Birds of America - by Mary McCarthy (Paperback)

About the Book

A poignant and evocative novel of self-discovery that follows a young man in America and abroad, on a journey into adulthood during the turbulent 1960s
It is 1964, and Peter Levi, a young student and bird watcher, has come to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. Shy and innocent at nineteen years old, he arrives fresh from an extended Maine holiday with his vivacious mother, and is determined to live a life free of unwanted complications and unnecessary stress. But this is an era of great change in the world, a time when war is looming in Southeast Asia and social unrest is simmering. There is much to trouble and confuse the young American as he journeys through foreign countries--and feelings--into adulthood. For Peter, the simplicity of childhood is over--and his new life is becoming increasingly complex in a world growing more unrecognizable by the day.
Mary McCarthy's splendid Birds of America is a moving and surprising coming-of-age tale: the unforgettable story of a young man's awakening, and a stunning evocation of the disorienting change of the 1960s.

Book Synopsis

A poignant and evocative novel of self-discovery that follows a young man in America and abroad, on a journey into adulthood during the turbulent 1960s
It is 1964, and Peter Levi, a young student and bird watcher, has come to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. Shy and innocent at nineteen years old, he arrives fresh from an extended Maine holiday with his vivacious mother, and is determined to live a life free of unwanted complications and unnecessary stress. But this is an era of great change in the world, a time when war is looming in Southeast Asia and social unrest is simmering. There is much to trouble and confuse the young American as he journeys through foreign countries--and feelings--into adulthood. For Peter, the simplicity of childhood is over--and his new life is becoming increasingly complex in a world growing more unrecognizable by the day.
Mary McCarthy's splendid Birds of America is a moving and surprising coming-of-age tale: the unforgettable story of a young man's awakening, and a stunning evocation of the disorienting change of the 1960s.

Review Quotes

"A virtuoso performance, an endlessly fascinating novel." --San Francisco Chronicle
"In the same class as Henry James's The American and Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer." --Esquire
"A profoundly thoughtful and moving book." --Life

About the Author

Mary McCarthy (1912-1989) was an American literary critic and author of more than two dozen books including the 1963 New York Times bestseller The Group. Born in Seattle, McCarthy studied at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and graduated in 1933. After moving to New York City, McCarthy became known for her incisive writing as a contributor to publications such as the Nation, the New Republic, and the New York Review of Books. Her debut novel, The Company She Keeps (1942), initiated her ascent to become one of the most celebrated writers of her generation, a reputation bolstered by the publication of her autobiography Memories of a Catholic Girlhood in 1957, as well as that of her now-classic novel The Group.