Nikki Moustaki

The Bird Market of Paris: A Memoir by Nikki Moustaki is a beautifully written book about the author's relationship with her grandfather, birds, and alcohol. The author has written a touching account of her descent into alcoholism. Even a teetotaler like myself can be right there with her and experience her thoughts and raw emotion, which helped me better understand why she spiraled into addiction. I could relate to the author's fears and those "little voices" blaming her for her losses, even show more though I never turned to liquor myself.

I loved her relationship with Poppy and how he taught her to love birds. Moustaki is an excellent storyteller. The pace is good and the story is at times funny, gripping, terrifying, and sad--sometimes all of those in one scene. Her descriptions of the devastation of Hurricane Andrew especially touched me, and I loved hearing her stories about her life with her birds. I read some of the scenes at Dr. Z's office to my family because they were so funny. I wanted to reassure her and help her as she dealt with her R.A. boss. I am very glad that she found a road to recovery, as it would have been sad to lose such a talented writer to her demons.

Poppy is a wonderful character, and I am glad to have gotten to know her grandfather through this book. I do feel others in the story were not given as much time to fully develop, but I suppose that is understandable when you consider how close she was to her grandfather. Overall, this was a very good read and I highly recommend it. show less

I’m not sure who is the target audience for this memoir of birds and alcohol. I requested the ER because of the birds. Nikki Moustaki is knowledgeable, the author of books about caretaking and breeding, but in this book the birds are obsession and symbol, a bond with beloved grandfather Poppy. Poppy was a fashion designer, a native of Corfu who had arrived in Miami via Cairo and Paris with his wife and son. He raised pigeons and told stories and doted on Nikki, who was otherwise lonely and show more adrift. When a boyfriend gave her a baby lovebird, she was smitten by its vulnerability. The lovebird led to an aviary as the boyfriend faded away, and meetings with other aficionados led to writing about birds and beyond. And then the aviary was hit by a hurricane. And then Poppy died while Nikki was in New York, unable to extricate from school and work commitments. Nikki numbed her guilt and grief with alcohol. She does not spare herself in descriptions of her deterioration. It was ugly, and it continued until a chance conversation on a New York street with a man who carried a parrot on his shoulder. There began her wobbly recovery, with a pivotal episode in the Bird Market of Paris: one of Poppy’s stories, and her hope for redemption. This isn’t a book that I’d actively seek, but I found it both brave and affecting. show less

The author sums herself up quite succinctly at the end of Chapter 21 when she says, "I was a fragile, weepy, irrational, paranoid nut job." However, by the end of the book, I developed a real appreciation for the author and the story she told of her life which revolved around birds, alcoholism, and her beloved grandfather whom she called Poppy.

Her grandfather was her stabilizing force throughout her childhood. From him she learned her love of all things avian. She went on to collect and show more raise many species of exotic birds. I thought that this seemed kind of crazy until I thought back on a period of my life in which I was collecting and breeding hamsters. Duh! I also remember a relative of my own who was just as important, if not more important, for me than my own parents for a significant part of my life. Though not an alcoholic myself, I have experienced the negative effects being very close to an individual with this problem. The more I read of this book, the more immersed in the story I became.

I was especially drawn to the ending where the author goes to Paris to visit the Bird Market that she had originally heard of from her grandfather. All did not go as planned there, but what did happen was significant.

I like the way this author writes. She does not sugar-coat her life, yet I know there is a very intelligent, thoughtful individual who speaks about some rough patches and who certainly has never been a mainstream individual. I would definitely read other works by this author, especially now that I'm more drawn to birds than hamsters. :) show less

Moustaki's story of her life with birds, her love for her Grandfather, and her battle with alcohol is riveting from the first page and never lets up for the next 250 or so pages. And there's even a hurricane. Frankly, the book could have been longer. For someone with three degrees in creative writing, she actually writes very well! While it is hard to believe she could remember some of the details depicted here, especially from the years lived in an alcoholic haze, the descriptions always show more ring true. This book does a great job of conjuring up Miami, New York, and finally, Paris--home of the bird market that played such a prominent role in the stories her grandfather told her. This book succeeds on every level. You'll learn a lot about birds and about our relation to them. You'll learn about families and friendship and love. You'll lose yourself in this book and not regret a single minute of it. Highly, highly recommended. show less