Shadowbirds: A Quest for Rails

"All the rails, it seems, are out to vex me personally." So writes William Burt in this remarkably absorbing and resonant account of his years spent in pursuit of photographs of rails - tiny, elusive marsh birds that are nearly impossible to find, let alone photograph. Shadowbirds chronicles his quest: the cameras that would not fire, the suspicious onlookers encountering Burt and his apparatus on deserted roadsides, the countless near-misses that make this chronicle of a self-imposed challenge, and his ultimate success, sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, but always provocative and delightful.Yet Shadowbirds is more than the story of a single-minded search for birds. Indeed, it is the tale of the age-old human quest for things, elusive, mysterious, unattainable - a story as old as the Holy Grail and as current as our own dreams. All readers will find something of themselves in William Burt, whether they seek birds or other things. No one can fail to be captivated by this sensitive and telling book. (71/4 X 91/2, 186 pages, color photos, b&w photos)