Bird Brain

 
Bird Brain
William Leith2 August 2012

Bird Brain
by Guy Kennaway
(Vintage, £7.99)

Here’s the premise of this novel: a crusty old aristocrat dies in a pheasant-shooting accident. Then he is reincarnated as a pheasant. It’s a lovely concept, and you buy into it straight away. Basil Peyton-Crumbe, known as “Banger”, is one of the “guns” at a shoot — and then his gun explodes, killing him instantly. “Not a moment too soon for me,” says his dog, Jam, to a labrador called Josh. Part of the beauty of this book is that you see things, pretty much immediately, from the point of view of animals. So when Banger finds himself getting out of an egg in a pheasant hatchery, we are perfectly primed.

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