Featherhood: A Memoir of Two Fathers and a Magpie

Journalist Gilmour debuts with a moving chronicle of his transition from being “a serial shirker of responsibility” to a devoted family man. His story begins as he and his girlfriend, Yana, are given an ailing baby magpie, which they named Benzene. Then, upon learning his estranged father had once adopted a wounded jackdaw, Gilmour embarked on an examination of their lives (“How can I stop myself from repeating his mistakes?”) to look for answers about why his father, a poet, abandoned him and his mother when he was five years old. Though Gilmour writes that he felt “essentially flawed” he also realized he needed “to get the sort of help [my father] never did.” Upon reading his deceased father’s journals, he realized his father saw Gilmour and his older half-sisters as representative of a family life that would constrain his artistic endeavors. Meanwhile, caring for Benzene provides the catalyst for Gilmour to question his own feelings about parenthood and his fears of being a father, leading to his desire to start a family. The author’s introspection is rewarding without becoming maudlin, and his poetic take on the complexities of father/son relationships resonates. This spirited outing hits all the right buttons for memoir lovers. (Jan.)