Odd Birds & Fat Cats - by Peter Wortsman (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

ERIC HOFFER BOOK AWARD CATEGORY FINALIST

Ravens in Berlin . . . Parakeets in Brooklyn . . . Chickens
in Tel Aviv . . . Spiders in Cognac. City creatures spark the imagination and
intellect in words and art by this father-daughter team.

Odd Birds & Fat Cats (An Urban Bestiary) is an
illustrated collection of brief observations on city creatures. Inspired
by the tradition of the medieval bestiary, bestiarum vocabulum, a
12th-century bestselling genre that chronicled animals and beings both
real and fantastical, the book features pithy impressions of birds and animals
that delight, confound, and edify, written by Peter Wortsman, coupled
with detailed naturalist artwork by his daughter, Aurélie
Bernard Wortsman.

Featured creatures include:

• Pigeons: "When, finally, it takes flight . . . this
  asphalt-colored bird is like a piece of the pavement which by some fluke of
  gravity broke loose and is foolishly falling upward by mistake."

• Seagulls: "Fallen splinters of eternity, they hang
  overhead with the equanimity and mild disdain of angels in a medieval
  altarpiece, and unlike pigeons, refuse any direct contact with man."

• Ants: "Micro-managers in three-piece bodies,
  ants parody human antics to a tee. Or is it the other way around?"

• Dust mites: "Every time you scratch yourself or comb
  your hair, you are feeding the tiny intruders with the detritus of self."

With four-color images throughout, printed in a beautiful hardbound
edition, this one-of-a-kind volume will please the discerning animal lover,
traveler, art lover, iconoclast, and literati on your gift list--and, of course,
also you!

Review Quotes

PRAISE FOR ODD BIRDS & FAT CATS

"Peter Wortsman and Aurélie Bernard Wortsman's compendium of creatures [features] full-color animal renderings and short meditations seemingly inspired by the intersection of survival instinct, mythic metaphors, and the wisdom found in between. . . . Beginning with an exhortation from the book of Job, this bestiary reminds us that our other-than-human kin will speak to us if we have ears to hear. What once was so readily available in the fiction of my childhood--the ability to talk to animals--is now made accessible again . . ." --Jasmin Pittman, The Christian Century

"Here is a gorgeous example of literary animal husbandry by two artists who give us learning with joy. A beautiful book in every way." --Roger Rosenblatt, author, most recently, of Cold Moon, Cataract Blues, and A Steinway on the Beach

"How lucky for the world that such a wealth of talent is localized in the Wortsman family. Love the text, love the pics." --Patricia Marx, author of You Can Only Yell at Me for One Thing at a Time

"Odd Birds & Fat Cats is beautiful and an absolute gem. Filled with gorgeous homages and portraits worth poring over, this book will make you appreciate the world around you anew." --Bianca Bosker, New York Times bestselling author of Get the Picture and Cork Dork

"Under the guise of a bestiary, the Wortsman father-daughter duo has produced a keenly written and beautifully drawn account of our encounters, ideas, fantasies, and familiars in the city. The more I read, the more I was delightfully surprised at the generosity of their vision and depth of their shared wisdom." --Dan Nadel, Curator at Large, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

"Each of these miniature worlds--whether we are given to contemplate a spider drunk on cognac or a seagull "patiently and dispassionately" devouring a pigeon run over on a highway--has its own climate and dimensions. By turns lyrical, gruesome, comically exhilarating or abruptly somber, grotesque or fantastic, they uncover startling likenesses in the heart of the apparently alien (ants are "micromanagers in three-piece bodies"), and strange landscapes in the corners of the ordinary. From the vestigial hind toe of the pigeon to the crannies of the aging human face, any small glance or turn of phrase can turn into an unsettling adventure. Following in the ancient footsteps of Pliny the Elder and Saint Isidore of Seville, the Wortsmans create their own singular bestiary, in which the tiniest spaces are cavernous and full of hidden histories." --Geoffrey O'Brien, author of Arabian Nights of 1934

"I love this book: first, as an exquisite object, and next, as a poetic and delightful description of city creatures. To be kept on my bedside table and referred to frequently!" --Jeannette Watson, author of It's My Party

PRAISE FOR PETER WORTSMAN

"Peter Wortsman's compressed fictions strike swift and hard, like a good Zen whack that awakens enlightenment." --Tom Christensen

"Wortsman . . . connect[s] the power of the dream narrative to conscious language to create unique works
that walk a curious line between fiction and poetry." --Russell Edson

"A master of the telling detail, Wortsman is one of those
rare writers upon whom nothing, as Henry James put it, is ever lost." --Marjorie
Perloff

"Marvelous writing, wonderful craft, and the breath of
imagination . . . [Wortsman] succeeds so well in his craft and art that it reads
'artless' and 'spontaneous, ' which to me is the highest of compliments." --Hubert
Selby, Jr.

About the Author

Aurélie Bernard Wortsman is an artist, cartoonist, and the director of Andrew Edlin Gallery in downtown Manhattan, where she curated "Beverly Buchanan: Shacks and Legends, 1985-2011," "Agatha Wojciechowsky: Spirits Among Us," and "Beverly Buchanan: Northern Walls and Southern Yards." Co-founder of the artistic cartoon duo Zou and Lou, her work has been exhibited at Wynwood Arts 29 in Miami and elsewhere. She first published her drawings at age five in her father's column in the literary review Courants d'ombres.