Description

Book Synopsis

Voted the UK’s Favourite Nature Book

The memoir that inspired Chris Packham's BBC documentary,
Asperger’s and Me

Every minute was magical, every single thing it did was fascinating and everything it didn't do was equally wondrous, and to be sat there, with a Kestrel, a real live Kestrel, my own real live Kestrel on my wrist! I felt like I'd climbed through a hole in heaven's fence.

An introverted, unusual young boy, isolated by his obsessions and a loner at school, Chris Packham only felt at ease in the fields and woods around his suburban home. But when he stole a young Kestrel from its nest, he was about to embark on a friendship that would teach him what it meant to love, and that would change him forever. In his rich, lyrical and emotionally exposing memoir, Chris brings to life his childhood in the 70s, from his bedroom bursting with fox skulls, birds' eggs and sweaty jam jars, to his feral adventures. But pervading his story is the search for freedom, meaning and acceptance in a world that didn’t understand him.

Beautifully wrought, this coming-of-age memoir will be unlike any you've ever read.



Trade Review
Fingers in the Sparkle Jar is like nothing else I know - a flickering vat of life itself. A brilliant and remarkable book. -- Robert Macfarlane
It’s bold and beautiful, both raw and lyrical, and a rather special book. -- Matt Haig * Independent *
Incredibly powerful and moving. -- Richard E. Grant
A beautiful, riveting and disturbing read. * Guardian *
This book is courageous, disturbing, original and at times brilliant. -- Simon Barnes

Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir

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    £12.34

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    RRP £12.99 – you save £0.65 (5%)

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Fri 19 Jun 2026.

    A Paperback / softback by Chris Packham

    15 in stock

      Trusted by thousands of customers. See 2,385+ Customer Reviews

      View other formats and editions of Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir by Chris Packham

      Publisher: Ebury Publishing
      Publication Date: 06/04/2017
      ISBN13: 9781785033506, 978-1785033506
      ISBN10: 1785033506

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      Voted the UK’s Favourite Nature Book

      The memoir that inspired Chris Packham's BBC documentary,
      Asperger’s and Me

      Every minute was magical, every single thing it did was fascinating and everything it didn't do was equally wondrous, and to be sat there, with a Kestrel, a real live Kestrel, my own real live Kestrel on my wrist! I felt like I'd climbed through a hole in heaven's fence.

      An introverted, unusual young boy, isolated by his obsessions and a loner at school, Chris Packham only felt at ease in the fields and woods around his suburban home. But when he stole a young Kestrel from its nest, he was about to embark on a friendship that would teach him what it meant to love, and that would change him forever. In his rich, lyrical and emotionally exposing memoir, Chris brings to life his childhood in the 70s, from his bedroom bursting with fox skulls, birds' eggs and sweaty jam jars, to his feral adventures. But pervading his story is the search for freedom, meaning and acceptance in a world that didn’t understand him.

      Beautifully wrought, this coming-of-age memoir will be unlike any you've ever read.



      Trade Review
      Fingers in the Sparkle Jar is like nothing else I know - a flickering vat of life itself. A brilliant and remarkable book. -- Robert Macfarlane
      It’s bold and beautiful, both raw and lyrical, and a rather special book. -- Matt Haig * Independent *
      Incredibly powerful and moving. -- Richard E. Grant
      A beautiful, riveting and disturbing read. * Guardian *
      This book is courageous, disturbing, original and at times brilliant. -- Simon Barnes

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