Taking My Breath Away – My Book Review

ODD BIRDS

SEVERO PEREZ

Genre: Literary Fiction

Publisher: Texas Christian University Press

Date of Publication: September 24, 2019
Number of Pages: 278 pages 

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The year is 1961. Seventy-year-old Cosimo Infante Cano, a Cuban-born artist in need of inspiration, follows his lover to Texas in what was to be a temporary sabbatical from their life in France. Unexpectedly, he finds himself stranded in San Antonio, nearly penniless, with little more than the clothes on his back and an extraordinary pocket watch. His long hair and eccentric attire make him an odd sight in what he has been told is a conservative cultural backwater.

Cosimo’s French and Cuban passports put a cloud of suspicion over him as events elsewhere in the world play out. Algeria is in open revolt against France. Freedom Riders are being assaulted in Mississippi, and the Bay of Pigs debacle is front-page news. Cosimo confronts nightmares and waking terrors rooted in the horror he experienced during the Great War of 1914–1918. His friends—students, librarians, shopkeepers, laborers, lawyers, bankers, and even a parrot—coalesce around this elderly French artist as he attempts to return to what remains of his shattered life.

His new friends feel empathy for his impoverished condition, but his unconventional actions and uncompromising ethics confuse them. He creates charming drawings he refuses to sell and paints a house simply for the pleasure of making a difference. In the process he forever alters the lives of those who thought they were helping him.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

“A pitch-perfect picaresque tale” –John Phillip Santos, Texas Monthly

“Judge this book by its cover. It’s a stunning… captivating read.” –Alice Embree, Rag Radio Blog

An “elegantly conceived tale–boasting a culturally and historically astute plot–that demands to be read.” –Kirkus Reviews

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Taking My Breath Away – My Book Review

“Because when all the strum und drang is done, war is nothing more than a pretext for theft. Flags wave and speeches are made about how their sacrifice will never be forgotten. But, they are forgotten. That broken solider and the millions of dead and wounded remain the detritus of someone’s profits.”

Odd Birds! This is a smashing book by author Severo Perez.

I love being introduced to stories crafted by authors that I never would pick up in a bookstore, even if the book cover grabbed my attention. I adored Odd Birds, even more, when its story beneath its gorgeous book cover made my heart sing. This is one book where the book description is off on the actual story itself and in an unsuspecting, resplendent way.

Odd Birds is a book of two stories. One is a coming-of-age story where Maddie, Richard, and Oscar, all young people are finding their way in the world by working in a library. The other story follows the loss and resilience of Cosimo Infante Cano, a Cuban-born artist who resided in France with his lover who both move to San Antonio.

A big part of this story also deals with integration and book censorship and how it was hard for an older generation to accept the former. Overall, the biggest parts of this story are about standing up for what is right, making the best of the situation you have been dealt, and making friends along the way. As the last chapter brings the story to a close Odd Birds comes down to a story of revelation about always being a good person.

I never saw any part of this book coming. That is the brilliance of Odd Birds. It is a fresh story that kept me wanting to turn each page. Perez crafted a story entwined showing us how we should be the best in our own lives. Hands down this story is splendidly memorable and literally took my breath away.

SEVERO PEREZ, an award-winning filmmaker, playwright, and writer, grew up in working-class Westside San Antonio and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. For over forty-five years he produced programing for PBS and for network and cable television. His feature film adaptation of Tomas Rivera’s novel . . . and the earth did not swallow him (1994) won eleven international awards, including five for Best Picture. His first novel, Willa Brown & the Challengers (2012), is historical fiction based on the real-life African American aviation pioneer Willa Beatrice Brown. Odd Birds is his second novel. Visit his website to learn more.

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(US only. Ends 4/8/2022.)

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or visit the blogs directly:

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3/29/22	Review	The Book’s Delight
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3/31/22	BONUS Promo	LSBBT Blog
4/1/22	Author Interview	StoreyBook Reviews
4/1/22	Review	Rainy Days with Amanda
4/2/22	Review	Book Fidelity
4/3/22	Bonus Story	All the Ups and Downs
4/4/22	Author Interview	The Page Unbound
4/4/22	Review	It’s Not All Gravy
4/5/22	Review	The Plain-Spoken Pen
4/6/22	Review	Shelf Life Blog
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4/7/22	Review	Reading by Moonlight

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1 reply to Taking My Breath Away – My Book Review

mcm0704 says:

April 1, 2022 at 5:38 pm

A wonderful review. I’ve loved reading this book, too. The cover and title intrigued me a lot. Definitely made me want to read the story.

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