{"product_id":"birdy-by-william-wharton","title":"'Birdy' by William Wharton","description":"\u003ch4 data-start=\"105\" data-end=\"439\"\u003eA strange, fragile novel about war that barely looks at war directly.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"105\" data-end=\"439\"\u003e\u003cem data-start=\"175\" data-end=\"182\"\u003eBirdy\u003c\/em\u003e follows two boys—one grounded, one increasingly untethered—whose friendship survives Vietnam but not intact. What comes back isn’t trauma in the loud, cinematic sense, but something quieter and harder to parse: a kind of withdrawal from being human at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"441\" data-end=\"766\"\u003eBirdy himself becomes obsessed with birds. He wants to \u003cem data-start=\"531\" data-end=\"539\"\u003ebecome\u003c\/em\u003e one. The novel sits in that uncomfortable space between madness, escape, and a kind of warped clarity. It’s less “anti-war novel” than a study of what happens when reality no longer feels like the correct setting for a person.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"441\" data-end=\"766\"\u003eVery much for you if you loved Slaughterhouse 5.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44194137440339,"sku":null,"price":6.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/Untitleddesign-2026-03-17T191300.137.png?v=1773735193","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/birdy-by-william-wharton","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}