What do readers think of Alfie and Me by Carl Safina? Write your own review.

Not having read anything by this author, Carl Safina, I was especially impressed with his language and organization of thought. The book is a philosophical masterpiece. History of Indigenous people, history of "religious" experience, and history of man's relationship to the natural world become as much of the story as Alfie. As much as I admired the author's vast knowledge and ability to convey these concepts, it made for a slow read for me. I was expecting more of the day to day living experiences of the family and their pets. It is a beautiful story, but not one I would recommend to a casual reader.

Alfie and Me is the story of the rescue and rehabilitation of an eastern screech owl by Carl Safina and his wife. But this book is more than that. The Covid pandemic forced Carl and his wife to be at home the entire time that Alfie was in their care. This allowed Safina to observe much more about this owl and its place in the world. A great deal of the book is devoted to a review of humanity's relationship to the wild world. Safina examines other cultures' views of the natural world most of which are far more enlightened than our own.

Safina provides details about Alfie's progress and ultimate release back into the wild and this includes his own internal struggles about the timing of the release. He struggled because he knew the risks that face these magical creatures. I did think that he anthropomorphized a great deal onto this owl, but I understand how easy it is to do that. These creatures are special and we like to think we know what they might be "feeling" or "thinking". The job of a rehabilitator is to make sure that these animals remain wild and that they don't become tame, no matter the dangers that face them.

I am a bird wildlife rehabilitator so I was especially anxious to read this book. I enjoyed the book, although my major criticism is that he never fully explains that it is illegal to keep a wild bird unless you are a licensed rehabilitator. I worry that his book, without this detail, would encourage a person to take in and keep a bird (especially a cute owl). I have seen this happen time and time again. Someone finds an injured or orphaned animal, and takes it into his care, thinking they can look up on the internet how to do it. Then after some time when the animal is not thriving they finally bring it to a rehabilitation center so that they can "fix" it. Most often it is too late.

I enjoyed the book and recommend it.

Alfie and Me is much more than a story about raising a screech owl and watching it become a successful wild bird. The author imbues everything about the owl with philosophy and history of human philosophical development. Hence the subtitle What Owls Know, What Humans Believe. During the first half of the book I found these comparisons interesting. By the middle of the book I found them tedious. The way the author set up his writing to be first some paragraphs about the owl and then some paragraphs about philosophy became too predictable for me. I found myself skimming over many sections which did not give the book its full experience. This book was just not for me.

I love all the wonders of nature and learning about Alfie did not disappoint. When rescued, she was a near-death, tiny ball of feathers. At first she lived in Safina's home, then she grew enough to move to an outdoor coop. Although Alfie was physically able "to fly the coop," Safina hesitated to leave the door open, for fear she would fly away and not be able to survive on her own. They had an amazingly close relationship.
It is remarkable that her instincts kicked in and she found shelter in her Ivy Tower and nearby trees, learned to hunt, and mated with Plus-One. Alfie and her mate raised three healthy owlets, affectionately called The Hoo. I enjoyed the photos.
The story of Alfie rates 5, but nearly half the book was about philosophy, thinkers through the ages (Confucius. Galileo, Plato, etc.), views of different cultures, and humans' impact on the health of the Earth. While these subjects have merit, for me, they were extraneous to Alfie's story.

I was interested in ALFIE AND ME because I had attended a rehabilitation center for owls, and had met a very friendly owl at that time. This book would be interesting to anyone who loves the rehabilitation of any animals, but especially the personalities of owls. This book was extremely informative about the daily life of the owl. It was well described and documented.
What was very difficult to get through was the authors, philosophical, religious comparisons, and evaluations throughout the chapters. Possibly people that have an educational background in philosophy would have been able to relate to these sections in the book, but I found that extremely hard, and it seem to distract from the story of Alfie and his life.
I don't think I would recommend this book to any book clubs. I think it would be liked by a very small audience.

I chose this title hoping to enjoy a story about connecting to animal life an all it's interesting facets. I enjoy stories that help us see the makeup of animals and how they can become our friends by means of patience and understanding. However, this was not a title to make that connection. I kept getting distraction to all the details and facts about animal behavior that did not add to the reading. I tried several times to pick up and join the author's enthusiasm in connecting to wildlife but could not.

Natural science and ecology are among some of my favorite non-fiction genres so I wanted to love this book. While following Alfie's growth into an adult Eastern Screech Owl was interesting, the owl (and related nature) facts enlightening, and the two-way relationship with her humans inspiring, I found "Alfie & Me" exceedingly difficult to read. The book read like two separate books meshed together, the transitions choppy and threads unclear. There was the story of Alfie which frequently took a secondary position to a far-reaching cultural anthropological and philosophical discussion of the beliefs of previous civilizations, current indigenous societies, and Western economies regarding the natural world's role in communities. While the author's point about the varying perspectives of nature across societies/civilizations is clear (for example, the connectedness of all versus the separation of physical and spiritual) the linkage to the author's journey with Alfie was too vague.

Since I am usually a reader of fiction, this review may be a bit unfair.
I have found with most non fiction books and this one as well that they are often 100 pages too long.
This book was interesting initially but then became more philosophical than the subject warranted.
It seemed that the author wanted to share his knowledge of native American culture as well as other philosophies on nature.
It would probably be more interesting to true bird watchers.