Crow
Boria Sax
Uitgeverij Reaktion Books, 2017
´ A fascinating and delightful book.´
- British Trust for Orithology
´Sax´s book roams divertingly over the scientific and cultural history of the corvid family,
which includes the carrion crow, the raven, the rook and the jackdaw, tracing ambivalent responses to
the mischievous birds.´ - The Guardian
Crows are remarkably graceful: from the tip of a crow´s beak to the end of its tail is a single curve,
which changes rhythmically as the crow turns its head or bends toward the ground. Foraging on their long,
powerful legs, crows appear to glide over the earth; they take flight almost without effort, ascending into
the air like spirits.
From the raven sent out by Noah to the corvid deities of the Eskimo, to Taoist legends, Victorian novels and
contemporary films, this book explores crows, ravens, magpies and their relatives in myth, literature and life.
It will be of interest to anyone who has ever been intriged, annoyed or charmed by these wonderfully intelligent birds.
Boria Sax teaches in the college programme of Sing Sing Prison in upstate New York and online for the
University of Illionis Springfield. He is the author of many books, including Imaginary Animals (2013)
and Lizard (2017), both published by Reaktion. He lives in White Plains, New York.
