# Odd Birds & Fat Cats: (An Urban Bestiary) - Hardcover

by **Peter Wortsman** (Author), **Aur?lie Bernard Wortsman** (Artist)

**Ravens in Berlin . . . Parakeets in Brooklyn . . . Chickens  
in Tel Aviv . . . Spiders in Cognac. City creatures spark the imagination and  
intellect in words and art by this father-daughter team.**

_Odd Birds & Fat Cats_ (_An Urban Bestiary)_ is an  
illustrated collection of brief observations on city creatures. Inspired  
by the tradition of the medieval bestiary, _bestiarum vocabulum_, a  
12th-century bestselling genre that chronicled animals and beings both  
real and fantastical, the book features pithy impressions of birds and animals  
that delight, confound, and edify, written by Peter Wortsman, coupled  
with detailed naturalist artwork by his daughter, Aur?lie  
Bernard Wortsman.  

Featured creatures include:  

-   **Pigeons:** "When, finally, it takes flight . . . this  
    asphalt-colored bird is like a piece of the pavement which by some fluke of  
    gravity broke loose and is foolishly falling upward by mistake."

-   **Seagulls:** "Fallen splinters of eternity, they hang  
    overhead with the equanimity and mild disdain of angels in a medieval  
    altarpiece, and unlike pigeons, refuse any direct contact with man."

-   **Ants:** "Micro-managers in three-piece bodies,  
    ants parody human antics to a tee. Or is it the other way around?"

-   **Dust mites:** "Every time you scratch yourself or comb  
    your hair, you are feeding the tiny intruders with the detritus of self."

With four-color images throughout, printed in a beautiful hardbound  
edition, this one-of-a-kind volume will please the discerning animal lover,  
traveler, art lover, iconoclast, and literati on your gift list--and, of course,  
also you!  

### Author Biography

**Aurélie  
Bernard Wortsman** is an artist, cartoonist, and the director of Andrew Edlin  
Gallery in downtown Manhattan, where she curated "Beverly Buchanan: Shacks and Legends, 1985-2011,"  
"Agatha Wojciechowsky: Spirits Among Us," and "Beverly Buchanan: Northern Walls  
and Southern Yards." Co-founder of the artistic cartoon duo Zou and Lou, her  
work has been exhibited at Wynwood Arts 29 in Miami and elsewhere. She first published  
her drawings at age five in her father's column in the literary review _Courants  
d'ombres_.  

**Number of Pages:** 120

**Dimensions:** 0.5 x 8.1 x 6.1 IN

**Publication Date:** November 26, 2024

## Details

- **Price:** 23.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 23.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Odd Birds & Fat Cats: (An Urban Bestiary) - Hardcover

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