Why Peacocks?: An Unlikely Search for Meaning in the World's Most Magnificent Bird
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- Create Date：2021-05-17 06:19:18
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Sean Flynn
- ISBN：1982101075
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Summary
>When Sean Flynn’s neighbor in North Carolina texted “Any chance you guys want a peacock？ No kidding！” he stared bewilderedly at his phone。 He had never considered whether he wanted a peacock。 But as an award-winning magazine writer， this kind of mystery intrigued him。 So he， his wife， and their two young sons became the owners of not one but three charming yet fickle birds: Carl， Ethel， and Mr。 Pickle。
In Why Peacocks？， Flynn chronicles his hilarious and heartwarming first year as a peacock owner， from struggling to build a pen to assisting the local bird doctor in surgery to triumphantly watching a peahen lay her first egg。 He also examines the history of peacocks， from their appearance in the Garden of Eden to their befuddling Charles Darwin to their bewitching the likes of Flannery O’Connor and Martha Stewart。 And fueled by a reporter’s curiosity， he travels across the globe to learn more about the birds firsthand， with stops including a Scottish castle where peacocks have resided for centuries， a southern California community tormented by a serial killer of peacocks， and a Kansas City airport hotel hosting an annual gathering of true peafowl aficionados。
In Why Peacocks？， Flynn chronicles his hilarious and heartwarming first year as a peacock owner， from struggling to build a pen to assisting the local bird doctor in surgery to triumphantly watching a peahen lay her first egg。 He also examines the history of peacocks， from their appearance in the Garden of Eden to their befuddling Charles Darwin to their bewitching the likes of Flannery O’Connor and Martha Stewart。 And fueled by a reporter’s curiosity， he travels across the globe to learn more about the birds firsthand， with stops including a Scottish castle where peacocks have resided for centuries， a southern California community tormented by a serial killer of peacocks， and a Kansas City airport hotel hosting an annual gathering of true peafowl aficionados。
Reviews
Joanne Clarke Gunter
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A delightful book for bird lovers which I am， but I didn't know much about peacocks other than the eye-popping beauty of the male。 This book recounts the author's experience of acquiring and caring for peacocks and peahens and gives some history of the worldwide allure of these birds as well as the experiences of other peacock owners that he interviews。 An interesting and informative read。 A delightful book for bird lovers which I am， but I didn't know much about peacocks other than the eye-popping beauty of the male。 This book recounts the author's experience of acquiring and caring for peacocks and peahens and gives some history of the worldwide allure of these birds as well as the experiences of other peacock owners that he interviews。 An interesting and informative read。 。。。more
Evelina | AvalinahsBooks
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How I read this: Free ebook copy received through Edelweiss3。5 stars， rounded down。 I'll explain why I rounded down in the end。This is a very unique read， and I must say it was very interesting to learn more about peacocks as a domesticized bird。 This book is both about how the author got his own particular peacocks， how he learned to keep such an unusual pet， find his own people and what the birds taught him。 But also， since the author is a journalist， he shares a lot of interesting snippets ab How I read this: Free ebook copy received through Edelweiss3。5 stars， rounded down。 I'll explain why I rounded down in the end。This is a very unique read， and I must say it was very interesting to learn more about peacocks as a domesticized bird。 This book is both about how the author got his own particular peacocks， how he learned to keep such an unusual pet， find his own people and what the birds taught him。 But also， since the author is a journalist， he shares a lot of interesting snippets about the birds - their histories， what types of peacocks exist， how they are bred and stuff like that。 It was all very interesting and I would have never even remotely learned any of this anywhere else。And why did I round the rating down？ I really don't understand why someone would finish an optimistic book about pets with a few pages about （view spoiler）[their cat dying。 Literally， what？ I cried， and it ruined the whole experience for me。 Other than that， there's plenty of animal death mentioned， if that may trigger you - but it was all neutral and didn't upset too much。 However， the cat dying at the end was pretty detailed， completely unnecessary and I just don't understand why an author would want to leave you with something so depressing， especially if his book is geared towards animal lovers。 （hide spoiler）]I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review。 This has not affected my opinion。Book Blog | Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter 。。。more
RMazin
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Midlife crisis？ Long-time passion？ Catalyst for a memoir？ Escape from reality of a job ranging from reporting war time atrocities to heartbreak from raging fires？ Family dramedy？ Natural observations？ History？ Why Peacocks seems to cover all those very nicely。 Sean Flynn is enchanted by peacocks。 After a household pet makes an unfortunate exit， Flynn starts going down a path that leads to the purchase of two male peacocks and one female peahen。 Tenacious and curious as a reporter， Flynn seems to Midlife crisis？ Long-time passion？ Catalyst for a memoir？ Escape from reality of a job ranging from reporting war time atrocities to heartbreak from raging fires？ Family dramedy？ Natural observations？ History？ Why Peacocks seems to cover all those very nicely。 Sean Flynn is enchanted by peacocks。 After a household pet makes an unfortunate exit， Flynn starts going down a path that leads to the purchase of two male peacocks and one female peahen。 Tenacious and curious as a reporter， Flynn seems to ignore that part of his personality as he grapples with the responsibilities of being a new “pet” peacock owner。 As he educates himself， he educates the reader。 He never loses sight of the impact of these birds on his supportive family， who are both a source of laughter， poignancy， and a reality check。Flynn make the peacocks’ personalities （and other barnyard denizens） come to life。 But he also illuminates the quirky personalities of other peacock aficionados from California， Scotland， India and his own home state…。plus there are also mentions of Martha Stewart！This is not like any memoir or avian book that I have ever read （although my experience is not all that vast）。 Enjoyable， humorous， quirky and informative。 Yay！ Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book。 。。。more
Karen R
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I chose to read this book as I thought it would be a bit quirky and that I could learn something new。 It was all that yet I never dreamed I could be so entertained and Why Peacocks would come to be one of my most favorite books of this year。 So clever and Flynn’s words often made me laugh。 Great storytelling regarding this most unusual yet beautiful 'pet'。 I must also do a shout out to the chickens in Flynn’s menagerie of pets。 Such personalities。 They were a hoot！ I received a complimentary cop I chose to read this book as I thought it would be a bit quirky and that I could learn something new。 It was all that yet I never dreamed I could be so entertained and Why Peacocks would come to be one of my most favorite books of this year。 So clever and Flynn’s words often made me laugh。 Great storytelling regarding this most unusual yet beautiful 'pet'。 I must also do a shout out to the chickens in Flynn’s menagerie of pets。 Such personalities。 They were a hoot！ I received a complimentary copy of this book。 Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own。 。。。more
Melissa
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Delightful。
Lisa
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I’ve always been fascinated and mesmerized by peacocks so was instantly attracted to this book title。 It never occurred to me that anyone had peacocks as pets， as I’d only ever seen them at botanic gardens， running wild in nearby Palos Verdes， or on Hugh Hefner’s estate on Girls Next Door。 Coincidentally， the peacocks in Palos Verdes are mentioned in this book， but I digress。 This book is perfect in describing how one ends up with peacocks as pets， and how peacocks and other pets shape our emoti I’ve always been fascinated and mesmerized by peacocks so was instantly attracted to this book title。 It never occurred to me that anyone had peacocks as pets， as I’d only ever seen them at botanic gardens， running wild in nearby Palos Verdes， or on Hugh Hefner’s estate on Girls Next Door。 Coincidentally， the peacocks in Palos Verdes are mentioned in this book， but I digress。 This book is perfect in describing how one ends up with peacocks as pets， and how peacocks and other pets shape our emotional and psychological existence， both as individuals and in families。 This book is well crafted and flows seamlessly from true tales of peafowl ownership to historical and biological references and wonderings。 I was so fascinated by some of the historical details that I googled them to see pictures （example， Whistler’s Peacock Room）。 I laughed hysterically at the Martha Stewart references and easily followed the author’s train of thought， even when it leaned to absurd musings。 I cried when he described the loss of pets， and his children and wife’s reactions。 All of it was very real。 He is neither pretentious nor mundane， and I enjoyed this book much more than anticipated。I don’t often read non fiction memoirs and I’m glad I strayed from the norm for this。 It’s well worth the change of pace。 If you， too， love peacocks， zoology， memoirs， do-it-yourself stories， mixed with historical references then I highly recommend this book。 I’m grateful to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read the ARC。 。。。more
Elisa
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One summer， two peacocks and a peahen walked into my yard。 They stayed for a while and then disappeared。 I had no idea there were peacocks in North Idaho， so I wanted to learn more。 I picked up this book because I figured it would help me。 Unfortunately， it’s more of a memoir and the peafowl seem just an excuse for the author to write about his life。 There are some fascinating details about the species and their behavior， but I was expecting more。 Instead， Flynn talks about his family， the backs One summer， two peacocks and a peahen walked into my yard。 They stayed for a while and then disappeared。 I had no idea there were peacocks in North Idaho， so I wanted to learn more。 I picked up this book because I figured it would help me。 Unfortunately， it’s more of a memoir and the peafowl seem just an excuse for the author to write about his life。 There are some fascinating details about the species and their behavior， but I was expecting more。 Instead， Flynn talks about his family， the backstory of everybody he meets， the shortage of sand and the refugee crisis。 These may be interesting facts for other readers， I just wanted more about these beautiful birds and I always figured the kind of people who read these books are animal nuts like me。 The author is likable but， if he has a wild passion for animals， it doesn’t show。 I’ve loved other animal memoirs （like Sy Montgomery’s）， but only when the creatures are front and center and the humans just the background。 This book has it backwards and I just don’t find humans as interesting as other animals。 I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased。 Thank you， NetGalley/Simon & Schuster！ 。。。more
Hatty
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I never thought that a non-fiction book about peafowl （a delightful term I've learned from Sean Flynn） would make me both laugh out loud and cry multiple times， but that's exactly what happened。 As much as this is a story about Carl， Ethel， and Mr。 Pickle， the peahen and peacocks the family has spontaneously adopted， it's also a story about Sean Flynn's family and， just as the tagline says， their search for meaning。 Why do humans love the magnificent beauty of peacocks so much？ What binds us to I never thought that a non-fiction book about peafowl （a delightful term I've learned from Sean Flynn） would make me both laugh out loud and cry multiple times， but that's exactly what happened。 As much as this is a story about Carl， Ethel， and Mr。 Pickle， the peahen and peacocks the family has spontaneously adopted， it's also a story about Sean Flynn's family and， just as the tagline says， their search for meaning。 Why do humans love the magnificent beauty of peacocks so much？ What binds us to our pets， and what's left when they die？ How do you explain death to a child， especially death of a pet？ The rabbit hole of peafowl love （dare I say obsession） that Sean Flynn takes us down is incredibly fascinating， hilarious， and written with the seasoned wit and narrative prowess of a journalist of Flynn's caliber。 I'm fairly certain Flynn could write a book about the history of dirt and I'd read it。 But I most enjoyed the intimate look into the family's relationships， as well as Flynn's rumination into his own life as both a journalist of death and a loving father and husband， with all screw-ups， insecurities， and self-doubt included。 By the end， I was as charmed by Sean Flynn and his wife and children as I was by their magnificent birds。 Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review。 。。。more
Jennifer Caloyeras
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