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Apr
05
Book Review: Winging It by Jenny Gardiner
2010 at 9am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
Published March 2010 by Gallery Books (a Simon & Schuster imprint)
The life plan prescribed by the popular rhyme “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage” was just too simple for Jenny and Scott Gardiner. Animal lovers willing to devote what many would call an unreasonable amount of time and energy to their pets, they have a story that begins with a misguided attempt to help their cat have kittens (in case you’re wondering, borrowing a friend’s cat as a “stud” and transporting him in a pillow case is a BAD IDEA) and continues with the adoption of a sweet but incredibly high maintenance dog, the birth of their first child, and then the entrance of Graycie, an African gray parrot.
Winging It , which records the Gardiners’ experiences with Graycie over the last two decades, is exactly what the subtitle, A Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot Who’s Determined to Kill Me says it is. Gardiner begins with a note that this is a cautionary tale and warns readers to think twice before deciding to adopt their “very own taloned television” because raising a wild parrot—emphasis on WILD—”is akin to attempting to domesticate a rattlesnake.” She goes on to reveal the bedtime ritual in which she sings the “So Long, Farewell” number from The Sound of Music to a grumpy Graycie, all the while hoping beyond hope that the bird will, for once, resist the urge to pull her hair or bite her hands as she covers the cage for the evening. And she describes the myriad ways in which Graycie has written herself into the family’s history.
Winging It is chock full of laugh out loud moments—after all, “no simpler or better amusement can be found than being in the company of a gregarious parrot”—but it is more than another humorous memoir of life with an uncontrollable pet. Sure, Graycie repeatedly falls off the top of her cage, bringing to mind those fainting goats who keel over at the drop of a dime, and sure, she starts life as “the Dud” and becomes known as the “fixer-upper parrot,” but she is also a fixture in the Gardiners’ lives (literally—her cage is usually placed in the center of their home), and her presence and words define many of their memories.
Graycie enters the Gardiners’ lives just as they are adjusting to being first-time parents. She becomes so accustomed to hearing them count to three and send the children to time out that she continues to squawk the orders out years later. She begins exhibiting signs of adolescent angst (a problem Jenny believes could be solved by bringing a boy parrot to visit) at the same time as the Gardiner children. She goes on “walkabouts” through the house during which she ends up either out of reach atop the cabinets—resulting in a hilarious rescue that involves barbecue tongs—or finding her way into the cabinet containing her toys and food, where is content to play and explore for hours.
In Winging It, Jenny Gardiner records the best and worst moments of her family’s story through the filter of life with Graycie, and she does it with warmth, humor, and just the right touch of snark. She succeeds in relating the sad moments without making them overly sentimental (a feat I think of as overcoming the urge to “Marley and Me” an otherwise solid story), speaks honestly about the challenges of parenthood—and parrothood—without resorting to tired cliches, and presents a tale that both warns and encourages us to stand by the commitments we make to the animals in our lives.
Anyone who has ever loved an animal will relate to and enjoy the stories and insight to be found in Winging It, and anyone who, like me, cannot remember what life was like before the beloved pet, will identify with this sentiment that sums up what Winging It is really all about:
In a way Graycie is to us like Kilroy during World War II, or more like our very own Forrest Gump: many high points of our lives, and many of the mundane moments, as well, have been crystallized in time through her utterances. She is our touchstone.
Winging It came along at just the right time for me, and I give it a hearty 4 out of 5.
Visit Jenny Gardiner’s website to learn more about Winging It and her other books, and follow her on Twitter. She’s fun, and she’ll make you feel like life with your insane pet is totally normal.
Hey, FTC: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
I am an IndieBound affiliate and will receive a small commission if you support indie bookstores by purchasing Winging It through one of my links.
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- Book Review: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
- Book Review: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Looking forward to reading this book. Jenny’s stopping by to visit us tomorrow at The Naked Hero and we can’t wait!
I read Jenny’s book and loved it! That Graycie is one crazy feathered girl.
Thank you so much for reading (and enjoying!) Winging It! Look forward to meeting you Thursday!
This sounds fantastic Rebecca. You really make the case for Graycie and her family in your review. I hadn’t heard of this one but I will be looking for it now.
Yay! I thought it was perfect for a light sunny afternoon read.
This looks so funny! And a good warning to me in case I ever, ever think about getting any sort of pet.
I can’t say this would have ever been a book I’d pick up, but now I’m totally intrigued! The first “pet” book I ever read was, of course, Marley & Me, and that one about broke my heart into a million pieces. I’ve been hesitant to pick up any animal-related non-fiction since, but this sounds like a book I would enjoy!
I just won this book and can’t wait to read it! From chatting with Jenny of Twitter, I have a feeling I’ll love it.
I love it! A fixer-upper parrot!!! I’m happy to hear the author didn’t fall prey to the temptation of manipulating our emotions, as is usually the case with animal stories. I mean, this is why I will almost never read an animal book. I can handle the stress! Nice review. You’ve convinced me.
thank you guys for stopping by! Yeah, I’m with you–I HATE being manipulated in a book so I avoid that at all costs. Plus I’m too much of a smart aleck
Misa–I think I’m there on the 9th, right? Want to make sure I haven’t screwed up the date!
I can’t wait to read this one. It sounds fun. thanks 4 the great review.
Aw, this sounds adorable! For another “tame wild animal as pet” memoir, I recommend Shreve Stockton’s The Daily Coyote, plus her photo blog of the same name.
‘Fixer-upper parrot’ … I think Jenny is a much stronger woman than I am! I know just what you mean about a book coming along at the right time for you, and I may be ready for WINGING IT!
i do love the term “fixer upper” parrot as it is so true…
This book sounds hilarious! I’ll keep it in mind for when I need a perky read.
Another one to add to my list! I’ve been curious about books on parrots ever since I heard of Alex, but haven’t even read the books about him yet. One or the other will come first, but I really want to read them now. Parrots sound so fascinating (and frustrating?) to live with!
This sounds like fun … and a good companion to “Alex & Me” (which was also about an African Gray parrot).
Oh Jeane, definitely skip right to the reprobate parrot and read Winging It!
I like to joke that if they were kids, Alex would have been the kid in the front of th class raising his hand to answer all the teacher’s questions and Graycie would be sneaking out from the back row to smoke cigarettes in the bathroom…
[...] reading here: Book Review: Winging It by Jenny Gardiner | The Book Lady's Blog This entry was posted in Books and tagged comes-love, gallery-books, life-plan, popular, [...]
Being that I live with 6 parrots and one of them an African Grey I read the review and a summery of the book and it’s true, they are just as bad, to just as sweet as any person can be. I look forward to asking my husband for this book for my birthday.
[...] Winging It by Jenny Gardiner [...]