Turning to Birds
The Power and Beauty of Noticing
Published on 8. May 2025
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-0350-3999-9 (ISBN)
Description
Discover an eye-opening world of meaning in small moments with this search for peace in a cacophony of birds - from award winning actor Lili Taylor.
During a much-needed break from her work as an actor, Lili Taylor sought silence and instead found the bustling, symphonic world of birds that had always existed around her. Since then, she has entered the world of birdwatching and kept a keen eye pressed to her binoculars in search of vivid stories that elevate the everyday, if you only look.
Through a series of beautifully crafted essays, Taylor shares her intimate encounters with the birds that have captured her heart and imagination - from learning the virtue of patience from the Gambel's quail in New Mexico to experiencing a moment of connection with the wonderfully strange woodcock in Ohio; from the exhilaration of witnessing a migratory flock from the top of the Empire State Building to the quiet joy of observing a nest of hatchlings in her own backyard. Through simply paying attention to birds, Lili has seen a parallel world that is wider and deeper, one of constant change and movement, full of life and the will to survive.
In Turning to Birds, Taylor encourages mindfulness, inviting you to be present and fully engaged with the world around you. Her beautiful prose and thoughtful meditations on both the art we make and the art we discover around us create a sense of intimacy and wonder, inviting you to see the world through new eyes and to find joy in the most unexpected places.
During a much-needed break from her work as an actor, Lili Taylor sought silence and instead found the bustling, symphonic world of birds that had always existed around her. Since then, she has entered the world of birdwatching and kept a keen eye pressed to her binoculars in search of vivid stories that elevate the everyday, if you only look.
Through a series of beautifully crafted essays, Taylor shares her intimate encounters with the birds that have captured her heart and imagination - from learning the virtue of patience from the Gambel's quail in New Mexico to experiencing a moment of connection with the wonderfully strange woodcock in Ohio; from the exhilaration of witnessing a migratory flock from the top of the Empire State Building to the quiet joy of observing a nest of hatchlings in her own backyard. Through simply paying attention to birds, Lili has seen a parallel world that is wider and deeper, one of constant change and movement, full of life and the will to survive.
In Turning to Birds, Taylor encourages mindfulness, inviting you to be present and fully engaged with the world around you. Her beautiful prose and thoughtful meditations on both the art we make and the art we discover around us create a sense of intimacy and wonder, inviting you to see the world through new eyes and to find joy in the most unexpected places.
Reviews / Votes
By turns introspective, inquisitive, and funny, the book is a love letter to nature and the solace it can provide. * The New Yorker * Lili Taylor is an actor I've long been in awe of, and now I know why her work has always been soulful and painfully honest. Turning to Birds is a treasure map to Lili's inner life and a scripture in how to be truly mindful. * Griffin Dunne, actor, director, and author of The Friday Afternoon Club * What can an actor-even a consummate one like Lili Taylor-tell us about birding? Plenty, as she brings her profession's keen observation skills to Turning to Birds, exploring what our feathered marvels can mean to us people. You couldn't ask for a more personal, accessible approach to the pastime we all love (or will, by the end of this book). * Christian Cooper, author of Better Living Through Birding * If you are wondering what this hobby called "birding" is, why so many people are attracted to it, or how one becomes a birder, wonder no more! In Turning to Birds, Lili Taylor answers these questions with flair, insight, and wisdom. * Douglas Tallamy, author of Nature's Best Hope * Lili Taylor has always been such a wonderful actor to watch-perhaps partly because of the watchful quality she so often brings to her characters. . . . In Turning to Birds, Taylor brings that sharp eye to her own backyard, chronicling her own pleasure at observing the birds at play there. Her enchantment by the various feathered beings whose lives she witnesses may be catching. * The Boston Globe * Infectiously exuberant . . . A delightful celebration of the joys of birding-and how it leads one to look at the world in a new light. * Kirkus Reviews *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pan Macmillan
Target group
Interest Age: From 18 years
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 147 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
307 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-0350-3999-9 (9781035039999)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2025
One Boat
€25.49
Available for download
Person
Lili Taylor is an award-winning movie, television, and Broadway actor. In the birding world, Lili is a board member of the National Audubon Society and the New York City Bird Alliance. Lili nests in Brooklyn and upstate New York with her husband, the memoirist and poet Nick Flynn, and their daughter.