Birding Under the Influence

Cycling Across America in Search of Birds and Recovery

by Dorian Anderson

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Pub Date Nov 02 2023 | Archive Date Oct 25 2023

Chelsea Green Publishing

Biographies & Memoirs | Nonfiction (Adult) | Outdoors & Nature

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Description

“An adrenaline hit for birders and adventure junkies. It’s also a surprisingly tender story of redemption . . . I read it in a blissful, all-out binge.”—Noah Stryker, Associate Editor of Birding magazine and author of Birding Without Borders

At a personal and professional crossroads, a man resets his life and finds sobriety, love, and 618 bird species, cycling nearly 18,00 miles in what became a very Big Year.

In Birding Under the Influence, Dorian Anderson, a neuroscience researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, walks away from the world of elite institutions, research labs, and academic publishing. In doing so, he discovers he has freed himself to embrace a lifelong passion for birding and embarks on a potentially quixotic quest for a record-setting North American Big Year using only his bicycle.

Dorian eventually pedals over 17,800 miles in twelve months, describing the birds he sees while confronting the challenges of long-distance cycling: treacherous weather, punctured tires, speeding cars, and injury. He encounters eccentric characters, blistering blacktop, dreary hotel rooms, snarling dogs, and an endless sea of smoking tailpipes. He also confronts his past struggles with alcohol, drugs, and other risky behaviors.

Birding Under the Influence is a candid look back at Dorian’s double life of academic accomplishment and addiction. And while his journey to recovery is poignant and inspiring, it is ultimately his love of birds that provides the scaffolding to build his new life.

“What an incredible story!”—David Lindo, author of The Urban Birder

“Dorian is a big personality with an even bigger story. His epic tale of recovery and perseverance will inspire.”—Nate Swick, American Birding Association Podcast Host and author of The Beginners Guide to Birding

Advance Praise

"Birding Under the Influence is an adrenaline hit for birders and adventure junkies. It’s also a surprisingly tender story of redemption, as Dorian Anderson faces down his addictions and reinvents his career. . . I read it in a blissful, all-out binge—as will anyone with a taste for birds and inspiring journeys."—Noah Stryker, Associate Editor of Birding magazine and author of Birding Without Borders

"A story led by the bike and fueled by his tenacity, Dorian colorfully articulates the depth to which putting in the work—both physically on the bike, and emotionally on oneself—reaps infinite rewards."—Tiffany Kirsten, birding guide

"What an incredible story! Dorian’s adventure is an inspiration for birders and non-birders alike."—David Lindo, author of The Urban Birder

"Birding Under the Influence is an incredible story. This has to be the best Big Year book since Kingbird Highway. . . It is a journey through the mind and the soul. It is a coming-of-age story unlike anything I’ve read before. I know what it takes to do a big year—the sacrifices, the willpower needed, the risks involved, and the stress on yourself and your relationships. To do this on a bike and put your academic career behind you while recovering from alcohol and drug addiction is something else. I read this incredible story in one go, and I think you will too."—Arjan Dwarshuis, author of The (Big) Year That Flew By

"Dorian is a big personality with an even bigger story. His epic tale of recovery and perseverance will inspire any birder, whether or not their big year dreams involve cycling across the continent."—Nate Swick, American Birding Association podcast host and author of The Beginners Guide to Birding

"So often birding is a quest, and in this memoir Dorian Anderson seeks birds but also some sense of self. At times throwing himself on the mercy of his fellow Americans, he finds his way through and across the country, enlisting a colorful cast of characters as he goes. For this one year his only commitment is to his bicycle. His bike both frees and imprisons him simultaneously, but eventually it delivers him, along with a unique story."—George Armistead, founder and guide, Hillside Nature

"This is no ordinary big year birding book, as Dorian’s story supersedes birds and reveals how a year of contemplation, biking, and birding helped him to overcome his inner struggles of addiction and broken relationships that are all too relatable for many of us."—Luke Safford, Director of Engagement and Education, Tucson Audubon