A Catalog of Birds - Paperback

by Laura Harrington (Author)

This novel of a wounded Vietnam veteran's homecoming is both "a searing war story and a page-turning thriller" (The Washington Post)

.Billy Flynn has always wanted to fly, like the birds he draws with pencils and paints. He is also a patriot, so in 1970 he cannot resist the call to serve in Vietnam. A year later, he is the only one to survive after his helicopter is shot down.A wounded Billy returns home to his family in upstate New York, including Nell, his adoring younger sister. In his absence, the woman he loves has mysteriously disappeared. His wounds have crippled his ability to hold a pencil and his hearing loss has cut him off from the natural world he loves so much. Nell, a brilliant student headed for a career in science, is determined to do all that's possible to save him.
A Catalog of Birds is the story of a community confronted with shattered innocence and with wounds that may never heal, in "a beautiful book about family, loss, and love whose] memorable characters will haunt you long after you put it down" (Claire Messud, New York Times-bestselling author of The Woman Upstairs).

"Stunning natural descriptions provide a rich backdrop for Harrington's beautifully articulated coming-of-age story, which captures the pain of loved ones grappling with the after effects of war."--Booklist (starred review)

Author Biography

Laura Harrington, has written dozens of plays, musicals, and operas, which have been produced in venues ranging from Off-Broadway to the Houston Grand Opera. Harrington has twice won both the Massachusetts Cultural Council Award in playwriting and the Clauder Competition for best new play in New England. Laura teaches playwriting at MIT where she was awarded the 2009 Levitan Prize. Alice Bliss, her first novel, won the 2012 Massachusetts Book Award in Fiction.