The Library Catalog will be unavailable due to scheduled maintenance on Sunday, February 28 from 9 PM until midnight. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Cover Image

Vesper flights : new and collected essays

by Macdonald, Helen, 1970-

Format: Print Book 2020
Availability: Available at 24 Libraries 38 of 68 copies

Available (38)
Location Collection Call #
Andrew Bayne Memorial Library Nonfiction 824.92 MACD
Location  Andrew Bayne Memorial Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction
 
Call Number  824.92 MACD
 
 
Brentwood Library Nonfiction 508 Macdonald
Location  Brentwood Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction
 
Call Number  508 Macdonald
 
 
CLP - Allegheny Regional Non-Fiction Collection PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
Location  CLP - Allegheny Regional
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Call Number  PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
 
 
CLP - Allegheny Regional Best Seller NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Allegheny Regional
 
Collection  Best Seller
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - Beechview Non-Fiction Collection PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
Location  CLP - Beechview
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Call Number  PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
 
 
CLP - Brookline New Books PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
Location  CLP - Brookline
 
Collection  New Books
 
Call Number  PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
 
 
CLP - Brookline Best Seller NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Brookline
 
Collection  Best Seller
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - East Liberty Best Sellers NONFICTION
Location  CLP - East Liberty
 
Collection  Best Sellers
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - Hazelwood Non-Fiction Collection PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
Location  CLP - Hazelwood
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Call Number  PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
 
 
CLP - Hill District Non-Fiction Collection PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
Location  CLP - Hill District
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Call Number  PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
 
 
CLP - Hill District Best Seller NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Hill District
 
Collection  Best Seller
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - Hill District Best Seller NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Hill District
 
Collection  Best Seller
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - Homewood Best Seller NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Homewood
 
Collection  Best Seller
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - Knoxville Non-Fiction Collection PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
Location  CLP - Knoxville
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Call Number  PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
 
 
CLP - Knoxville Best Seller NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Knoxville
 
Collection  Best Seller
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - Main Library First Floor - New Non-fiction PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  First Floor - New Non-fiction
 
Call Number  PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
 
 
CLP - Main Library First Floor - Best Sellers NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  First Floor - Best Sellers
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - Main Library First Floor - Best Sellers NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  First Floor - Best Sellers
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - Main Library First Floor - Best Sellers NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  First Floor - Best Sellers
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - Main Library First Floor - Best Sellers NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  First Floor - Best Sellers
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - Main Library First Floor - Best Sellers NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  First Floor - Best Sellers
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - Mt. Washington Non-Fiction Collection PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
Location  CLP - Mt. Washington
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Call Number  PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
 
 
CLP - Sheraden Non-Fiction Collection PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
Location  CLP - Sheraden
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Call Number  PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
 
 
CLP - Sheraden Best Seller NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Sheraden
 
Collection  Best Seller
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - South Side New Books PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
Location  CLP - South Side
 
Collection  New Books
 
Call Number  PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
 
 
CLP - West End Non-Fiction Collection PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
Location  CLP - West End
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Call Number  PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
 
 
CLP - Woods Run Non-Fiction Collection PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
Location  CLP - Woods Run
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Call Number  PR6063.A1686 A6 2020x
 
 
CLP - Woods Run Best Seller NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Woods Run
 
Collection  Best Seller
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
CLP - Woods Run Best Seller NONFICTION
Location  CLP - Woods Run
 
Collection  Best Seller
 
Call Number  NONFICTION
 
 
Carnegie Free Library of Swissvale Non Fiction 598.9 Mac
Location  Carnegie Free Library of Swissvale
 
Collection  Non Fiction
 
Call Number  598.9 Mac
 
 
Carnegie Library of McKeesport New Book Shelf McN 824.92 MAC
Location  Carnegie Library of McKeesport
 
Collection  New Book Shelf
 
Call Number  McN 824.92 MAC
 
 
Monroeville Public Library New Books 824.92 MACDONALD
Location  Monroeville Public Library
 
Collection  New Books
 
Call Number  824.92 MACDONALD
 
 
Mt. Lebanon Public Library Fall Reads 508 Mac
Location  Mt. Lebanon Public Library
 
Collection  Fall Reads
 
Call Number  508 Mac
 
 
Mt. Lebanon Public Library Fall Reads 508 Mac
Location  Mt. Lebanon Public Library
 
Collection  Fall Reads
 
Call Number  508 Mac
 
 
Northern Tier Regional Library New Book 508 MACDO
Location  Northern Tier Regional Library
 
Collection  New Book
 
Call Number  508 MACDO
 
 
Penn Hills Library Non-Fiction 824.92 MAC
Location  Penn Hills Library
 
Collection  Non-Fiction
 
Call Number  824.92 MAC
 
 
Pleasant Hills Public Library Nonfiction 508 M13
Location  Pleasant Hills Public Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction
 
Call Number  508 M13
 
 
Whitehall Public Library Nonfiction Collection NF 508 M145
Location  Whitehall Public Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction Collection
 
Call Number  NF 508 M145
 
 
 
Unavailable (30)
Location Collection Status
C.C. Mellor Memorial Library New Non Fiction CHECKED OUT
Location  C.C. Mellor Memorial Library
 
Collection  New Non Fiction
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - Allegheny Regional Best Seller CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - Allegheny Regional
 
Collection  Best Seller
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - Brookline Best Seller CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - Brookline
 
Collection  Best Seller
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - Carrick New Books CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - Carrick
 
Collection  New Books
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - Carrick Best Seller CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - Carrick
 
Collection  Best Seller
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - East Liberty New Books CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - East Liberty
 
Collection  New Books
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - East Liberty Best Sellers CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - East Liberty
 
Collection  Best Sellers
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - East Liberty Best Sellers CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - East Liberty
 
Collection  Best Sellers
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - Homewood Non-Fiction Collection CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - Homewood
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - Lawrenceville Non-Fiction Collection CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - Lawrenceville
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - Main Library First Floor - New Non-fiction CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  First Floor - New Non-fiction
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - Main Library First Floor - Best Sellers IN TRANSIT
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  First Floor - Best Sellers
 
Status  IN TRANSIT
 
 
CLP - Squirrel Hill Non-Fiction Collection CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - Squirrel Hill
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - Squirrel Hill Non-Fiction Collection CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - Squirrel Hill
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - Squirrel Hill Best Sellers CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - Squirrel Hill
 
Collection  Best Sellers
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - Squirrel Hill Best Sellers IN TRANSIT
Location  CLP - Squirrel Hill
 
Collection  Best Sellers
 
Status  IN TRANSIT
 
 
CLP - Squirrel Hill Best Sellers CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - Squirrel Hill
 
Collection  Best Sellers
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - Squirrel Hill Best Sellers IN TRANSIT
Location  CLP - Squirrel Hill
 
Collection  Best Sellers
 
Status  IN TRANSIT
 
 
CLP - Squirrel Hill Best Sellers CHECKED OUT
Location  CLP - Squirrel Hill
 
Collection  Best Sellers
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
CLP - Woods Run Best Seller IN TRANSIT
Location  CLP - Woods Run
 
Collection  Best Seller
 
Status  IN TRANSIT
 
 
Cooper-Siegel Community Library New Books CHECKED OUT
Location  Cooper-Siegel Community Library
 
Collection  New Books
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
Mt. Lebanon Public Library Non-Fiction CHECKED OUT
Location  Mt. Lebanon Public Library
 
Collection  Non-Fiction
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
Mt. Lebanon Public Library Fall Reads CHECKED OUT
Location  Mt. Lebanon Public Library
 
Collection  Fall Reads
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
Mt. Lebanon Public Library Book Stop CHECKED OUT
Location  Mt. Lebanon Public Library
 
Collection  Book Stop
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
Northland Public Library Nonfiction CHECKED OUT
Location  Northland Public Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
Sewickley Public Library New Book CHECKED OUT
Location  Sewickley Public Library
 
Collection  New Book
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
Shaler North Hills Library Non-Fiction CHECKED OUT
Location  Shaler North Hills Library
 
Collection  Non-Fiction
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
South Park Library New Books CHECKED OUT
Location  South Park Library
 
Collection  New Books
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
Upper St. Clair Township Library New Book Shelves - Non-fiction CHECKED OUT
Location  Upper St. Clair Township Library
 
Collection  New Book Shelves - Non-fiction
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 
Western Allegheny Community Library Non-Fiction CHECKED OUT
Location  Western Allegheny Community Library
 
Collection  Non-Fiction
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 

Summary
Animals don't exist in order to teach us things, but that is what they have always done, and most of what they teach us is what we think we know about ourselves.

In Vesper Flights Helen Macdonald brings together a collection of her best loved essays, along with new pieces on topics ranging from nostalgia for a vanishing countryside to the tribulations of farming ostriches to her own private vespers while trying to fall asleep.

Meditating on notions of captivity and freedom, immigration and flight, Helen invites us into her most intimate experiences: observing the massive migration of songbirds from the top of the Empire State Building, watching tens of thousands of cranes in Hungary, seeking the last golden orioles in Suffolk's poplar forests. She writes with heart-tugging clarity about wild boar, swifts, mushroom hunting, migraines, the strangeness of birds' nests, and the unexpected guidance and comfort we find when watching wildlife.

By one of this century's most important and insightful nature writers, Vesper Flights is a captivating and foundational book about observation, fascination, time, memory, love and loss and how we make sense of the world around us.

Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "ldquo;Swifts are magical," writes "bird-obsessed" Macdonald, author of the beloved H Is for Hawk (2015). They ascend at twilight in what are called vesper flights, attaining soaring altitudes high enough to enable them to forecast the weather, orient themselves, and determine "what they should do next." A collective approach such as this, Macdonald suggests, is crucial for our own species as we face the start of a "planetary ecological breakdown." What we can and must learn from nature is the prevailing theme throughout this collection's 41 essays, each gorgeously composed, complexly affecting, and stunningly revelatory. Macdonald is both exacting and enthralled as she describes glowworms, hares, ants, swans, migrating birds seen at night from the top of the Empire State Building, the paradoxes of nature reserves, tree disease, storms, the lessons in denial and prediction embedded in migraines, how wild mushrooms signal a hidden larger whole, and the shock felt by every living entity during a total solar eclipse. Macdonald offers a glimpse into her unusual childhood, and accompanies intrepid astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol on expeditions to dangerous places to study life's phenomenal adaptation to extremes. There is abundant wonder and beauty here, but they are shadowed by concern and grief because the north to which Macdonald's compass points is climate change and its ravaging of life's intricate web, from the monumental to the microbial.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling Macdonald's fans will rush to embrace this, as should all readers passionate about nature."
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "English naturalist Macdonald (H Is for Hawk) offers meditations on the natural world and its inhabitants in an inviting collection of 41 new and previously published essays that are infused with wonder, nostalgia, and melancholy. Macdonald ruminates on the pleasures of watching animals in "Wicken," and recalls encounters with fierce creatures in "Nothing Like a Pig," about wild boars, and in "Hares," about boxing hares--"magical harbingers of spring" that are increasingly rare in Britain. She reflects on her childhood in "Nests," in which she recalls collecting detritus like seeds and pinecones, and in "Tekels Park," about roaming a meadow in the 1970s that's since been sold to developers. Her appreciation of birds is displayed in essays including "A Cuckoo in the House," which details how cuckoos trick other birds into sheltering them, and the title essay, about the flight patterns of "magical" swifts. The message throughout is clear: the world humans enjoy today may not be around tomorrow, so it should not be taken for granted. This will inspire readers to get outside. (Aug.)"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Subjects Natural history -- Miscellanea.
Nature.
English essays -- 21st century.
Essays.
Publisher New York :2020
Edition First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition.
Other Titles Essays.
Language English
Description ix, 261 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN 9780802128812
0802128815
Other Classic View