🌿 (buffy)² 🌿 reviewed Birds Aren't Real by Peter McIndoe
The Truth is Out There: Uncovering 150 Years of Birding Conspiracy
3 stars
Birds Aren't Real is one of the first audiobooks that I've listened to that is made for the audiobook format so it includes audiobook centric comments and additional background noises which I feel made the audio book a lot more immersive than other books I've listened to.
That aside if this book wasn’t under the “comedy” section of non-fiction you could easily mistake this book as encouraging conspiracy culture. From the outside it's not clear from the content that it's a nonsensical movement led by Peter McIndoe. I personally picked it up thinking it was a book about the "Birds Aren't Real" movement as a gateway conspiracy? You know the silly simple ones that get people hooked -- like wellness culture and white supremacy.
And here's the thing once you get past the books administrative preamble it's obvious it's satire, but when you put into context that there are also …
Birds Aren't Real is one of the first audiobooks that I've listened to that is made for the audiobook format so it includes audiobook centric comments and additional background noises which I feel made the audio book a lot more immersive than other books I've listened to.
That aside if this book wasn’t under the “comedy” section of non-fiction you could easily mistake this book as encouraging conspiracy culture. From the outside it's not clear from the content that it's a nonsensical movement led by Peter McIndoe. I personally picked it up thinking it was a book about the "Birds Aren't Real" movement as a gateway conspiracy? You know the silly simple ones that get people hooked -- like wellness culture and white supremacy.
And here's the thing once you get past the books administrative preamble it's obvious it's satire, but when you put into context that there are also people who think that the New York City Police Department had discovered a paedophilia ring operating out of Comet Ping Pong... you can sort of see how this book could blur the line between fact and fiction for some people. The morals of satire behind us, one of the most compelling parts of this book (at least for me) is if you've ever wondered what it feels like to rapidly fall into a conspiracy rabbit hole, and have your mind swirling with thoughts that are rooted in reality but also make you question everything you know... this is the book that simulates that feeling.
I never thought I'd find myself looking up whether bird-less eggs were real (they are) but here we are!
Because each chapter is relatively short and fast paced it feels like watching your Republican Uncles playlist of QAnon videos but instead of explaining how there is a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic child molesters in league with the deep state the cabal is responsible for killing all the birds to replace them with government surveillance birds and it's your job, dear patriot to help repopulate the decimated bird population.