Charlie Gilmour

This is an astonishingly readable book, which combines a tale of caring and raising a magpie fallen from its nest with a parallel account of Gilmour's absent father. He too once raised a corvid, a jackdaw, but he was a far less reliable and responsible carer for his son - and several other children whom he fathered, while taking on few of the responsibilities of fatherhood. Charlie's father, Heathcote suffered debilitating mental breakdowns and it becomes apparent to Charlie himself that he risks following the same trajectory: his late adolescence and early adulthood is peppered with difficulties which involve a spell in prison. This potentially weighty tale is leavened by accounts of the joy and mayhem which Benzene the magpie introduces to the lives of his whole family. As Charlie himself points out, Do Not Try This at Home. But his having done so has produced a delight of a book with a serious undertone.… (more)

[Featherhood] This memoir is very well written, and if that were the only criteria for a rating it would certainly earn a 4. It also held my attention, which is also a worthy attribute. However, I have taken a great dislike to Charlie, only overtaken by my opinion of his birth father [[Heathcote]]. In fact, I would not dislike Charlie near as much if he were not so obsessed with Heathcote.

Which leaves out Benzine, the magpie. No, I do not want a magpie in the house. They are beautiful birds, and I love seeing them. Out there somewhere. Not in a house, and certainly not sharing the house with a baby. I don't feel that I got much of a feel for Charlie's wife, Yana. I think both the bird and his father meant a lot more to him.… (more)

I did not know who Charlie Gilmour is, nor who either of his dads were/are, when I picked this up. I was in it for the magpie. But it turned out to be a lot more than man-meets-bird. He credits Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk for a model and inspiration, and aptly so - another graceful explication of how a wild bird helped with the pain of a lost father. In this well-told, often charming, occasionally over-written story, Charlie's bond with a wild magpie named Benzene stands in for a whole lot of father-child angst, ambivalence, and heartbreak. Abruptly abandoned by his biological father, an allegedly gifted and completely crazy poet, when Charlie is an infant, he spends years (and many pages) in anxiety, self-destructive behavior, a LOT of booze and drugs, which lead him to some nightmarish months in prison, and multiple awkward attempts to connect with a man who clearly cannot cope with any sort of relationship with him. It's painful to read, and one keeps wondering: why, Charlie?? I felt sad for Charlie's stepfather, who staunchly and lovingly helped raise him, stood by him through the awful stuff, and is almost a footnote (though a grateful one) in this memoir. But then, stepdad David Gilmour doesn't need any particular PR - though it's a pleasure to find that a hardcore rock-n-roller is also a good guy and an excellent parent.

I'm glad Charlie is finding his feet, with an unimaginably patient wife, an adored little daughter, and turning his emotional and mental travails into vivid, thoughtful prose. A bit of a heavy read in places, but engaging and skillful. He should be proud of this. And Benzene is delightful, even though she does like to leave scraps of stolen meat in the bookcase and in one's hair, poke out a guest's contact lenses, and march around the flat chanting "Trump! Trump! Trump!" (She flatly refused to add the imperative verb in front of the name, as the family earnestly tried to get her to do.)… (more)