A Convergence Of Birds: Original Fiction And Poetry Inspired By Joseph Cornell (2002) - Plot & Excerpts
Most of this book I didn't like. Why, then, the four stars? Well, two of the stories in here are so good that I would pay the purchase price of this book just to read them a single time. But then, would we buy anthologies if books were nickelodeons and bookstores arcades?But the stories, worth their weight in parakeets:Jonathan Safran Foer's "If the Aging Magician Should Begin to Believe", andRobert Coover's "Grand Hotels"I won't say any more about them, lest I spoil the surprise, but if you end up reading "Grand Hotels" and liking it, Coover's written a secret second edition with more stories in the same lode, also inspired by Joseph Cornell.(And OK, I enjoyed "Cursive Example" and "Emory Bear Hands' Birds". And the beautiful Cornell bird pictures and biographical info. And I half-liked Dale Peck's story. In fact, this is the second Dale Peck story --the first one in the London-themed edition of Granta-- that I've half-liked. Who is this Dale Peck person, anyway? Where does s/he get off writing degraded, shiny stories I hate/love/am intrigued/bored by?)But seriously. Foer and Coover. And lots of pretty pictures of birds in boxes...
Original Fiction and Poetry Inspired by the Work of Joseph Cornell.This is quite simply one of those very special gems that only come along ever so often. It is a truly magical anthology of highly accomplished and stunningly inventive authors that have now given me a resource of new books to last me years. Even though the entire book is complete in its surprise and brilliance. If a flood were to appear and ruin all but the fourteen pages of The Grand Hotel by Robert Coover, I could still be content.
What do You think about A Convergence Of Birds: Original Fiction And Poetry Inspired By Joseph Cornell (2002)?
The main attractions of "A Convergence of Birds" are the reproductions of Joseph Cornell's bird boxes. The work inspired by the boxes is, as could probably be expected, uneven, and mostly unmemorable.Capturing the spirit of Cornell, Joanna Scott's "Slide Show" was a delight. Also asking to be read again were the poems "Construction" (John Burhardt), "Magic Musee" (Martine Bellen), and "Birds of a Feather" (Diane Ackerman), and the stories "Emory Bird Hands' Birds" (Barry Lopez), "The Appearance of Things" (Dale Peck), and "If the Aging Magician Should Begin to Believe" (Jonathan Safran Foer...Jonathan, revisit this story before you start your next book).But the boxes! all worthy of many many returns.
—Kerfe
