Odd Birds

by Ian Harding

Overview

A 7-time Teen Choice Award Winner on Freeform's most-watched series, Pretty Little Liars … A social media influencer with over 7 million followers … An avid birdwatcher? Yes, you read that correctly. Ian Harding is all of these things, and so much more. In this memoir, explore the unexpected world of a young celebrity through the lens of his favorite pastime — birding.

Odd Birds is more than just a Hollywood memoir or tell-all. At its heart, this book is a coming-of-age story in which Ian wrestles with an ever evolving question— how can he still be himself, while also being a celebrity. Each humorous and heartfelt story features a particular bird—sometimes literal, at other times figurative. Using this framework, Ian explores a variety of topics, including growing up, life as a television actor and nature lover, and whether it is better to shave or wax one’s chest for an on-screen love scene.

A funny and heartwarming window into Ian’s life, Odd Birds is a must-read for fans of nature writing and memoir alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250117076
Publisher:	St. Martin's Press
Publication date:	05/02/2017
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Born in Heidelberg, Germany, to a US military family, Ian Harding discovered acting at a young age. He attended Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama and moved to Los Angeles shortly after graduating to pursue acting and writing. He is best known for his role as Ezra Fitz on Freeform's (formerly known as ABC Family) Pretty Little Liars, for which he has won seven Teen Choice awards. Ian is passionate about birding and nature, and he tries to spend as much time outdoors as humanly possible.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Bridge to Nowhere 3

1 Family Cardinals 17

2 Rediscovering Birds 25

3 H Is for Mr. Hawkins 41

4 My Inner Animal 53

5 Coming to Los Angeles (Twice) 67

6 Lucy Goosey 71

7 Il Buio Oltre la Siepe 85

8 Death and Loons 91

9 Spring Migration 101

10 Put Your Best Feather Forward 121

11 Rehab 127

12 Life in the Wings 137

13 No More Duck for Bailey 147

14 How to Look Sexy on Camera 157

15 The Birds and the Bees 163

16 Fifty Shades of Thanksgiving 173

17 The California Condor 185

18 Not That Kind of Bird 209

19 'Splores with Keegan 217

20 And All the Birds at Sea 235

Acknowledgments 253

Editorial Reviews

03/27/2017
Actor Harding’s breezy memoir uses his hobby of birdwatching as a lens to muse about his career, craft, and values. He earned celebrity status as Ezra Fitts on the TV series Pretty Little Liars, but he doesn’t lean on his fame as a crutch. His passion and curiosity for birds is evident, and he does a commendable job of keeping the focus on his encounters with them. As he goes on hiking quests to find a red cockaded woodpecker and a California condor, releases a red-tailed hawk back into the wild, and mourns a lost arctic loon, Harding looks for meaning and metaphors in his excursions. When he hits the mark, readers learn about the fickle world of auditions and unusual acting classes. When he falls short, they get strained analogies and exaggerated similes. The chapters are uneven, but Harding’s authenticity and knowledge of his subject manage to redeem even the more pedestrian sections. The book may frustrate fans looking for traditional Hollywood-insider scoops, and birder geeks who seek more depth from their sympathetic screen star comrade, but both audiences will take away refreshing insights from a likable nature lover. Photos. (May)

Publishers Weekly

2017-03-07
A TV actor reflects on his life (so far) and a love of birding.Noting that at 30, he is too young to pen a memoir, Harding, known for his role as Ezra Fitz on ABC's Pretty Little Liars, instead compiles an affable collection of stories, anecdotes, and memories of his time in Hollywood and his affinity for bird-watching. Though they don't appear on the West coast, cardinals are plentiful in Virginia, where Harding grew up in a military family, and he writes fondly of how these birds still bring serenity and a sense of protectiveness for him. The author connects many of his Los Angeles adventures to his experience as an avid birder and a lover of the natural world around him, though as an adolescent, he hid his unconventional interest out of fear of being ostracized by classmates. Harding also explores his childhood penchant for tantrums and troublemaking; exhausting a steady stream of babysitters, he behaved in a manner that starkly contrasted with his "practically angelic" older sister, Sarah. Elsewhere, tales of acting classes at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and a bold, postgraduate, cross-country move to Hollywood after driving for four days demonstrate Harding's sheer dedication to acting. Fledgling actors will appreciate chapters on the craft of acting, the author's acquisition of the TV role that established him in LA, and the mechanics of on-set scenes. Thoughts on mockingbirds, woodpeckers, the massive California condor, and Harding's palpable excitement over an arctic loon "rare-bird alert" are equally fervent. The author deftly interweaves both acting and nature loving into a unique group of memories and experiences. Harmless and pleasantly innocuous, the narrative stays in the safe zone yet is revealing enough to leave fans and birders satisfied. Animal lovers in particular will find much to savor in this endearing, breezy memoir from a young, enterprising Hollywood actor.

Kirkus Reviews

"The author deftly interweaves both acting and nature loving into a unique group of memories and experiences...Animal lovers in particular will find much to savor in this endearing, breezy memoir from a young, enterprising Hollywood actor." —Kirkus Reviews

"Harding recounts with charm and enthusiasm his road to success as an actor (including the semester he had to spend portraying a jellyfish) and his rediscovery of the joys of birding." —Booklist

"Actor [Ian] Harding’s breezy memoir uses his hobby of birdwatching as a lens to muse about his career, craft and values... audiences will take away refreshing insights from a likable nature lover." —Publishers Weekly

"Like a bird that migrates from the Arctic to the tropics, actor Ian Harding is a creature of two worlds, equally at home in Hollywood and on the wilderness birding trail. His unique memoir — smart, funny, and full of heart — is a joy to read." —Kenn Kaufman, author of Kingbird Highway and Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America

"I laughed (a lot), I cried and enjoyed every minute of it." —Keegan Allen, bestselling author of love.life.beauty

"A truly delightful read... Smart, perceptive, engaging and laugh-out-loud funny, it is the ultimate field guide to the plumage, social habits and often hilarious rituals of two surprisingly similar worlds—Hollywood and birding." —Stephen Harding, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Battle (and proud father)

From the Publisher

Ian Harding played a teacher and author on the hit teen show “Pretty Little Liars”—or as he sarcastically puts it, America’s favorite pedophile. His voice warmly narrates the wonder of birding throughout his life: family moments with cardinals as a child, rediscovering the pastime during a trip with friends as an adult, and spying on loons while on a break from filming. Harding fondly shares observant moments in nature, during which his love of animals is evident in his pleasant tone punctuated by moments of awe. Sometimes the birding trips don’t go as planned, and Harding expertly tells hilarious anecdotes in just the right deadpan tone. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2018 - AudioFile

Ian Harding played a teacher and author on the hit teen show “Pretty Little Liars”—or as he sarcastically puts it, America’s favorite pedophile. His voice warmly narrates the wonder of birding throughout his life: family moments with cardinals as a child, rediscovering the pastime during a trip with friends as an adult, and spying on loons while on a break from filming. Harding fondly shares observant moments in nature, during which his love of animals is evident in his pleasant tone punctuated by moments of awe. Sometimes the birding trips don’t go as planned, and Harding expertly tells hilarious anecdotes in just the right deadpan tone. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2018 - AudioFile