Birding Under the Influence: Cycling Across America in Search of Birds and Recovery

“One hell of a ride.”—Nick Offerman, actor, woodworker, New York Times bestselling author

“With a fresh infusion of adventure, danger, and personal growth. . . .[Anderson brings] a story that is both a joy to read and fodder for reflection. . . . [and] it has inspired me to new hopes for my birding.”—Birding Magazine, American Birding Association

At a personal and professional crossroads, a man resets his life and finds sobriety, love, and 618 bird species, cycling his way to a very Big Year.

In Birding Under the Influence, Dorian Anderson, a neuroscience researcher on a pressure-filled life trajectory, walks away from the world of elite institutions, research labs, and academic publishing. In doing so, he falls in love and discovers he has freed himself to embrace his lifelong passion for birding.

A North American Big Year—a continent-spanning adventure in which a birder attempts to see as many species as possible in twelve months—is a massive undertaking under any circumstances. But doing it on a bike while maintaining sobriety? That’s next level.

As Dorian pedals across the country, describing the birds he sees, he confronts the challenges of long-distance cycling: treacherous weather, punctured tires, speeding cars, and injury. He encounters eccentric characters, blistering blacktop, dreary hotel rooms, snarling dogs, and an endless sea of smoking tailpipes. He also confronts his past struggles with alcohol, drugs, and risky behaviors that began in high school and followed him into adulthood.

Birding Under the Influence is a candid, honest look at Dorian’s double life of academic accomplishment and addiction. While his journey to recovery is simultaneously poignant and inspiring, it is ultimately his love of birds and nature that provides the scaffolding to build a new and radically different life.

“Candid and often moving reflections . . . make for absorbing reading. . . . [This is] a memoir of a journey that was more than just a chase after numbers.”—Booklist (starred)

“An uplifting and hopeful memoir and social commentary about healing . . . [Birding Under the Influence] is an interesting exploration of the extreme ends that one man went to to overcome his twin demons of alcohol and drug addiction by redirecting his addictive Type-A personality into more healthy pursuits. . . . [It also] provide[s] an interesting glimpse into regional American subcultures.”—Forbes