Snapper by Brian Kimberling

 


Nathan Lochmueller studies birds for just enough money to scrape a living in Indiana. Other than that he lives a fairly aimless existence and is in love with Lola.

I really enjoyed the natural history elements of this novel, the descriptions of fieldwork and observations of the birds:

"Neighbouring pairs [of wood thrushes] sing to each other in a chain of call and response that occurs in every wood in the Midwest. ..... A male indigo bunting will try desperately to get your attention if you stray near its nest..."

The book also captures beautifully the melancholy of a naturalist surrounded by landscape and wildlife that is disappearing.

I had hoped that the natural history element would be matched by the humour of the opening few pages, but that mostly wasn't to be. I enjoyed the book and the disjointed nature of the chapters seemed to nicely complement the disjointed nature of Nathan's life, but it would have been even better if the laughter had continued.

Snapper by Brian Kimberling published by Tinder Press