For the Birds (King short story)

"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	Print
Publication date	1986
Chronology
Paranoid: A Chant   The End of the Whole Mess

"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?" ^[1]

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. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

Reception

Rocky Wood describes "For the Birds" as "very casual" in tone. ^[7] Stephen J. Spignesi describes it as "very short (and very funny)". ^[8]

References

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Wood, Rocky (2017). Stephen King: A Literary Companion. McFarland & Company. p. 80. ISBN   978-0-7864-8546-8.
4. Rolls, Albert (2008). Stephen King: A Biography. ABC-Clio. p. 84. ISBN   978-0-313-34573-9.
5. Vincent, Bev (2022). Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences. becker&mayer!. p. 99. ISBN   978-0-7603-7682-9.
6. Spignesi, Stephen J. (1991). The Shape Under the Sheet: The Complete Stephen King Encyclopedia. Popular Culture. p. 514. ISBN   9781560750185.
7. Wood, Rocky; King, Stephen (2012). Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished. Overlook Connection Press. p. 162. ISBN   978-1-892950-59-8.
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

• Stephen King short fiction bibliography

External links

• "For the Birds" title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database