My Family and Other Animals

by Frederic P. Miller (Editor), Agnes F. Vandome, John McBrewster

My Family and Other Animals is an autobiographical work by naturalist Gerald Durrell, telling of the part of his childhood he spent on the Greek island of Corfu between 1935 and 1939. It describes the life of the Durrell Family on the island in a humorous manner, and also richly discusses the fauna of the island. It is the first and most famous of Durrell's Corfu trilogy, together with Birds, Beasts, and Relatives, and The Garden of the Gods. Durrell had already written several successful books about his trips collecting animals in the wild for zoos when My Family and Other Animals came out in 1956. Its comic exaggeration of the foibles of his family - especially his eldest brother Lawrence Durrell, who later became a famous novelist - and heartfelt appreciation of the natural world made it very successful. It launched Durrell's career as owner of the Jersey Zoological Park in the Channel Islands, as well as novel-writer and television personality; and was also influential in the development of tourism in Corfu. (Source: Wikipedia)

80 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2010

About the author

This is the 'editor' of many books based upon Wikipedia articles.

Reviews

[sofi.books · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too short, too many animals (the insects grouse)
Spiro was so kind ☺️

[Pat Donlin]

Libby

[Cecile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous!!

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my go-to book when I need something to take me away and make me feel better. The story of the Durrell (pronounced DUR ull) family's years on Corfu is a funny, interesting window on another time, place, and class. The family consists of Gerald Durrell, his three much-older siblings and his widowed mother. The oldest brother is a twenty-something Lawrence Durrell, author of, among other things, the Alexandria Quartet.

When I was young I wanted SO MUCH to be young Gerry. Actually, I wanted to be older Gerry as well, since his animal-collecting books delighted me. Now as an adult I see the stamp of colonialism in much of his writing, but not in this book. He has a few stylistic reflexes that start to pall, such as an abundance of adverbs, but they're outweighed by examples of perfectly chosen imagery that sing.

I understand that (as he said in the forward) Durrell compressed, rearranged and generally manipulated the facts in order to make the book more entertaining, and some have faulted him for not adhering strictly to the truth--I say, he did a great job.

[Carrie Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books, this is the story of the childhood of Gerald Durrell, naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, on the Greek island of Corfu--hilarious, highly readable, wonderful descriptions of Corfu, interesting information of a naturalistic nature, nostalgia for a bygone era. If you want to spend an enjoyable afternoon laughing out loud and being thoroughly delighted, read this book.