The Birds That Fly Backwards

A transcendent memoir from the Peabody Award-winning writer behind Battlestar Galactica, For All Mankind, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

"A stunning and deeply personal work of art."

-Liz Phang, Writer/Producer for Yellowjackets, Foundation.

In The Birds That Fly Backwards: Volume I - Ouroboros, David Weddle delivers a harrowing, heartbreaking, and ultimately triumphant journey into the heart of an American family.

Spanning from 1926 to 1996, this complex memoir is told not in conventional prose, but in the gripping, kinetic form of a screenplay because the Weddle family worshipped movies and mythologized their own stories through the lens of the cinema.

Inside the Narrative:

• The Origins of an Artist: Follow David's formative years, from his 1960s childhood obsession with movies to his graduation from USC Cinema School.
• A Family Through the Prism: Witness the intersecting journeys of various members of the Weddle family. Their conflicting points of view dramatize the absence of any absolute truth.
• A Portrait of an Epoch: Experience sixty years of American life as the Weddle family grapples with the highs and lows of the "Greatest Generation" and the turbulent legacy of the generation that followed.

Written with the "raw cunning" and "deep empathy" that have made Weddle a titan of modern television, this "memory play" unearths the crucibles where characters-and people-are truly made. Whether you are a fan of prestige drama, film history, or powerful family memoirs, The Birds That Fly Backwards is an essential, universal story of conflict, vulnerability, humor, and love.

Acclaim for The Birds That Fly Backwards:

"I learned more about writing complex, rich characters through listening to David talk about his family history than any writing course I ever took."

-Ronald D. Moore, Creator of Battlestar Galactica and Outlander.

"A kaleidoscopic journey into the heart of his own family...Weddle bravely uses his incredible power as a screenwriter to make us see, hear, and feel every moment."

-Liz Phang, Writer/Producer for Yellowjackets and The Strain.

"Weddle digs beneath surface grit and glitter to unearth the crucibles where characters are made... a turbulent group portrait of a conflicted middle-class family."

-Michael Sragow, former film critic for The New Yorker and Rolling Stone.

David Weddle has been working as a writer/producer in television for more than thirty years on such series as Battlestar Galactica (for which he won a Peabody Award), For All Mankind (for which he won an Emmy Award), The Strain, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Falling Skies, and CSI. Weddle is the author of the critically acclaimed book, If They Move...Kill 'Em!: The Life and Times of Sam Peckinpah, and the bestselling book, Among the Mansions of Eden. He has also written for publications including Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and San Jose Mercury News.