Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Feather Thief: The Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson

9 reviews

kirstym25's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

unluckycat13's review against another edition

This book is too long. I get the goal of laying out the entire history of preservation and hunting, but it wasn't necessary and it takes up like 25% of the book. I admire the authors work with refuges (at least taking his word on it) but I don't particularly like the author? 

This book overall feels very unexamined. Many things are taken at face value, and often presented in a romanticized light. The author comes off as a bit of a yuppie type. I'm simply not shocked or intrigued by the things he is. 

There are moderately severe descriptions of what really amount to animal torture and neglect as well. I keept trying to give it a chance, but I think I'm done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Ableism, Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and War

kelseyfactorial's review against another edition

adventurous informative fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism and Animal cruelty

displacedcactus's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

I had to read a True Crime book for Book Bingo, but I didn't want to read about some serial killer, so I immediately thought of this book that had caught my eye on shelves a few times. The library had the audiobook available so I decided to go ahead and queue that up while I did some crafting, and the hours just slipped away!

This book bounces around a bit. First, a description of the heist. Then how the author found out about it. Then some natural history, I think, about how all the birds ended up in that museum. Then the thief's childhood (or maybe it was childhood and then natural history). Then the aftermath of the heist. Then the author getting involved. Sometimes, it gets a little bogged down in the minutiae of fly-tying or bird collecting, but the audiobook narrator had a pretty warm, engaging voice, and I was busy crafting, so that was ok. I could see it dragging a bit if I was reading vs. listening, and some readers might just want to skim a bit.

I learned a lot from this book, about fly-tying, the feather trade, and the purpose of natural history collections, all tied together with the central theme of the museum heist and what happened to the stolen birds. If you enjoy true crime but need a break from murder, you might want to give it a read or listen!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Ableism

spookily's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative mysterious medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Islamophobia, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Deportation

kristyderp's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Surprisingly exciting for a book about bird skins! The author really got invested in the mystery and did more than tell the story; he got involved. His fixation was contagious. It's definitely a story that should be known to every museum to keep collections safe.
I enjoyed this book as a person who loves birds and museums. My dad enjoyed this book as an avid fly tier and fisherman.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, and Classism

mar's review against another edition

2.5

a lot of weird bullshit abt autism in this one huh

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Animal death

lilacteaandbooks's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

ireadinbed's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This is my first read of the year and I don't feel great right now but I'm so glad I read it. 

This story almost beggars belief but it's *true*. I would never have imagined a subculture like Salmon fly tying or understood the incalculable scientific loss that theft caused if I had come across a simple article about this theft. 

It is an engrossing read and I really felt connected to the world around me while reading it. It isn't the authors fault that the truth of things is sometimes extremely disheartening. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Ableism