Book Review: Birds Aren't Real by Peter McIndoe & Connor Gaydos (2024)
Synopsis: This non-fiction(?) book discusses a popular political conspiracy that suggests the United States government began poisoning birds in the late 1950s so they could be replaced with sophisticated bird-shaped drones designed to spy on the American public. As a result of this, all birds are now robots.
Review: I am still waiting for some books on my library hold list and since it's going to be very cold the next couple of days, went in search of something else to read in the meantime. I came across Birds Aren't Real and since I am always open to listening to a conspiracy theory, checked it out.
According to my Generation Z daughter, this is a conspiracy theory I shouldn't take too seriously, and it's mostly just being spread around the internet as a joke. However, after getting through the book with relative ease, I'm going to say it was a surprisingly intriguing concept.
OK, just so we're clear, I'm not hopping on the fake bird bandwagon. I'm able to keep an open mind but am the type of person who also needs a lot more proof. That said, this conspiracy theory, whether it's to be taken seriously or not, was one of the better ones I've read.
I think the thing that impressed me most was how much detail was put into this theory. The birds, for example, were designed with specific tasks in addition to their surveillance, such as geese being used to prevent loitering at parks. The authors were also able to connect other government activities to this project, such as the Vietnam War being the result of needing a raw material only available in that country. Using hippies to build the drones under the pretense of a humanitarian mission was also very clever. The book even discusses what we are really eating when we have an egg or any sort of bird meat.
I also found the chapter about building an underground society to combat the bird surveillance interesting. I am getting a bit too old for some of the steps though and may just need to resign myself to being watched by the government.
Final Opinion: Whether you read the book for entertainment purposes or are a believer, this is a book that was more interesting than I thought it would be when I came across it on the library shelf. It's worth taking the time to read it at least once.
My Grade: A
_______________________________________________________________________________Here are some other book reviews:
Book Review: That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America by Amanda Jones (2024)
Book Review: 50 Real American Ghost Stories by MJ Wayland (2023)
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