Lone Star Book Blog Tour: Odd Birds by Severo Perez (review and giveaway)


ODD BIRDS
by
SEVERO PEREZ
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Texas Christian University Press
Date of Publication: September 24, 2019
Number of Pages: 278 pages 

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The year is 1961. Seventy-year-old Cosimo Infante Cano, a Cuban-born artist in need of inspiration, follows his lover to Texas in what was to be a temporary sabbatical from their life in France. Unexpectedly, he finds himself stranded in San Antonio, nearly penniless, with little more than the clothes on his back and an extraordinary pocket watch. His long hair and eccentric attire make him an odd sight in what he has been told is a conservative cultural backwater.
Cosimo’s French and Cuban passports put a cloud of suspicion over him as events elsewhere in the world play out. Algeria is in open revolt against France. Freedom Riders are being assaulted in Mississippi, and the Bay of Pigs debacle is front-page news. Cosimo confronts nightmares and waking terrors rooted in the horror he experienced during the Great War of 1914–1918. His friends—students, librarians, shopkeepers, laborers, lawyers, bankers, and even a parrot—coalesce around this elderly French artist as he attempts to return to what remains of his shattered life.
His new friends feel empathy for his impoverished condition, but his unconventional actions and uncompromising ethics confuse them. He creates charming drawings he refuses to sell and paints a house simply for the pleasure of making a difference. In the process he forever alters the lives of those who thought they were helping him.
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
“A pitch-perfect picaresque tale” –John Phillip Santos, Texas Monthly
“Judge this book by its cover. It’s a stunning… captivating read.” –Alice Embree, Rag Radio Blog
An “elegantly conceived tale–boasting a culturally and historically astute plot–that demands to be read.” –Kirkus Reviews

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“Everyone has a journey. Thank you for telling me yours.”

Odd Birds by Severo Perez is an incredible story about an extraordinary Cuban-born artist with dual Cuban and French citizenship. At almost 70 years of age, Cosimo Infante Cano has been living in France for years, but when he decides to follow his lover, native Texan Sara Hunter, to San Antonio, Texas, in 1961, he immediately becomes a sojourner in a strange land. Due to several unfortunate incidents, Cosimo finds himself alone and bereft in San Antonio and wonders how he will he ever piece his life back together again and return to Paris. Cosimo is proud and eccentric, and he has charisma, ingenuity, and a flair for landing on his feet, despite his arthritic knee, consequently helping so many others in the process. Cosimo is an excellent protagonist, but he is far from perfect, despite his altruistic tendencies and remarkable artistic talent.

As expected in 1961, racism and prejudices against people of color are in full force. Severo Perez does an outstanding job of portraying the worst of the worst and the best of the best in humanity, in terms of both racism and desegregation, during such a volatile time in American history. Be warned: the racial language and posture from a few characters will rightly be offensive, but the inclusive attitudes from all the others will somewhat soften the sting from such grotesque behavior, which will probably never be completely erased from society, unfortunately.

“Ignorance is not a crime, though it should be.”

A takeaway from Odd Birds is that everyone is an odd bird to some degree, no matter where you are from, how much money you have, or where you are going in life. Everyone is unique, and how we treat others will always reflect back onto ourselves, for good or for bad. Your choice.

Be prepared to fall in love with Cosimo Infante Cano. He will capture your heart and imagination and make you cry at his unfortunate plight and laugh at his genius and wit. “We all learned something. You learned you have friends who are willing to risk their safety for you. And I learned that I can no longer serve hard alcohol to Americans. You people have no sense of moderation.”

Severo Perez’s writing style is vivid and lyrical yet still earthy and realistic, and the unfolding story will intrigue not only because it is fanciful and entertaining but because it is honest and believable. San Antonio, Texas, is an interesting setting (I may be a bit biased, though), with a good portion of the story taking place in the library. While the building referenced in Odd Birds no longer functions as a library, San Antonio has a fantastic central library (built in 1995) known affectionally as the Enchilada Red Library because of its striking color and impressive architecture, making it impossible to miss or resist. Be sure to check it out if you are ever in town.

With its many idiosyncrasies and fabulous imagery, Odd Birds must be experienced firsthand and not spoiled beforehand in any way (I mean, who wouldn’t want a Dali Zodiac timepiece or an original drawing of a scene from an Aesop Fable on the back of a menu?). In Odd Birds, the people, the art, the locations, and the breakfast tacos will cause you to reflect on the follies of humanity, enchant your senses, make you hungry, and fulfill all your literary needs in one odd yet intensely beautiful book. The Epilogue is brilliant and not in the least superfluous. Bravo! 

Enter the giveaway below on or before April 8, 2022, for a chance to win an autographed copy of Odd Birds by Severo Perez.


I received a free copy of this book from Lone Star Book Blog Tours in exchange for my honest review.


SEVERO PEREZ, an award-winning filmmaker, playwright, and writer, grew up in working-class Westside San Antonio and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. For over forty-five years he produced programing for PBS and for network and cable television. His feature film adaptation of Tomas Rivera’s novel . . . and the earth did not swallow him (1994) won eleven international awards, including five for Best Picture. His first novel, Willa Brown & the Challengers (2012), is historical fiction based on the real-life African American aviation pioneer Willa Beatrice Brown. Odd Birds is his second novel. Visit his website to learn more.
GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
TWO WINNERS: Autographed copies of Odd Birds
(US only. Ends 4/8/2022.)

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FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY, 
or visit the blogs directly:

3/29/22

Excerpt

Chapter Break Book Blog

3/29/22

Review

The Book’s Delight

3/29/22

BONUS Promo

Hall Ways Blog

3/30/22

Author Interview

Sybrina’s Book Blog

3/30/22

Review

Jennie Reads

3/31/22

Review

Forgotten Winds

3/31/22

BONUS Promo

LSBBT Blog

4/1/22

Author Interview

StoreyBook Reviews

4/1/22

Review

Rainy Days with Amanda

4/2/22

Review

Book Fidelity

4/3/22

Bonus Story

All the Ups and Downs

4/4/22

Author Interview

The Page Unbound

4/4/22

Review

It’s Not All Gravy

4/5/22

Review

The Plain-Spoken Pen

4/6/22

Review

Shelf Life Blog

4/7/22

Review

Book Bustle

4/7/22

Review

Reading by Moonlight

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2 Replies to “Lone Star Book Blog Tour: Odd Birds by Severo Perez (review and giveaway)”

  1. What a wonderful review, Ruthie. I really liked this: “Everyone is unique, and how we treat others will always reflect back onto ourselves, for good or for bad. Your choice.”

    I, too, came away with a sense that we are all odd birds, much like the characters in this story.