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Commonwealth of Wings: An Ornithological Biography

In a compelling collection of 50 poems, Pamela Alexander presents the remarkable naturalist and artist John James Audubon. These first-person poems, based on extensive research, re-imagine his life in poems that take the form of letters, journal entries, historical vignettes, and lyrical passages.

Captivating and accessible, her poem reads with the authority of autobiography, the dramatic coherence of a novel, and the evocative clarity of an Audubon print. Audubon here emerges as a person rather than a legend, and the world seen through his eyes is a portrait of the last days of the American wilderness.