Asian American Literature Fans

By Stephen Hong Sohn

The first book I really felt some gravitation toward in a long time was Kyo Maclear’s Birds Art Life (Scribner, 2017). The topic was entirely new to me and Maclear, who I am familiar with because of her pictures books and earlier novels, hadn’t yet produced an adult-oriented work that was available stateside. Her novels, Letter Opener and Stray Love, are in that international publication limbo that makes them really only available through used copies that make it across the border or are sold in online book shops. The official page over at S&S tells us: “A writer’s search for inspiration, beauty, and solace leads her to birds in this intimate and exuberant meditation on creativity and life—a field guide to things small and significant. When it comes to birds, Kyo Maclear isn’t seeking the exotic. Rather she discovers joy in the seasonal birds that find their way into view in city parks and harbors, along eaves and on wires. In a world that values big and fast, Maclear looks to the small, the steady, the slow accumulations of knowledge, and the lulls that leave room for contemplation. A distilled, crystal-like companion to H is for Hawk, Birds Art Life celebrates the particular madness of chasing after birds in the urban environment and explores what happens when the core lessons of birding are applied to other aspects of art and life. Moving with ease between the granular and the grand, peering into the inner landscape as much as the outer one, this is a deeply personal year-long inquiry into big themes: love, waiting, regrets, endings. If Birds Art Life was sprung from Maclear’s sense of disconnection, her passions faltering under the strain of daily existence, this book is ultimately about the value of reconnection—and how the act of seeking engagement and beauty in small ways can lead us to discover our most satisfying and meaningful lives.”

I really appreciated this book description because it captures what is so wonderful about this “year of observation,” but I think it crucially misses what really catalyzes this time period: the possible death of her father. The opening chapter details how Maclear’s father is in the hospital with no clear prognosis on his condition; it is clear even after the most dangerous moments have passed that he is aged and frail, even if he remains stalwart in his commitment to grooming and to being independent. The mortality of our parents is no doubt a concern for so many and has spurred many a writer to generate incredible works of art. In this vein, Maclear is philosophically pursuing a different way of engaging life that is not necessarily so goal-oriented, investment driven, capitalistically-inclined, and she seems to find it in her birding hobby. Birding slows Maclear down, allows her to revel in what seem to be minute details, and also simply enables her to contemplate what is most important to her.

Along the way, these musings allow us a more textured understanding of complicated family dynamics, including her biracial upbringing, the tensions between her parents who would eventually divorce, and how she came to be a writer. As I moved further into this creative nonfictional work, I especially appreciated its patchwork and multigenre qualities: Maclear includes illustrations and biographies of individuals who are birders, so the narrative weaves in memoir, art, and some historical/sociological considerations. Because I know so little about birds, but did once consider going to graduate school in oceanography, I was absolutely compelled to learn about birds, their many varieties, their many histories, and the ways that humans and birds find multiple modes of interaction. Maclear’s work is one that might be part of a literature course that involves Asian North American writers and their connections to and depictions of the animal world; here, I am thinking of Paula Young Lee’s Deer Hunting in Paris, Tania James’s The Tusk that Did the Damage, Sigrid Nunez’s Mitz: the Marmoset of Bloomsbury, among others.

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Review Author: Stephen Hong Sohn
Review Editor: Leslie J. Fernandez

If you have any questions or want us to consider your book for review, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email!
Prof. Stephen Hong Sohn at ssohnucr@gmail.com
Leslie J. Fernandez, PhD Student in English, at lfern010@ucr.edu