Bird Cloud: A Memoir

Written by Annie Proulx

Narrated by Joan Allen

Part autobiography, part natural history, Bird Cloud is the glorious story of Annie Proulx’s piece of the Wyoming landscape and her home there.

“Bird Cloud” is the name Annie Proulx gave to 640 acres of Wyoming wetlands and prairie and four-hundred-foot cliffs plunging down to the North Platte River. On the day she first visited, a cloud in the shape of a bird hung in the evening sky. Proulx also saw pelicans, bald eagles, golden eagles, great blue herons, ravens, scores of bluebirds, harriers, kestrels, elk, deer and a dozen antelope. She fell in love with the land, then owned by the Nature Conservancy, and she knew what she wanted to build on it—a house in harmony with her work, her appetites and her character, a library surrounded by bedrooms and a kitchen.

Bird Cloud is the story of designing and constructing that house—with its solar panels, Japanese soak tub, concrete floor, and elk horn handles on kitchen cabinets. It is also an enthralling natural history and archaeology of the region—inhabited for millennia by Ute, Arapaho, and Shoshone Indians—and a family history, going back to nineteenth-century Mississippi riverboat captains and Canadian settlers.

Proulx, a writer with extraordinary powers of observation and compassion, here turns her lens on herself. We understand how she came to be living in a house surrounded by wilderness, with shelves for thousands of books and long worktables on which to heap manuscripts, research materials and maps, and how she came to be one of the great American writers of her time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jan 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9780743597258

Annie Proulx

Annie Proulx is the author of nine books, including the novel The Shipping News, Barkskins and the story collection Close Range. Her many honors include a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Award, the Irish Times International Fiction Prize, and a PEN/Faulkner award. Her story ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ which originally appeared in The New Yorker, was made into an Academy Award-winning film. She lives in New Hampshire.

Reviews for Bird Cloud

[petra5xs · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"Well do I know my own character negatives," she writes, "bossy, impatient, reclusively shy, short-tempered, single-minded." Says Annie Proulx. What she didn't add was that she was downright stupid when it came to checking important details.

The book is about Annie looking for the perfect place to build the home of her dreams, the one she looks forward to living in for the rest of her life. She finds the site in a wild place in Wyoming, far from any town or neighbours with only the cries of eagles and the whistling wind for company. It is described at length especially the wildlife including an amusing incident (the only one, she does not write in a humorous vein) of cows jumping over an electric fence as the grass seemed so much greener on her side. She spends vasts sums of money on an architect, builders, fencers, heavy equipment, even a Japanese tub and shoji screens and several years getting this house built. At the end of it, her other house sold, moved in, builders problems put right, she finds she cannot live in it.

The road the house is on is impassible to wheeled vehicles for the entire winter. She would be just entirely snowed in. You might have thought she would check this and so she did. She was assured, verbally, more than once that the city council kept it open all year. That's it. Nothing in writing. And this from a lady who wouldn't deal with the builders on a handshake but insisted on proper contracts.

Stupid is as stupid does and so she stubbornly lived there for one entire year and then kept it as a summer retreat. Lucky she's rich, isn't it?

[myckyee_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

On the inside of this book, the title is accompanied by the words ‘a memoir’. Unless I’m completely wrong about the meaning of the word ‘memoir’ I think that that is somewhat of a misnomer.Bird Cloud is a collection of essays loosely connected by themes of home. Annie Proulx gives a recounting of her own place on earth via her genealogy. That section was just skimmed over with not much detail. She relayed what information she had, but that was given to her by someone she hired to track it down. She didn’t do her own research. If she had and then described that discovery process in an essay I would have found it more absorbing – as it was I thought that particular essay only mildly interesting. Another essay recounts the many birds that populate her area of Bird Cloud and how she came to know them. She mentions that she isn’t a ‘list-maker’ and does not make note of every bird that crosses her path. And that’s fine – but (and perhaps I’m being too sensitive here) I disliked the sense that there’s something wrong with making a ‘I’ve seen this bird’ list.This book is also about history and how Bird Cloud (the 640 acres where Annie Proulx built her house) itself came to be in the author’s hands. She writes about its early history and more recent events concerning overgrazing. I would have enjoyed seeing photos of the areas she described and this is where I think the book is missing most. There are small, hand-drawn pictures and diagrams at the beginning of the chapters but real photos of the area and perhaps the people she spent the most time talking about would have been an added bonus.What I liked was the description of buying the land and building on it. The people she described, the weather, the impassable roads – all was well done. Having gone through a building process myself, I could easily relate to the big and small hiccups. Her foray with friends onto the land to look for historical remnants of previous inhabitants was also quite interesting. There’s nothing better than a fossil hunt!What I most liked most of all about this book was the author’s writing. She has a way with words and knows how to put them together and that, above all else, is what kept me reading. This woman can write! While I don’t think this book is what I expected it to be I will read another Annie Proulx book (this was my first) simply for the joy of reading great prose.

[donna828 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This memoir of a favorite author was a mixed bag for me. It was chock full of geographical information, family research, and the difficulties of building a dream house. I feel like I know Annie Proulx better after reading Bird Cloud - and that's a good thing.I would recommend the book to fans of Annie, or someone moving to Wyoming, or those interested in architecture and building. Towards the end of the book were some fascinating thoughts about Native Americans and birds of the area. She did much research for the book and her keen eye for nature transfers well to the written page. I much prefer her fiction books, but her writing is top quality no matter what her subject. Bottom line: I'm glad I read it.

[pdcread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Part biography, part nature book and part home build biography of an American writer"

[mugsynoir · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

A real snoozefest ego book about how ridiculous one person can be in planning and building "the house I would spend the rest of my days in". A poor effort recounting a poor effort.

[laytonwoman3rd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a memoir of Proulx's experience building what was meant to be her dream house and final home on 640 acres in Southern Wyoming, along the North Platte River, on the west slope of the Medicine Bow range, part of the Rocky Mountains. She was 70 years old when she began the process of buying the land, planning and building the house. Very little went as planned, everything took longer and cost more than expected, and ultimately Proulx realized that it would be impossible for her to live in the finished house through the deep Wyoming winters. Contrary to what she had been told, the county road leading to the house site was not maintained in the winter...the house would be inaccessible once the heavy snows came. All of this merely confirmed my long-held belief that I would never be tempted or persuaded to build a house, and made me wonder why anyone would choose Wyoming wilderness to live in. Proulx framed this central story with background on the history of the land and its previous owners, her own family history and genealogy, and best of all, the natural history of the area. I felt a bit bogged down in the discouraging details of the house construction, especially when the author reiterated periodically how she was running out of money, and yet went on to describe more and more projects, acquisitions, do-overs, re-designs, and trips that must have cost what I would consider a small fortune. Furthermore, a few of her design elements sounded like really bad ideas to begin with, to me. I mean -- a concrete floor in the kitchen? Mmmm...why? The reward for suffering through all of this with her was the final chapter, "A Year of Birds", which contains some really fine nature writing. I give the book as a whole a grudging 3 stars, as I just didn't think it was a cohesive whole, but I will keep it around for the possibility of revisiting the eagles, elk, falcons, mountain lion, horned larks, jackrabbits and rosy finches with which the author shared her months at Bird Cloud.

[casabooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Story of discovering a magical part of the world and the land that she wanted to build a home on and the details of the history, the magic of nature there, the steps of obtaining & building and the hardships and joys of living there.
She wanted to build a library with a kitchen & bedrooms around it - and to enjoy the unusual beauty and nature - all the birds - there.
Wouldn't I love to visit!!!! but the book was a great armchair trip there.
Recommend.
Read in 2011.

[tcwriter · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is essentially a diary of the purchase and construction of Annie Proulx's new home in a remote stretch of Wyoming. Fans of her fiction will recognize the tight, deeply researched and descriptive prose, but I came away wishing I'd invested the time in the only Proulx work of fiction I haven't yet read.

That said, this is deeply researched and well written, and the history of the area - and the abuses visited upon the land by stockmen - is engrossing.

I'd suggest this book is best read by Proulx fans and not those in search of her next great literary work.

[bookfest_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Proulx's descriptive language is stunning and her portrayal of the process of building and the natural world around her is excellent. However, some of the tangents and details of building materials made for slow reading at times. It would be of particular interest to architects who value nature.

[dele2451 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bird Cloud details the trials, tribulations, joys and wonder of the writer's attempt to have her dream custom home built on a remote parcel of land previously owned by The Nature Conservancy. In addition to being a reality check for those who fantasize about similar projects, Proulx also weaves in a lot of family, archaeological and natural history of the region. While I enjoyed the entire work, I found the later descriptions of the bird and mammal life to be the best parts of the book. I'd highly recommend this book to botanists, biologists, naturalists interested in the Wyoming area.

[elpippino · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Footnotes? What the f*ck was she/her editor thinking? First off, Annie Proulx is a fantastic writer. Second, this book is not good. After getting through Bird Cloud you find out she went way over budget building the house and I have a sneaking suspicion this book was written ASAP to try and pay it off! oh well we all have bills to pay.The problem with this book are two fold: one, the protagonist--try as I might I cannot feel sorry for someone whose brazlian/venetian laser embossed hand lacquered kitchen sink didn't come in the write green - I mean COME ON ANNIE. This book actually could work quite well if she got some perspective on it, its kind of king lear meets extreme makeover house edition. It's like Annie Proulx despite her incredible insight into characters in other books doesn't realise seeking perfection is a fools quest. She needed someone to slap her round a bit and say "stop crying over a cement floor that is not perfectly level". Then maybe she could have wrung some insight out her journey but instead we get a final few chapters about birds.The second problem with this book is the editing and formatting. I don't know who did her references but they were a joke she cited some seriously weird sources and why did she cite at all???? What do I think she's going to lie to me about some plant that is growing on her property. Further as aluded to at the start of this review footnotes?? what is this scientific quarterly? why didn't they just put end notes at the back of every chapter if they were so desperate to prove the scientific foundations of the book.I hope its paid the loans of A. Proulx (maybe even enough to plow the road every winter) looking forward to your next fiction book.

[rightantler · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Unfortunately this didn't work for me. It was well written and parts were very enjoyable - the last chapter specifically about birds - but overall it left me flat. Annie Proulx finishes the book by saying that Bird Cloud did not quite live up to the hopes she had for it, so it was with me for the book. Thinking about it more it seemed to me that the author seemed to hide behind the detail of the project and the place. I found it difficult to connect with her although I wanted to. Maybe it's the time of the year ...

[tigerlms · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Author Annie Proulx writes about her attempt to build her dream home, and the realization that the dream home is perhaps a myth that can never in reality be built. Proulx purchased 640 acres, a square mile, of land in southeastern Wyoming from the Nature Conservancy in the early 2000s with the hope of building a home. The story alternates between her experience with buying the land and working with architects and builders, to associated histories of her family and the land. Like all of her works, the story is well told and interesting, but I suspect some readers might find some of the histories or anecdotes long or dry. It holds special appeal to me as I've spent considerable time in the areas she writes about, and have often thought about doing something very similar-- although on a significantly smaller budget. While she doesn't mention specifics, the sums of money she spent on the land and home must be staggering. I recommend this for readers interested in Wyoming, personal stories about successful writers' lives, home building in general, or conservation and agricultural issues.

[rmckeown_9 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ordinarily, when I see a book about a person who buys some land and builds a house, my interest doesn’t go much further. However, when the builder is noted author, Annie Proulx, and the house is her dream home in Wyoming, my interest piqued. Proulx is one of the best novelists and short story writers of the late 20th and into the 21st centuries. Her award-winning novel, The Shipping News and That Old Ace in the Hole are my favorite of her books. I always show my creative writing class a documentary about Ms Proulx writing Ace. It shows them the amount of research and hard, meticulous work that a novelist of Proulx’s stature puts into a new work of fiction. Her short stories, however, represent another whole aspect of her talent. I can honestly say, I have never read a Proulx short story that I did not like. In Bird Cloud, Proulx tells the story of her family from its French-Canadian roots through to New England. She describes several places she lives, but none of them match her ideal home for reading, research, and writing. She searches Wyoming -- three collections of her short stories are subtitled “Wyoming Stories” – for a perfect plot of land, secluded, but near enough to civilization for food and supplies. She wanted a place where she could have rooms that looked out over the vast prairies nearby and mountains in the distance. Then she launches into a history of the area she selected dating back to the earliest inhabitants several thousand years ago, through to the Native Americans pushed out by white settlers in the 19th century. Then the search began for an architect and construction crew. The delays and pitfalls were frustrating and costly.Once the house is finished, she takes a detailed inventory of the flora and fauna surrounding her. She has particular interest in birds, and spots several pairs of eagles – bald and golden – along with falcons, hawks, ravens, owls, and myriad song birds. Here, she describes one unique encounter. “It was a big thrill when I saw a white-faced ibis near the front gate where there was irrigation overflow. The ibis stayed around for weeks. A few days after this sighting I was sitting near the river and saw two herons fly to the bald eagles’ favorite fishing tree. They were too small to be blue herons, and did not really look like little blues. A few minutes with the heron book cleared up the mystery; they were tricolored herons, the first I had ever seen. By the end of the month, American goldfinches were shooting around like tossed gold pieces despite another cold spell” (220).This conversational style gives her prose a smooth and seamless fluidity that paints a digital-quality image in the mind of the reader. She welcomes me into her world as a expected visitor. This memoir will appeal to those interested in wildlife, because her keen eye for observation reveals much about the fauna of a wilderness area most of us would never visit.The house is complicated in its orientation, layout, and construction, and I can imagine such a wonderful hideaway for a writer and reader. If you have never read Proulx, start with one of her collections of stories and get a feel for her exquisite view of nature -- flora, fauna, and human. 5 stars--Chiron, 3/8/11

[p1g5purt · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was terribly disappoined with Bird Cloud. Not with the writing - It's E Annie Proulx, but with the content. I had an image of Proulx as some rough diamond, frontiers woman ( an image that her publishers appear to cultivate? ) so had expected some "shoulders to the wheel" element to the house build. Sadly the progress reporting bears an uncanny resemblance to the disgruntlements of stay at home home-builders with too much money and time on their hands.I was also left un-moved by the genealogy. I suspect it's not a subject that moves her either since the job was farmed out to a professional. In fact, the only sections that come alive for me were the sections on landscape, geography and wildlife.So, paradoxically for a memoir it works best in the places where the author is least present.

[bdouglas97 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I had a hard time finishing this book. Having built a cabin in SW Colorado, we had experienced a lot of the same things that Annie Proulx did and it just seemed like she was trying to glorify the tediousness of it all with fluffy writing. It just seemed to go on and on...

[yogiabb_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Bird Cloud" is a non-fiction book by Ms. Proulx that concerns itself with a section (640 acres) of land that she purchased in Wyoming and the house (named "Bird Cloud") that she built on the property. She covers everything in this book. She speculates on the American Indians who lived on and moved through the property and the chain of title once the white man got his hands on it. She spends a good deal of time on the design of the house, both what she wanted, and what she ended up with, the construction and the many problems that entailed. She also writes at length about the various birds (including both bald and golden eagles), elk, deer, coyotes, mountain lions, and fish that she sees. She also finds time to talk about her ancestry and all the places she lived as a child, and some of the houses she lived in as a child.So, this is quite a book. I found it fascinating. She is the author of my favorite short story of all time, "Brokeback Mountain." Her writing is very direct, spare, and opinionated. She is also full of herself, which is fine. Writing a book (or writing a blog!) is a very egocentric activity. I mean you have to believe somebody out there wants to hear what you have to say.I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5.

[ccayne_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Proulx is on of my favorite writers and I hoped this memoir would reveal more of her inner workings. It didn't but it did paint a picture of a place with great reverence. I enjoyed that aspect of the book much more than the construction of her dream house. Although, I liked the James brothers and the concept vs. reality battle which always seems to play out between architects and builders.

[sensory-376444 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

On the inside of this book, the title is accompanied by the words ‘a memoir’. Unless I’m completely wrong about the meaning of the word ‘memoir’ I think that that is somewhat of a misnomer.Bird Cloud is a collection of essays loosely connected by themes of home. Annie Proulx gives a recounting of her own place on earth via her genealogy. That section was just skimmed over with not much detail. She relayed what information she had, but that was given to her by someone she hired to track it down. She didn’t do her own research. If she had and then described that discovery process in an essay I would have found it more absorbing – as it was I thought that particular essay only mildly interesting. Another essay recounts the many birds that populate her area of Bird Cloud and how she came to know them. She mentions that she isn’t a ‘list-maker’ and does not make note of every bird that crosses her path. And that’s fine – but (and perhaps I’m being too sensitive here) I disliked the sense that there’s something wrong with making a ‘I’ve seen this bird’ list.This book is also about history and how Bird Cloud (the 640 acres where Annie Proulx built her house) itself came to be in the author’s hands. She writes about its early history and more recent events concerning overgrazing. I would have enjoyed seeing photos of the areas she described and this is where I think the book is missing most. There are small, hand-drawn pictures and diagrams at the beginning of the chapters but real photos of the area and perhaps the people she spent the most time talking about would have been an added bonus.What I liked was the description of buying the land and building on it. The people she described, the weather, the impassable roads – all was well done. Having gone through a building process myself, I could easily relate to the big and small hiccups. Her foray with friends onto the land to look for historical remnants of previous inhabitants was also quite interesting. There’s nothing better than a fossil hunt!What I most liked most of all about this book was the author’s writing. She has a way with words and knows how to put them together and that, above all else, is what kept me reading. This woman can write! While I don’t think this book is what I expected it to be I will read another Annie Proulx book (this was my first) simply for the joy of reading great prose.