Bearded Tit: A Love Story with Feathers

Product Details

Author : Rory McGrath
Binding : Hardcover
EAN : 9780091922696
Number of Pages : 320
Product Group : Book
Publication Date : 2008-05-01
Publisher : Ebury Press

ASIN : 0091922690

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Editorial Reviews

Daily Mail

"a gentle, warming, nostalgic and gag-ridden memoir...
His self-deprecation is not only disarming but occasionally very moving, and he pulls off a romantic twist at the end that will thaw the heart of the coldest Icelandic puffin."

Mail on Sunday

"McGrath's tale of fumbled romance and birding evangelism is ultimately a sweet and elegiac read"

Robin Page, Daily Telegraph

"There is far more to Rory McGrath than meets the eye. Yes, he can be very funny, basic and boisterous, but beneath the stubble is a countryman and birdwatcher... lyrical and beautiful"

Book Description

A poignant but hilarious journey into the arcane world of birdwatching by one of the most popular names in British comedy

Synopsis

"Bearded Tit" is Rory McGrath's story of life among birds - from a Cornish boyhood wandering gorse-tipped cliffs listening to the song of the yellowhammer with his imaginary girlfriend, or drawing gravity-defying jackdaws in class when he should have been applying himself to physics, to quoting the Latin names of birds to give himself a fighting chance of a future with JJ - the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. As an adult, or what passes for one, Rory recounts becoming a card-carrying birdwatcher, observing his first skylark - peerless king of the summer sky - while stoned; his repeatedly failed attempts to get up at the crack of dawn like the real twitchers; and his flawed bid to educate his utterly unreconstructed drinking mate Danny in the ways of birding. Rory's tale is a thoroughly educational, occasionally lyrical and highly amusing romp through the hidden byways of birdwatching and, more importantly, a love story you'll never forget.

About the Author

Rory McGrath was born in the last century. He studied at Redruth Grammar School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He is one of the best-known faces in British comedy, appearing in programmes such as They Think It’s All Over, QI and Three Men in a Boat. He was a co-founder of TV production company Hat Trick Productions, and has written jokes for many comedians, including Frankie Howard. He lives in Cambridge and supports Arsenal.

Customer Reviews

brilliant read (2008-08-12)

brilliant read with a good twist at the end had me in stitches of laughter and i could not put it down. its a better book if you know a bit about birds. i will be looking out for any new books by Rory m

The pedant allows a proof reading howler (2008-07-05)

Rory McGrath is a self confessed pedant which comes across in this entertaining and educational book. I would have given it 5* but for the fact that the second half was a bit long, I worked out the twist long before the end (it must be obvious if I managed that!) and worst of all he spelt the eponymous Harrier as Montague's - there is no 'e', it's Montagu's tut tut tut!Despite that it is well written, an easy read and there's some good schoolboy humour in it which did have me laughing out loud. I would have liked to know what happened to his friend Kramer who I thought was a great character.Well worth a read, probably better if you have an interest in birdwatching.

More to this thank meets the eye (2008-06-21)

Funny; romantic; full of anecdotes and facts about British birds. And it has a huge, heartwarming twist on practically the last page, which when you've grasped it, works its way back through the whole of the rest of the book and lights up virtually everything else you've read. Highly recommended.

I can even excuse his being a Gooner (2008-06-13)

Part autobiography, part birding memoir, this is a light-hearted, funny glimpse into the world of British birdwatching as seen through the eyes of the author, a TV comedian and bird devotee. A great mix of amusing anecdotes, Linnean cleassification and tales of teenage angst, with a denoument that I guarantee will send you off smiling. An excellent book, well worth a read.

Hilarious, lovely and really moving! (2008-05-07)

This is a beautiful story - unexpected, superbly written and immensely satisfying! I loved it! I'm a fan of Rory McGrath - he's just hilarious and so cheeky - and as a comedian and a graduate of modern language, the writing was pure comic genius in places. Its touching and earthy. There's suspense and intrigue and romance and surprises! Highly recommended!!!

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