Overview

REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ""A beautiful love letter to nature and the world around us.""-Reese Witherspoon (Reese's Book Club September '24 Pick) THE PERFECT GIFT FOR NATURE LOVERS, BIRDERS, AND GARDENERS, WITH ORIGINAL COLOR ART THROUGHOUT* USA TODAY BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * INDIE NEXT PICK From the beloved New York Times opinion writer: a luminous book that traces the passing of seasons, both personal and natural. In The Comfort of Crows, Margaret Renkl presents a literary devotional: fifty-two chapters that follow the creatures and plants in her backyard over the course of a year. As we move through the seasons-from a crow spied on New Year's Day, its resourcefulness and sense of community setting a theme for the year, to the lingering bluebirds of December, revisiting the nest box they used in spring-what develops is a portrait of joy and grief: joy in the ongoing pleasures of the natural world, and grief over winters that end too soon and songbirds that grow fewer and fewer. Along the way, we also glimpse the changing rhythms of a human life. Grown children, unexpectedly home during the pandemic, prepare to depart once more. Birdsong and night-blooming flowers evoke generations past. The city and the country where Renkl raised her family transform a little more with each passing day. And the natural world, now in visible flux, requires every ounce of hope and commitment from the author-and from us. For, as Renkl writes, ""radiant things are bursting forth in the darkest places, in the smallest nooks and deepest cracks of the hidden world."" With fifty-two original color artworks by the author's brother, Billy Renkl, The Comfort of Crows is a lovely and deeply moving book from a cherished observer of the natural world.

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9781954118461

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Reviews

"“One of Renkl’s skills as a writer is to transfer her ability to perceive the nuances of the natural world, things most of us overlook, onto the page. In The Comfort of Crows . . . her powers of perception are on full display. . . . Paying attention to the living things in her backyard helps her cope with climate change, political strife and cultural upheaval—and she hopes it will help the reader, too.”—New York Times “[A] beautiful tangle of human and other-animal lives . . . Starting in winter and continuing through the seasonal round, Renkl brings alive in 52 chapters her love for the animals and plants in her half-acre yard in Tennessee and in nearby parks. Equally moving, she confesses her despair at the human-caused crises the natural world faces, and her determination not to sit idle.”—NPR.org “Above all, The Comfort of Crows is a full-throated ode to the hopefulness of regeneration. . . . It is a paean not just to the natural world, but to paying attention and doing one’s bit to nurture it. . . . The Comfort of Crows is beautifully enhanced by 52 lavish, full-color illustrations by Billy Renkl, the author’s brother. His lush, multilayered drawings of spiders, hummingbirds and pileated woodpeckers shown in both natural and unnatural habitats evoke Asian scrolls, collages and intriguing exercises in perspective.”—Wall Street Journal ""The Comfort of Crows is a howling love letter to the world, the story of what we’ve lost and what we can save and the abundance of wonder in our own backyard. Margaret Renkl is a singular, spectacular writer, and this book, like life itself, is a cause for celebration.”—Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House “Reading Margaret Renkl always connects me more deeply to the natural world and to my own heart. The Comfort of Crows is an elegy, a provocation, and above all a love letter to the magnificence that still surrounds us, if only we are awake enough to look. I want to press it into the hands of everyone I know.”—Dani Shapiro, author of Inheritance “Whether describing bluebird nests or her own empty one, Renkl is part poetic prophet, part your down-home friend. In essays adorned by her brother’s art, she meditates on family, loss and nature under siege. ‘The world is full of song,’ she writes—wake up and listen!”—People “Contains enough beauty, heartache and hope to fill a Russian novel . . . I am a big fan of good nature writing, and Renkl is among the best at it. I’m still marveling at the way she rhapsodizes over a toad, describing it as being ‘as soft as a great-grandmother you can hold in your hand.’”—Atlanta Journal-Constitution “The Comfort of Crows is [Renkl’s] best yet. Quietly, poetically, she writes of the natural cycle of a year in her backyard, as well as of her own passage into the final third of her life. . . . Many a plant or creature inspires Renkl’s appreciation, and as a result, our own. It is possible that after reading this deceptively simple, charming book, you will plant a chair in a . . . backyard and discover things you’ve never seen before. And what could be more buoying than that?”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune “Margaret Renkl has the mind of a naturalist and the soul of a poet. Let this magnificent devotional be your eye-opening, heart-expanding daily companion, and it will change how you see the world.”—Mary Laura Philpott, author of Bomb Shelter “This is a lovely prayer book centered on plants and animals, an important reminder of grace and of the necessity of placing public green spaces in reach of everyone.”—Catherine Raven, author of Fox & I “Infused with empathy, The Comfort of Crows reminds us to treasure the living beings who surround us with each breath we take. Renkl’s insights root us within our world. . . . The book can be read straight through or stretched across the calendar as a weekly literary devotional. Billy Renkl’s stunning collages provide an invitation to meditate, to pray, to breathe.”—BookPage (starred review) “Luminous . . . Elegant, lucid essays follow the changing seasons, Renkl musing on the migratory and nesting patterns of birds, the encroaching effects of climate change, her own evolving family structure, and the incremental shifts of flora, fauna, and light. . . . The Comfort of Crows celebrates the beauty and durability of nature’s age-old cycles and the habits of wild creatures, and it urges human beings to care for these same creatures—before some of them disappear altogether.”—Shelf Awareness “Renkl invites readers along on a year of loving outdoor observations in this gently moving memoir. . . . This gorgeous reflection on humanity’s symbiotic relationship with the outdoors will transform the way readers interact with their own backyards.”—Publishers Weekly “This triumph of a book gives us a charming and wise friend to guide us over the course of a year, but I am certain Margaret Renkl’s enchanting voice will echo for lifetimes to come. The Comfort of Crows is an instant classic, not just for the planet, but—and most importantly—for our hearts too.”—Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of World of Wonders “Insightful . . . Among the touching and relatable moments that nature lovers will appreciate are Renkl’s memories of catching tadpoles in spring with her brother as a child in Alabama, the sound of summer thunderstorms and cicadas, and the unparalleled beauty of autumn light, ‘the loveliest light there is’. . . . A welcome escape from the hectic world.”—Kirkus “Sprinkled liberally throughout are ‘praise songs’ . . . These little extras, just like the epigrams at the beginning of each essay, pack an extra punch into this tidy volume. . . . Readers can return to these pages often, through the seasons of their own lives.”—Booklist"

The Comfort of Crows is a howling love letter to the world, the story of what we've lost and what we can save and the abundance of wonder in our own backyard. Margaret Renkl is a singular, spectacular writer, and this book, like life itself, is a cause for celebration. -Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House Margaret Renkl has the mind of a naturalist and the soul of a poet. Let this magnificent devotional be your eye-opening, heart-expanding daily companion, and it will change how you see the world. -Mary Laura Philpott, author of Bomb Shelter Even though this triumph of a book gives us a charming and wise friend to guide us over the course of a year, I am certain Margaret Renkl's enchanting voice will echo for lifetimes to come. The Comfort of Crows is an instant classic, not just for the planet, but-and most importantly-for our hearts, too. -Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of World of Wonders Praise for Late Migrations A TODAY Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick * Winner of the 2020 Phillip D. Reed Environmental Writing Award * Finalist for the Southern Book Prize Named a Best Book of the Year by the New Statesman * New York Public Library * Chicago Public Library * Foreword Reviews * Washington Independent Review of Books An Indie Next Selection * Indies Introduce Selection * Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Okra Pick Beautifully written, masterfully structured, and brimming with insight into the natural world, Late Migrations can claim its place alongside Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and A Death in the Family. It has the makings of an American classic. -Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House [Renkl] is the most beautiful writer! I love this book. It's about the South, and growing up there, and about her love of nature and animals and her wonderful family. -Reese Witherspoon Reflective and gorgeous . . . I have recommended this book to everybody that I know. It is a beautiful book about love, and [how] . . . to find the beauty in the little things. -Jenna Bush Hager, TODAY Show A vivid and original essay collection . . . This is the kind of writing that makes me just want to stay put, reread and savor everything about that moment. -Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air Equal parts Annie Dillard and Anne Lamott with a healthy sprinkle of Tennessee dry rub thrown in. -New York Times Book Review A compact glory, crosscutting between consummate family memoir and keenly observed backyard natural history. Renkl's deft juxtapositions close up the gap between humans and nonhumans and revive our lost kinship with other living things. -Richard Powers, author of The Overstory Magnificent . . . Conjure your favorite place in the natural world: beach, mountain, lake, forest, porch, windowsill rooftop? Precisely there is the best place in which to savor this book. -NPR.org Late Migrations has echoes of Annie Dillard's The Writing Life-with grandparents, sons, dogs and birds sharing the spotlight, it's a witty, warm and unaccountably soothing all-American story. -People [Renkl] guides us through a South lush with bluebirds, pecan orchards, and glasses of whiskey shared at dusk in this collection of prose in poetry-size bits; as it celebrates bounty, it also mourns the profound losses we face every day. -O, the Oprah Magazine This warm, rich memoir might be the sleeper of the summer. [Renkl] grew up in the South, nursed her aging parents, and never once lost her love for life, light, and the natural world. Beautiful is the word, beautiful all the way through. -Philadelphia Inquirer This is the story of grief accelerated by beauty and beauty made richer by grief. . . . Like Patti Smith in Woolgathering, Renkl aligns natural history with personal history so completely that the one becomes the other. Like Annie Dillard in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Renkl makes, of a ring of suburbia, an alchemical exotica. -The Rumpus The miniature essays in Late Migrations approach with modesty, deliver bittersweet epiphanies, and feel like small doses of religion. -Literary Hub Renkl captures the spirit and contemporary culture of the American South better than anyone. -BookPage, A 2019 Most Anticipated Nonfiction Book [A] magnificent debut . . . Renkl instructs that even amid life's most devastating moments, there are reasons for hope and celebration. Readers will savor each page and the many gems of wisdom they contain. -Publishers Weekly (starred review) [Late Migrations] is shot through with deep wonder and a profound sense of loss. It is a fine feat, this book. Renkl intimately knows that 'this life thrives on death' and chooses to sing the glory of being alive all the same. -Booklist A series of redolent snapshots and memories that seem to halt time. . . . [Renkl's] narrative metaphor becomes the miraculous order of nature . . . in all its glory and cruelty; she vividly captures 'the splendor of decay.' -Kirkus Praise for Graceland, At Last Winner of the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay * Winner of the Southern Book Prize * An Indie Next Selection A Garden & Gun Recommended Read for Fall 2021 * A Country Living Best Book of Fall 2021 * A Literary Hub Most Anticipated Book of 2021 [Graceland, At Last] is Renkl at her most tender and most fierce. . . . Renkl's gift, just as it was in her first book Late Migrations, is to make fascinating for others what is closest to her heart. . . . What rises in me after reading her essays is [John] Lewis' famous urging to get in good trouble to make the world fairer and better. Many people in the South are doing just that-and through her beautiful writing, Renkl is among them. -NPR In this luminous collection, Renkl delivers smart, beautifully crafted personal and political observations. . . . I keep this book nearby to revisit the humanity and hope in its pages. -Minneapolis Star Tribune Amazing and inspiring. [Graceland, At Last] will help you figure out concrete things you can do to save the planet. -Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House In 1956, author E.B. White suggested that newspapers cover nature as eagerly as commerce, having columns devoted not only to the flow of business but also the arrival of birds. Renkl . . . seems like a belated answer to White . . . [crafting] graceful sentences that White would surely have enjoyed. -Wall Street Journal Reading the short essays in this book has strengthened my understanding and love for the South, its people, its land, and its complexities. . . . I find myself looking to my changing backyard this fall with a new appreciation. -Garden & Gun, New Reads for Fall 2021 [Renkl] doesn't shy from hard topics but explores them with the careful hand of someone whose heart yearns for healing, growth, and understanding for the region she loves. A must read for those who live and love the South! -Country Living, Best Books of Fall 2021 If you've happened upon the poignant and off-road opinion pieces Renkl writes as a contributor to The New York Times, you already know that the natural world is something she closely observes and uses as a springboard to contemplate other, less tangible subjects. . . . Her life story and her life's passion intertwine, like a fence post and a trumpet vine. -Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air It's heartening to see a columnist for a major American newspaper writing so regularly about nature with a passion the media's chattering classes typically reserve only for politics and entertainment. . . . Renkl's columns deserve to be read again, and for years to come. -Christian Science Monitor Renkl's perspective feels like a guiding light. . . . No matter where you're from, column after column, Renkl will make you feel right at home. -Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Like nothing else in the newspaper, [Renkl's columns] burst with awareness of the things of nature, awareness that our lives are led in that midst, permeated with and part of the natural world. All is written with an open, joyful, yet steady voice of wonder. -Philadelphia Inquirer Graceland, At Last takes us to Renkl's homeland and shines a light on her life in the South, its complexities and its hopes. . . . Reading Margaret Renkl is like seeing the world in color for the first time. -Literary Hub, Most Anticipated Books of 2021

Author Information

Margaret Renkl is the author of Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss and Graceland, At Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache From the American South. She is a contributing opinion writer for TheNew York Times, where her essays appear weekly. The founding editor of Chapter 16, adaily literary publication of Humanities Tennessee, anda graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Carolina, she lives in Nashville.

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