"Birdman: The Many Faces of Robert Stroud" by Jolene Babyak

I literally feel like I have read all I need to about Alcatraz.  We visited the place several years ago, and I was a bit obsessed with it for a while.  Still, there's a point where you feel like you have read all you need to on a topic.

I did see Jolene Babyak's "Birdman:  The Many Faces of Robert Stroud" at the bookstore recently, and it pulled me in.

I think most people have heard the name, and know a little about the man who raised birds and is always linked to Alcatraz.

Honestly, I always assumed he was a sweet little old fellow who simply loved birds.  As a bird lover myself (I raised a few over a couple of decades) I thought the story would be interesting.

Babyak obviously researched the heck out of Stroud, and painted a somewhat different picture.

Stroud himself did some writing about bird care and diseases, but much of his writing was....  well...  plagiarized.  A lot of his "cures" were bunk.

He is a complicated man too, with many issues.  He and supporters try to argue that he is a rehabilitated prisoner, deserving of release......  but there is much more to the story.

Of course a book about his life, and a movie (both taking artistic liberties in telling the Stroud story) influence the public opinion about the Birdman.

This was a really nicely researched and well written book.  I felt the author was trying to write a fair and honest story of one of the most interesting prisoners ever.