| "For the Birds" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by Stephen King | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| Language | English | ||
| Genre(s) | Short story | ||
| Publication | |||
| Published in | Bred Any Good Rooks Lately? | ||
| Publisher | Doubleday | ||
| Media type | |||
| Publication date | 1986 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| |||
"For the Birds" is a short story by Stephen King. It was originally published in 1986 as part of the short story collection Bred Any Good Rooks Lately?.
Plot summary
"For the Birds" is a one-page "science fiction joke". The story takes place in 1995, where pollution has resulted in the rooks that live in London dying off. Concerned that this will impact on tourism, the London City Council looks to source replacement rooks from a place with a similar climate until the pollution problem can be resolved. The Council appoints an ornithologist and sends him to Bangor, Maine where he begins incubating rooks. Impatient to see progress, the Council sends the ornithologist a daily telegram reading "Bred any good rooks lately?"
Publication
"For the Birds" was originally published in 1986 as part of Bred Any Good Rooks Lately?, a collection of "shaggy dog tales". The punchline of King's story (a pun/malapropism based on the phrase "read any good books lately?") was borrowed as the title of the collection.
Reception
Rocky Wood describes "For the Birds" as "very casual" in tone. Stephen J. Spignesi describes it as "very short (and very funny)".
References
- King, Stephen (1986). "For the Birds". In Charlton, James (ed.). Bred Any Good Rooks Lately?: A Collection of Puns, Shaggy Dogs, Spoonerisms, Feghoots & Malappropriate Stories. Doubleday. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-385-23477-1.
- Beahm, George (1998). Stephen King from A to Z: An Encyclopedia of His Life and Work. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-8362-6914-7.
- Wood, Rocky (2017). Stephen King: A Literary Companion. McFarland & Company. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-7864-8546-8.
- Rolls, Albert (2008). Stephen King: A Biography. ABC-Clio. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-313-34573-9.
- Vincent, Bev (2022). Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences. becker&mayer!. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-7603-7682-9.
- Spignesi, Stephen J. (1991). The Shape Under the Sheet: The Complete Stephen King Encyclopedia. Popular Culture. p. 514. ISBN 9781560750185.
- Wood, Rocky; King, Stephen (2012). Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished. Overlook Connection Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-892950-59-8.
- Spignesi, Stephen J. (1998). The Lost Work of Stephen King: A Guide to Unpublished Manuscripts, Story Fragments, Alternative Versions, and Oddities. Birch Lane Press. p. 198. ISBN 9781559724692.
See also
External links
- For the Birds title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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