In 1803, an eighteen-year-old West Indies-born Frenchman arrived in New
York City, fleeing Napolean's conscription. His Name was John James
Audubon, and his life's work would become inextricably entwined with the
new world he so proudly adopted in his motto "America, my country."
Dreamer, vagabond, romantic, and genius, Audubon was an archetype of the
passionate and steadfast frontiersman. His turbulent life was a fusion
of personal daring, tenacity, and boundless devotion to the land he came
to love above all. Combining meticulous scholarship with the dramatic
life story of a naturalist and pioneer, "Audubon" reexamines the
artist's journals and letters in the first new biography of Audubon to
come out in almost thirty years. The life of John James Audubon is not
only the story of one artist's quest but also a meditation on the
origins of the American spirit and the sacrifice that resulted in one of
the worlds' greatest bodies of art: "The Birds of America." This is the
story of a legendary artist and an eternal American hero.