Matt Adrian
A Catalog of Birds Chosen by Financial Times as one of the “Best Books of 2017”
“One of the great pleasures of reading A Catalog of Birds is that it’s as impossible to categorize as it is to put down …. Harrington asks us to fly from despair to grace, from loss to faith, to see as a bird sees. Only then can we return to our original innocence, remember the many beauties of this painful, joyful and mysterious world.” Washington Post
“Just as A Catalog of Birds sketches a community as detailed as a medieval miniature, its satisfyingly saturated portraits of each individual character, and their relationships with each other create the feeling that the Flynns could be any reader’s cousins just a generation or two back. Fiction or family? It’s a sign of how well we get to know the Flynns that they seem like our own flesh and blood — and we care about them as if they are.” Florida Times-Union
“In language that is both lyrical and horrifying, A Catalog of Birds questions what it means to be an American, and offers what can be salvaged, or hoped, for a future.” Consequence Magazine
“A sensitive rendering of shattered lives.” Kirkus Reviews
“Her prose sings, sweeping through heavy topics with a quiet sense of resilience and buoyant hope.” Publisher’s Weekly
“Stunning natural descriptions provide a rich backdrop for Harrington’s beautifully articulated coming-of-age story, which captures the pain of loved ones grappling with the after effects of war.” Booklist Online Starred Review
“A novel so good that it needs no hype …. As a writer, Laura Harrington’s instinct is to go directly to the broken places, the critical times, the glaring problems, the fraught relationships, and then to shine a light on them that is fresh and illuminating, and makes you glad you gave yourself over to her book. Because you’re not just reading a “family saga” here — you become a Flynn. Yes, it’s that good.” Jesse Kornbuth at Head Butler
“This beautifully written book will definitely be on my list of top 10 books of 2017. I absolutely loved it – the characters, the plot and most of all the beautiful writing. I feel like I know these people and miss them now that the novel is done.” Girl Who Reads
“Laura Harrington’s new novel, A Catalog of Birds, is as accomplished as it is brave. As writers continue to peel away the layers of our involvement in Vietnam, few have ventured as close to the bone as Harrington.” The Beacon
“There is a fierceness to this book, the rare courage of clear vision and unadorned expression. Every word, every syllable, is vital as Harrington weaves a mesmerizing tale. Touching, heartening, suffused with wisdom, A Catalog of Birds is an absolute marvel of a novel.” Robin Black, author of Life Drawing
“Taut and true, A Catalog of Birds is a beautiful book about family, loss and love. Its memorable characters will haunt you long after you put it down.” Claire Messud, author of The Woman Upstairs
“Laura Harrington’s lyrical and unforgettable A Catalog of Birds explores what makes a life worth living. Harrington paints both human frailties and the Vietnam conflict with empathetic clarity she does best and the parallels between our recent wars in the Middle-East are both nuanced and startlingly wise.” Siobahn Fallon, author of The Confusion of Languages
“At once spare and richly symphonic, A Catalog of Birds brings you into the very marrow of the Flynn family and those in their orbit, each page wrapping you in more tightly until you can’t let go even after the words stop. Get a copy for a friend—you’ll want to have someone to talk to about it as soon as you finish.” Juliette Fay, bestselling author of The Tumbling Turner Sisters
“A Catalog of Birds is a heartbreaking journey into the soul of America.” Randy Susan Meyers, author of The Widow of Wall Street
“Harrington takes us into the heart of a wounded rural community as it struggles to survive and hope. An unflinching look at our own vulnerability and that of the natural world, Harrington’s writing is feather, bone and song.” Lynne Hugo, award-winning author of Remember My Beauties
“Laura Harrington has written a rich, dense, beautifully crafted novel.” Ann Napolitano, author of A Good Hard Look
“A Catalog of Birds immerses us in a world of family love; of yearning and faith and the devastation wrought by war on the human heart. Laura Harrington weaves American history and natural history into a riveting story of damage and resilience. Harrington’s voice is as clear and distinctive as a bird call.” Rachel Kadish, award-winning author of The Weight of Ink
“While Harrington’s poignant, wise narrative is of one family, her exploration of universal themes, love, loss, desperation, guilt, passion, is adroit & heartbreaking in its illumination. A Catalog of Birds is simple in the telling yet hugely complex in its scope.” Bibliobroads