Tattered Autumn Sky: Bird Hunting In The Heartland - Hardcover

Davis, Tom

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1592283799 ISBN 13: 9781592283798

Publisher: Lyons Press, 2004

Synopsis

In these fine essays, Tom Davis lyrically reflects on gundogs and gamebirds; on the prairies, fields, and woodlands where they meet; on the delights of upland bird hunting and the dilemmas posed by the summons of blood. Far more literary than most chronicles of the sporting experience, his work stands squarely in the tradition of outdoor writing
represented by such greats as Aldo Leopold, Gordon MacQuarrie, Gene Hill, and Robert F. Jones.

More than recounting the highlights of a sporting life, these twenty-five essays, spanning two decades, act as a finely etched memoir. We come to know the bird dogs that have been central to Davis’s life, including the irrepressible Maggie in “Blood,” an endearing yet doomed English setter pup with the distinct aroma of a chicken. We meet family and friends, observe a marriage and its dissolution, and join in the resumption of life and love. With Davis, we are swallowed up by the immense prairies of Nebraska and South Dakota; awed by the late afternoon light in the Wisconsin northwoods; and moved by the devotion of an old dog on point. Through Davis’s deft pen, we, too, are bone weary at the end of a long day afield, and we, too, feel the elemental connection a hunter has to wild birds and the unspoiled places they inhabit.

About this title

About the Author:

Tom Davis, an award-winning writer and longtime senior editor and gundogs columnist for Sporting Classics, is also editor-at-large for Pointing Dog Journal, a contributing editor to Sports Afield, and a columnist for Just Labs. His work has appeared in Gray's Sporting Journal, Field & Stream, Shooting Sportsman, Ducks Unlimited, Gun Dog, and Retriever Journal. Davis's books include Why Dogs Do That, To the Point, and Just Goldens. He lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with wife, stepdaughter, and two English setters.

From Publishers Weekly:

This collection of essays focuses on Davis’s enthusiasm for bird hunting and the people and places, sights and sounds he associates with his sport of choice. These essays transcend the sometimes mundane "see it, shoot it" nature of nonfiction hunting stories. Instead, with their lyrical prose, subtle morality and bittersweet endings, Davis’s essays are reminiscent of Hemingway short stories. Having read his Hemingway, Davis knows that to be a hunter one must come to terms with the paradoxical nature of a sport that embraces the beauty of nature while at the same time seeking to destroy it. Davis’s ability to convey his love and understanding of the woods and animals as well as communicating the thrill of the hunt and the beauty of a bird he has just shot is the literary representation of this paradox. The cyclical nature of hunting seasons (along with Davis’s obsession with his setters) does make the essays repetitive in parts, but the repetition is more of a reaffirmation of Davis’s beliefs than an annoyance to the reader. As a hunter, Davis says he is "grateful for whatever portion, meager or generous, comes his way," but his readers will find this collection leans heavily towards generosity. Illus.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1592283799
• ISBN 13: 9781592283798
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288