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NONFICTION | AVAILABLE JUNE 2025
IN THE CROSSWINDS: Birds, Humans, and the Paradox of Place
by ELI J. KNAPP
"A probing, big-hearted quest for belonging."
—BEN GOLDFARB, Crossings and Eager
Have you ever experienced a sense of rootlessness? A feeling that you do not belong to any one particular place? Set out with ecology professor and avid birder, Eli J. Knapp, on his captivating and humorous journey to see the world from a bird’s eye view and discover what it means to develop an identity of belonging, all whilst putting the natural world first.
A rollicking blend of avian science and crackling narrative, In the Crosswinds shows us how we fit into a more-than-human context, allowing birds to demonstrate the potential to unlock and transform relationships–with one another, the environment, and the idea of place. From the woods of western New York through the jungles of Ecuador to the wetlands of Africa, Knapp ponders the question “Where do I belong?” on this quest for understanding and discovery.
Trade Paperback Original ISBN: 979-8-89092-005-8 | E-book ISBN: 979-8-89092-006-5 | $18.95 | 240 pp | Trim: 5.25 x 8” | June 2025
“With birds as his guideposts, Eli J. Knapp reexamines the rich connective tissues linking life to landscape. Sometimes lyrical, sometimes wry, and always deeply thoughtful, In the Crosswinds is a journey well worth taking.”
—THOR HANSON, Close to Home
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ELI J. KNAPP is the author of The Delightful Horror of Family Birding: Sharing Nature with the Next Generation and Dead Serious: Wild Hope Amid the Sixth Extinction (2022
Foreword INDIE medalist). He holds a Masters in Environmental Science from the University of Santa Barbara and a PhD in ecology from Colorado State University, and is a professor of ecology at Houghton College. Knapp lives in Fillmore, NY, with his wife and children.
PRAISE FOR IN THE CROSSWINDS
“In the Crosswinds is a probing, big-hearted quest for belonging on a tumultuous planet. Like Aldo Leopold and J. Drew Lanham, Eli Knapp, an ecologist with a philosopher’s soul, draws inspiration from our feathered brethren to illuminate essential conservation truths. In a common loon or wood duck, it turns out, is the preservation of the world.”
—BEN GOLDFARB, Crossings and Eager
“What can birds—wild and domesticated, migratory and resident—teach us about finding home in a restless age? Through exquisite attention to his avian mentors, Eli Knapp gleans lessons for us all.”
—MICHELLE NIJHUIS, author of Beloved Beasts
“Knapp is a master educator, one who makes you ponder, question, and wonder. I wish I could be a student in his class, but this book is a lovely alternative. This book may even warrant a couple reads: once for the jaw dropping beauty of his prose, and another to ingest the immense amount of information about our environment, especially the birds that are part of it, as well as where we as humans can find our places within. It’s a love letter to our natural world.”
—JENNIFER HILLEBRANDT, Townie Books
“Filled with authentic firsthand experience and layered with thoughtful moments of insight from the field. An absolute delight.”
—JAMES ALDRED, Goshawk Summer
“With a David Sedaris-style sense of humor and ecological ponderings reminiscent of Aldo Leopold, Eli Knapp takes us on a globe-trotting journey that is as hilarious as it is educational. Hopping from one continent to the next, Knapp chronicles the wonders of dozens of avian species and introduces us to a curious species of human—the birder. Thanks to the constant chuckles, this book is an absolute delight, but there is a loftier take away as well: In the Crosswinds reminds us why we should traipse around wild places observing birds and the rest of creation. Such wanderings not only get us outside, they also take us outside of ourselves.”
—ANNETTE MCGIVNEY, Pure Land
ALSO BY THE AUTHOR
DEAD SERIOUS: Wild Hope Amid the Sixth Extinction
Through personal stories of mishap and adventure, historical vignettes, and scenic detours, professor Eli J. Knapp dissects eighteen critical forces that lie behind the earth's sixth extinction. Drawing from experiences across the globe, Knapp peeks into odd and overlooked corners of natural history, showing how ocean-going tortoises and ghost deer can both instruct and inspire. Full of humor, hope, and self-effacing scientific savvy, Knapp's exploration of our home planet provides welcome respite in a deadly serious subject.
“Clever prose and gifted storytelling enliven Eli J. Knapp’s Dead Serious . . . diverting descriptions of flora and fauna lead into captivating lessons about biological principles, all of which are embellished with humor. A rousing read.”
—FOREWORD REVIEWS
THE DELIGHTFUL HORROR OF FAMILY BIRDING: Sharing Nature with the Next Generation
Eli J. Knapp takes readers from a leaky dugout canoe in Tanzania to a juniper titmouse’s perch at the Grand Canyon, exploring life’s deepest questions all along the way. In this collection of essays, Knapp intentionally flies away from the flock, reveling in insights gleaned from birds, his students, and the wide-eyed wonder his children experience.
The Delightful Horror of Family Birding navigates the world in hopes that appreciation of nature will burn intensely for generations to come, not peter out in a flicker. Whether traveling solo or with his students or children, Knapp levels his gaze on the birds that share our skies, showing that birds can be a portal to deeper relationships, ecological understanding, and newfound joy.
“You don’t have to be a birder to love this entertaining and beautifully-written book—although you may become one after you’ve finished it!”
—FORBES
