About this title: Written with the same heartwarming sentiment that made the memoir "Marley & Me" a runaway bestseller, biologist and owl expert O'Brien chronicles her rescue of an adorable, abandoned baby barn owl--and their astonishing and unprecedented 19-year life together.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Free Press
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781416551775ISBN:1416551778
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Clean inside out, tight binding, very good cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 235 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Free Press
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781416551737ISBN:1416551735
Description: New in new dust jacket. Brand new! Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 229 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: HC, Cloth Spine, Gilt Titles
Publisher: Free Press, New York
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781416551737ISBN:1416551735
Description: Near Fine in Fine jacket. Hardcover. Small Octavo. A beautiful, shiny copy with no evident wear of any kind. Immaculate, unmarked text. Only minor defect is some small scuffing on first inside page (endpaper) where a gift sticker was removed, else like new. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Free Press
Date Published: 2008-08-19
ISBN-13:9781416551737ISBN:1416551735
Description: Like New. NEVER OWNED OR READ! LIKE NEW! MAY HAVE A PUBLISHERS REMAINDER MARK! NEW CONDITION OTHER THAN PUBLISHERS REMAINDER MARK! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Free Press
Date Published: 2009-06-02
ISBN-13:9781416551775ISBN:1416551778
Description: New. New, unread, unused & in perfect condition with no damaged or missing pages. Paperback with plain green cover & publisher stickers. Great Copy. Ships Lightning Fast. read more
"Let me begin by admitting that I did not intend to read Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl by Stacey O'Brien. I'd never heard of it. It didn't come recommended; I hadn't even seen a review or anything. It was a total impulse buy. Allow me to also admit that I have a thing for owls, even though they are not what they seem. I walked past Ms. O'Brien's book and I made that sound that people make when something completely adorable catches them by surprise. The cover is a picture of Wesley as an owlet, cute, white, fuzzy, with a little heart outlining his face. I couldn't get it home and read it fast enough.
I can't say that I am particularly interested in reading someone's tale about their dog or cat, my apologies to Marley and Mittens. But reading about someone who raised an owl, well, that's just cool. Ms. O'Brien gives us a sweet and funny tale of life with an unusual pet indeed. As an assistant in the owl labs at Caltech, O'Brien adopted Wesley when he was four days old. Born with nerve damage to one of his wings, Wesley needed a human home or he would perish. So O'Brien took him home, on Valentine's Day. But she doesn't view Wesley as just a pet. Wesley - a barn owl - is a majestic soul, one to be cherished and understood. O'Brien feels as if she has been given a wondrous gift of great importance, a gift to teach and heal her, a gift to complete her.
O'Brien tells her story with spunky little tales of life with Wesley, but also peppers the book with an interesting look inside Caltech. She has enough sparkling facts about owls to make it a very balanced read. She pulls at your heart - Wesley finds his cuddle spot on Stacey's arm and that's "his" spot for the next 19 years. She makes you laugh - turns out Wesley is a water bird and makes a huge ruckus in the bathroom until she fills the tub, then he pounces around making little happy noises. She also makes you wince - Wesley needs a constant and steady diet of mice and Ms. O'Brien becomes very deft at "preparing" mice for Wesley to eat. It's fun and genuine and sometimes that's all one needs in a book.
The one bad thing about reading animal memoirs is that...well...the author lived to tell the tale while their loving subject has passed on. The good thing about this is that we too grieve and heal our own lost animal friends. I read Wesley the Owl about six weeks after my dog died. O'Brien is so poised at finding the good in all situations that my own grief was eased simply by reading her words. O'Brien wrote all of things I was feeling, all of the questions I had, and some of the guilt I felt. It was like a friend reaching out and comforting me. I feel like I owe her one.
O'Brien extends so much of herself throughout this book that it's hard not to love her, and of course Wesley. She loses boyfriends and apartments due to Wesley, but never once does she think about giving him up. She deals with tragedies external and personal. She takes every experience as a new and lovely thing, even if it means that her soul mate, her one true love, is an owl; and this too she will eventually lose."
"Stacey O'Brien was a research assistant at Cal Tech when a wounded baby barn owl was brought in. When asked to care for him, Stacey jumped at the chance. Thus began a nineteen year relationship between the two! This is a story rich in detail about owl behavior--in some cases information that hadn't been known before! But it is also a story of love, understanding, communication and devotion between Wesley the wild owl and his caregiver, Stacey. I was amazed at the patience and committment shown by Stacey as she literally gave up other relationships in her life to devote time to Wesley who depended upon her totally. Stacey also relates stories about other researchers at the lab which are both humorous and interesting. This book would be a good recommendation for high school students too. A great read!"
"The subject matter is amazing and this is an interesting and incredible story. The author, a Caltech biologist, devoted 19 years of her life to owl research while living with, caring and nurturing a Barn Owl she named Wesley. Throughout the book we are exposed to a Barn Owl as a sentient creature that possessed abilities far beyond any of our own experiences. Although I have some knowledge of owls, this book contained a lot of new information for me. Over the years Wesley and Stacey bonded strongly like we all do with our own loving pets. There is much to consider here and I would recommend this book to all pet and bird owners if only to be placed in closer proximity to the natural world. Even if not a pet owner, I guarantee a moving and powerful adventure you cannot predict.
I personally fully understood the passion with which O'Brien lived and wrote her book. It reminded me of our own pet pigeon while I was growing up. Our wild and playful pigeon, who we fed every day and often by hand exhibited many of the traits Wesley did. He would come to us by the calling of his name too. However, one cold and wintery night he fell to the predation of an owl. Intervening seconds too late my father told us at least he died from his own kind and the owl didn't get to eat him. That was little solace, we were devastated, heartbroken! After giving us 11 loving, fun and faithful years we consigned him to the cool earth in a wooden box.
Our beloved childhood friend whose energy and zest for life was boundless, no longer launched upon the winds of home."
"This is a great nonfiction story that engages you and teaches you at the same time. I'm still not entirely willing to concede that nonfiction can interest me as much as a carefully crafted piece of fiction, but this book comes close. The title of the book tells it all: Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl. Stacey O'Brien gives us a fascinating peek into the world of biologists and naturalists and barn owls. It almost makes you want to own an owl as a pet--if only it didn't take so much dedication, effort, and a willingness to tolerate dead mice, puncture holes in your clothes, boyfriends, and being awake a lot at night. Really fascinating. I was intrigued with Stacey's balance between environmentalists, animal-rights activists, and scientists. Bottom-line, if a certain course of action is good for an animal then she is for it, but the key is to know if it is good for an animal or not. For instance, being in captivity might actually be what is best for an animal. This is really a delightful story and fascinating to read."
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