had to laugh when he describes what he did when he was assigned to edit the ‘Swimsuit Edition.’

‘Life Turned Upside Down‘ is a memorable trip to Australia after being laid off from Marvel: “Birds and boys: It seemed the perfect combination to distract me from the fact that my dream job was done and I was professionally adrift.” Luckily, another opportunity soon opens with Marvel. ‘Elegy‘ is the 9-1-1 chapter, his occurring (of course!) while he was birding in Central Park. ‘On Top of the World‘ was a travel trip with his boyfriend to the Himalayas. He expounds a bit on his paganist beliefs here. ‘Family Matters‘ talks about birding, generational trauma, and reconciling with his father. ‘The Tragedy of Francis‘ brings in his peaceful protesting (along with much of NYC) at One Police Plaza during Giuliani’s reign. It is also the time period when his parents faced life-threatening illnesses and he planned a bucket-list trip to the Galapagos with his father.

‘Another Incident in Central Park‘ is, of course, the one that brought Christian Cooper to my–and the world’s–attention. While it is awful and regrettable–I remember how watching his video made me feel sick to my stomach–I’m grateful that it catapulted him into a platform to share even more of his creative work. ‘Alabama’ happens when he was invited to be a speaker at an Audubon birding festival and gives him a chance to explore southern birds as well as his family history.

His writing is very enjoyable to me; a combination of candor, wry humor, and intelligence that I found interesting and entertaining. He’s urbane, literate and socially conscious–definitely the one I’d want to talk with a little longer, wherever we happened to meet. Glad I got the chance to meet him through his book.

Many thanks to both Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an ARC of this book. As always, all opinions my own.

This is an excellent memoir. The best part of this book is how Christian Cooper seamlessly weaves his love and knowledge of birding with his really cool life story. He writes with great perspective on birding, traveling, race and being gay. I particularly love the descriptive language used to describe his surroundings, the birding life, and the people he meets during his travels. This man wrote an insightful and fascinating book. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of this book.