The Curse of the Labrador Duck
My Obsessive Quest to the Edge of Extinction
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Little is known about the Labrador Duck, which once populated eastern North America but has been extinct for more than 100 years. Stuffed specimens, housed under glass in museums and in private collections worldwide, are rare -- only 55 are known to exist. Even more rare is the kind of scientist who would, given the task of writing a small species account about the Labrador Duck, travel around the globe more than three times in search of every last stuffed bird. And what about the curse? Everyone who has owned a stuffed specimen has come to a bad end, whether going to jail or dying under mysterious circumstances.
But Chilton is a rare specimen himself, and a biologist with a self-professed obsessive personality. (“They say that some children suck their thumb while still in the womb; I spent those nine months chewing my fingernails.”) His pursuit of the extinct species took him to the ducks’ breeding habitat on Canada’s east coast, as well as on many adventures in Europe and America as he searched museums and personal collections. Over the course of his epic journey, Chilton encountered a colourful flock of scientists, journalists and amateur ornithologists. He also endured numerous hangovers, swam naked in a glacier-fed stream and narrowly avoided arrest in New York City.
The Curse of the Labrador Duck is a quest unlike any other, an impulsive journey around the planet in pursuit of a bird no one in our lifetime has seen alive.
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Author Extras
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Critical Praise for
The Curse of the Labrador Duck
“Glen Chilton is one of those great rarities—a serious scientist who knows how to spin a fascinating yarn. The Curse of the Labrador Duck takes readers on a madcap years-long journey, chasing the ghost of the long-lost Labrador Duck. I was drawn in from the start and eagerly followed Chilton's wild ride through every gritty inner-city back road, grungy gin joint, and dilapidated hotel room in North America and Europe in his obsessive quest to find every last Labrador Duck specimen in the world."
— Tim Gallagher, author of The Grail Bird: The Rediscovery of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
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"From the wilds of Nova Scotia to the neglected bowels of decrepit museums, Glen Chilton is in relentless pursuit of evidence of the extinct Labrador duck. And the curse? You'll have to read this engaging adventure to find out."
— Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers
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"Cross Farley Mowat with Bill Bryson, give him a lunatic obsession with a dead duck, and send him out to examine every stuffed specimen and stray egg in the world. Thirty cities, 130,000 kilometres—what can I say? This is the zaniest romp I’ve read in years."
— Ken McGoogan, author of Fatal Passage and Race to the Polar Sea
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"Does the world really need another bird book? Absolutely yes, if that book is The Curse of the Labrador Duck. It’s funny and engaging, and not really about a bird at all. It’s about our obsessions, and how they lead us to the most wonderful, unexpected places. Glen Chilton is a funny and engaging writer. He is also a bit insane, and thank goodness for that."
— Eric Weiner, author of The Geography of Bliss
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"I've seen my share of strange quests, have taken part in a few myself, but nothing matches Glen Chilton's galloping obsession to corner the market on rare stuffed ducks. A funny, fast-paced and oddly heroic tale."
— Will Ferguson, author of How to Be a Canadian
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"The Curse of the Labrador Duck is a fascinating wild goose chase (where the geese are all dead and aren't technically geese). Glen Chilton—currently my favorite hard-drinking ornithologist—is a wonderful guide, with prose that calls to mind James Herriot and Bill Bryson."
— AJ Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically and The Know-It-All
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The Attack of the Killer Rhododendrons
Glen Chilton, the author of the rollicking Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour finalist The Curse of the Labrador Duck , returns with yet another quest, this time to seek out species ill-advisedly introduced into foreign environments. Chilton visits Ireland to witness how rhododendrons, an ornamental...
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