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A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All | 
 enlarge | Author: Luke Dempsey
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $16.49
You Save: $8.50 (34%)
New (27) Used (7) from $15.24
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 5083
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.1
ISBN: 159691355X
Dewey Decimal Number: 598.0723473
EAN: 9781596913554
Publication Date: July 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
It was an epiphany: The moment two friends showed Luke Dempsey a small bird flitting around the bushes of his country garden, he fell madly in love. But did he really want to be a birder? Didn’t that mean he’d be forced to eat granola? And wear a man-pouch? Before he knew it, though, he was lost to birding mania. Early mornings in Central Park gave way to weekend mornings wandering around Pennsylvania, which morphed into weeklong trips to Texas, Arizona, Michigan, Florida—anywhere the birds were.A Supremely Bad Idea is one man’s account of an epic journey around America, all in search of the rarest and most beautiful birds the country has to offer. But the birds are only part of it. There are also his crazy companions, Don and Donna Graffiti, who obsess over Dempsey’s culinary limitations and watch in horror as an innocent comment in a store in Arizona almost turns into an international incident; as a trip through wild Florida turns into a series of (sometimes poetic) fisticuffs; and as he teeters at the summit of the Rocky Mountains, a displaced Brit falling in love all over again, this time with his adopted country.Both a paean to avian beauty and a memoir of the back roads of America, A Supremely Bad Idea is a supremely fun comic romp: an environmentally sound This Is Spinal Tap with binoculars.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Couldn't put it down July 29, 2008
26 out of 26 found this review helpful
I picked this book up because of the crazy-looking bird on the front cover -- I'm not a birder, nor did I think I had any interest in birding. But Dempsey's quick wit and hilarious anecdotes make the book not only a pleasure to read but also a really fascinating look into birdwatching, even for the uninitiated. The author is the antithesis of the geeky birdwatcher, relating his escapades with sharp, candid humor, and I found myself laughing out loud frequently -- beware of reading this in public places! It also made me much more curious about the birds I see every day, I even found myself wondering if I should buy a pair of binoculars and a bird book, just in case the brown bird with the reddish patch I keep seeing on the lawn really is a rare bird and not just some kind of sparrow.
I have been recommending this book to everyone I know -- birders or not. Anyone looking for a well-written, witty read would enjoy it, and it leaves you afterward with a new appreciation of the feathered beings in the backyard.
Not just for birders! September 14, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This was a delightful book - as a very modest birder I am now inspired (especially to go to Central Park) and to never travel without my binoculars. And as a reader, I found the book well written and very funny and the characters were terrific - especially Don. Great read, lots of information, lots of laughs - highly recommended.
One to add to your Life List September 18, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
When a friend recently gave me a copy of "A Supremely Bad Idea", I would have ranked my interest in bird watching as #3, directly behind elective groin surgery and spending quality time with my Mother in Law. (#4, BTW, is front row seating at a Celine Dione covers Barry Manilow concert.)
But author Luke Dempsey has made me an enthusiast - very much of his work, and even of ornithology (well, at least to some extent). In the tradition of writers like Bill Bryson and Tony Horowitz, Dempsey gives us a glimpse inside a micro-culture we'd likely not otherwise explore. Wrapping important lessons in biology and ecology in an irresistible travelogue, Dempsey shares with readers his passion for birding and his observations about life here in his adopted homeland.
We accompany the freshly divorced author and his quirky birding friends, Don and Donna Graffiti, on bird watching excursions across the U.S., learning at least as much about them and the colorful folks they meet along the way as the colorful birds they hope to see. Dempsey's voice is distinctive and his style - sometimes irreverent, occasionally endearing, and always entertaining - is a delight. Short ante-chapters work well to add dimension to the primary story line and help it keep pace.
Discovering an author like Luke Dempsey gives me some appreciation for the adrenaline jolt a birder must feel when he spies a life bird for the first time. I hope we'll be seeing more of this author in the future.
-Jeff Yeager
Author, The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches
Tells of the author's mad involvement in the world of birding October 13, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A SUPREMELY BAD IDEA: THREE MAD BIRDERS AND THEIR QUEST TO SEE IT ALL tells of the author's mad involvement in the world of birding, and an ensuing journey around America in search of the rarest, most beautiful birds in the country. His sidekicks join him in a hilarious and bird-filled road trip providing an inviting, lively first-person travelogue perfect for general libraries with patrons interested in either travel or birding.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
 Thumbs down October 18, 2008
4 out of 9 found this review helpful
I had to hang this one up after a few chapters. It was hard to tell whether this was a book on birding or a political blog written by an elitist frat boy who is long on opinions and short on life experiences.
Hey Dempsey, calling American soldiers "grunts" and yelling at them out a car window "Good for you, boys, learning how to kill" isn't as cool or as funny as you seem to think it is.
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