Tamara Staples

Primarily a photo book of fancy breeds, there is also an amusing essay by Ira Glass, actually an edited transcript from a *This American Life* radio broadcast, that describes one of Staples’s photo shoots. A bit of information about chicken-showing culture is included as well. Each featured bird has a full-page portrait on a flattering backdrop. Facing pages include facts about the breeds and descriptions of desirable characteristics. The photos are wonderful and I would gladly hang them show more all over my house if I had room and money. The cover (under the book jacket) is an extra treat that shows a series of shots of the chickens failing to cooperate with the photographer. show less

Chickens! Let me show you them.

The Fairest Fowl is a collection of photos of championship chickens, taken by Tamara Staples; each chicken is accompanied by a page devoted to its breed's vital stats and info about the judging process, and there are some general photos from poultry shows mixed in there, too. At the very end is my favorite part, an essay (which was originally a bit for "This American Life") by Ira Glass about Staples's chicken-photography process.

I initially checked this book show more out to see if it would help me figure out what kind of chickens we have, but it wasn't really useful for that, since most of the chickens in The Fairest Fowl are more interesting breeds than ours: feathered feet! Chickens that look like boxers! Chickens that look like piles of silky wigs!

The chicken photos are definitely worth a look, and I really enjoyed the smart sense of humor evident throughout the book. Who knew a book solely about chickens could be pretty AND funny? I liked this one. show less