Call number
598 GIL
Collection
Publication
Scribner (2021), Edition: 1st, 304 pages
Description
"One spring day, a baby magpie falls out of its nest and into Charlie Gilmour's hands. Magpies, he soon discovers, are as clever and mischievous as monkeys. They are also notorious thieves, and this one quickly steals his heart. By the time the creature develops shiny black feathers that inspire the name Benzene, Charlie and the bird have forged an unbreakable bond. While caring for Benzene, Charlie comes across a poem written by his biological father, an eccentric British poet named Heathcote Williams who vanished when Charlie was six months old. As he grapples with Heathcote's abandonment, Charlie is drawn to the poem, in which Heathcote describes how an impish young jackdaw--like magpies, also a member of the crow family--fell from its nest and captured his affection. Over time, Benzene helps Charlie unravel his fears about repeating the past--and embrace the role of father himself. A bird falls, a father dies, a child is born. Featherhood is the unforgettable story of a love affair between a man and a bird. It is also a beautiful and affecting memoir about childhood and parenthood, captivity and freedom, grief and love"--… (more)
Media reviews
Charlie Gilmour's Featherhood (W& N) and Gavanndra Hodge's The Consequences of Love (Michael Joseph) deal with themes of parental failure. In the former, Gilmour finds comfort in the company of an abandoned baby magpie while recalling how his father, the poet Heathcote Williams, left him and his
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mother when he was an infant, and subsequently rebuffed his son's attempts to get to know him. Gilmour made headlines in 2010 when he was photographed swinging from the Cenotaph during a student protest. "It wasn't the glorious dead I wanted to attack that day," he writes, "but the glorious dad." Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member Beamis12
So, did I fall for the book or the bird? Maybe a little of both because Benzene and Heathcote were both very unusual and had big personalities. Benzene, was a half dead magpie when Charlie's
girlfriend brought the bird home. Charlie doubted the bird sound survive, he was pretty sure he didn't know
In an alternate storyline Charlie is trying to find out why his birth father left he and his mother shortly after his birth. He has sporadic, unsatisfying contact with Heathcote who quickly proves himself undependable and elusive. We learn of Charlie's past and the present, where he and his girlfriend are planning their wedding, get married and talk about having a child. Heathcote is a strange man, a well known post who has published books, but unable to be a father. His life story, when eventually known, shows us why.
As Benzene grows the stories become very amusing. Charlie and Heathcote story is poignant and sad. The two though, balance each other out. Benzene will give Charlie what he needs most, self confidence and self esteem. I also learned much about the very intellectual magpies.
ARC from Netgalley
girlfriend brought the bird home. Charlie doubted the bird sound survive, he was pretty sure he didn't know
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how to take care of Benzene. He knew little about birds and little about magpies. Yet, Benzene does survive and becomes an integral part of the family.In an alternate storyline Charlie is trying to find out why his birth father left he and his mother shortly after his birth. He has sporadic, unsatisfying contact with Heathcote who quickly proves himself undependable and elusive. We learn of Charlie's past and the present, where he and his girlfriend are planning their wedding, get married and talk about having a child. Heathcote is a strange man, a well known post who has published books, but unable to be a father. His life story, when eventually known, shows us why.
As Benzene grows the stories become very amusing. Charlie and Heathcote story is poignant and sad. The two though, balance each other out. Benzene will give Charlie what he needs most, self confidence and self esteem. I also learned much about the very intellectual magpies.
ARC from Netgalley
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LibraryThing member JulieStielstra
I did not know who Charlie Gilmour is, nor who either of his dads were/are, when I picked this up. I was in it for the magpie. But it turned out to be a lot more than man-meets-bird. He credits Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk for a model and inspiration, and aptly so - another graceful explication
I'm glad Charlie is finding his feet, with an unimaginably patient wife, an adored little daughter, and turning his emotional and mental travails into vivid, thoughtful prose. A bit of a heavy read in places, but engaging and skillful. He should be proud of this. And Benzene is delightful, even though she does like to leave scraps of stolen meat in the bookcase and in one's hair, poke out a guest's contact lenses, and march around the flat chanting "Trump! Trump! Trump!" (She flatly refused to add the imperative verb in front of the name, as the family earnestly tried to get her to do.)
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of how a wild bird helped with the pain of a lost father. In this well-told, often charming, occasionally over-written story, Charlie's bond with a wild magpie named Benzene stands in for a whole lot of father-child angst, ambivalence, and heartbreak. Abruptly abandoned by his biological father, an allegedly gifted and completely crazy poet, when Charlie is an infant, he spends years (and many pages) in anxiety, self-destructive behavior, a LOT of booze and drugs, which lead him to some nightmarish months in prison, and multiple awkward attempts to connect with a man who clearly cannot cope with any sort of relationship with him. It's painful to read, and one keeps wondering: why, Charlie?? I felt sad for Charlie's stepfather, who staunchly and lovingly helped raise him, stood by him through the awful stuff, and is almost a footnote (though a grateful one) in this memoir. But then, stepdad David Gilmour doesn't need any particular PR - though it's a pleasure to find that a hardcore rock-n-roller is also a good guy and an excellent parent.I'm glad Charlie is finding his feet, with an unimaginably patient wife, an adored little daughter, and turning his emotional and mental travails into vivid, thoughtful prose. A bit of a heavy read in places, but engaging and skillful. He should be proud of this. And Benzene is delightful, even though she does like to leave scraps of stolen meat in the bookcase and in one's hair, poke out a guest's contact lenses, and march around the flat chanting "Trump! Trump! Trump!" (She flatly refused to add the imperative verb in front of the name, as the family earnestly tried to get her to do.)
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LibraryThing member MarthaJeanne
[Featherhood] This memoir is very well written, and if that were the only criteria for a rating it would certainly earn a 4. It also held my attention, which is also a worthy attribute. However, I have taken a great dislike to Charlie, only overtaken by my opinion of his birth father [[Heathcote]].
Which leaves out Benzine, the magpie. No, I do not want a magpie in the house. They are beautiful birds, and I love seeing them. Out there somewhere. Not in a house, and certainly not sharing the house with a baby. I don't feel that I got much of a feel for Charlie's wife, Yana. I think both the bird and his father meant a lot more to him.
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In fact, I would not dislike Charlie near as much if he were not so obsessed with Heathcote.Which leaves out Benzine, the magpie. No, I do not want a magpie in the house. They are beautiful birds, and I love seeing them. Out there somewhere. Not in a house, and certainly not sharing the house with a baby. I don't feel that I got much of a feel for Charlie's wife, Yana. I think both the bird and his father meant a lot more to him.
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Awards
James Cropper Wainwright Prize (Shortlist — 2021)
ISBN
1501198505 / 9781501198502