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James Herriot - The Life of a Contry Vet
Lord writes a revealing and affectionate biography of the remarkable veterinarian and beloved author who enlightened readers with All Things Bright and Beautiful and All Creatures Great and Small .
384 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
February 13, 2020
Well, I actually purchased Graham Lord's James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet in of all places, a tourist shop in Banff, Aberta, in the summer of 1998 because the book happened to look interesting, and I was hoping (and perhaps even a bit desperate) to read a decent and enlightening biography of Alfred Wight (the real persona behind James Herriot). And yes indeed, even before I ever purchased Graham Lord's book I already well knew that Afred Wight's, that James Herriot's veterinarian memoirs are only semi-autobiographical at best, that some of the stories are in fact entirely fictitious, that certain clients are conglomerates and that especially Donald Sinclair (who was Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small and its sequels) was not always all that happy at how he had been portrayed. And guess what, Mr. Lord, this did not and still does not matter at ALL to me (and thus, when I started reading your James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet, I quickly became both disgusted and massively angry that your so-called biography really was and remains nothing but cheap trash talk against a beloved author who is also no longer able to even defend himself due to being deceased, and frankly, your nastiness towards Alfred Wight's wife Joan, that not only has annoyed me, but it has also made me very tempted to toss your James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet into the trash bin).
One star, and absolutely not in any way recommended is James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet. And if you are, indeed, interested in the actual and true life story of Alfred Wight, of the person who wrote under the pseudonym of James Herriot, I would strongly and vociferously suggest skipping Graham Lord and reading Jim Wight's The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father instead, which might not read as smoothly as James Herriot's, as his father's memoirs, but is a loving and honest portrayal of Jim Wight, and not the nasty bit of hearsay and rumourmongering that James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet represents (and yes indeed, in order to post an actual review, I did actually attempt to reread the latter and I think I was even more offended and angry in 2018 than I was in 1998, especially considering that according to Jim Wight, Alfred Wight had always considered Graham Lord a personal friend).
One star, and absolutely not in any way recommended is James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet. And if you are, indeed, interested in the actual and true life story of Alfred Wight, of the person who wrote under the pseudonym of James Herriot, I would strongly and vociferously suggest skipping Graham Lord and reading Jim Wight's The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father instead, which might not read as smoothly as James Herriot's, as his father's memoirs, but is a loving and honest portrayal of Jim Wight, and not the nasty bit of hearsay and rumourmongering that James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet represents (and yes indeed, in order to post an actual review, I did actually attempt to reread the latter and I think I was even more offended and angry in 2018 than I was in 1998, especially considering that according to Jim Wight, Alfred Wight had always considered Graham Lord a personal friend).
Read
January 4, 2008UGH! What a horrible book. All the writing talent Alf Wight (James Herriot) had his biographer seems to be lacking. The book is dry, boring and mechanical. Graham spends literally pages upon pages describing the poor Scottish tenements of the early 1900s--dry statistics and detailed facts--and then proceeds to state that Wight's childhood, although very financially poor, was not as bad as most the Scottish tenements he just spent boring his readers with. Too bad, Herriot deserves more than this after years of entertaining readers with his wit and beautiful prose.
May 9, 2022
A tedious, deliberately uncomplimentary "biography" of Alf Wight (James Herriot) by an author who claimed to know him well and have great affection for him. It is instead full of rumor and speculation regarding Wight's parents/childhood, his marriage, and his relationship with longtime partner, Donald Sinclair. I think most people are aware that Wight's books are fictionalized, so finding out that the timeline represented was not strictly accurate and that stories were sometimes made-up or embellished was hardly enlightening or shocking for me.
April 3, 2012
Gave up on this one. As much as I love the James Herriot books, this bio was uninteresting and never captured my attention. Too much speculation about early life ( based on apparently no hard facts). Save yourself some time and read Herriot's books instead. They may be highly fictionalized, but they're funny and compelling.
January 3, 2023
Always and ever a James Herriot fan, so to find the real story was a thrill, and a pleasure to read!
August 23, 2017
I was disappointed in this book - it contained way too much intimate and uninteresting detail eg the address of the person who rented Alf's parents a cottage (!?). Alf Wight (James Herriott's real name) sounded a lovely man, but I am saddened by the forensic exploration of his trials and tribulations ( some only guessed at).
It has however inspired me to reread the books, and I couldn't give a toss what is real and what made up. They will remain lovely, gentle and humurous books.
It has however inspired me to reread the books, and I couldn't give a toss what is real and what made up. They will remain lovely, gentle and humurous books.
August 10, 2015
This is both poorly written and a hatchet job.
The book written by his son is an excellent biography. It is well written and written with affection - just like his Dad's books: The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
The book written by his son is an excellent biography. It is well written and written with affection - just like his Dad's books: The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
December 29, 2012
The author began theorizing all about the guy, his parents, etc. It was supposed to be a biography.
May 20, 2013
Don't buy this book. One of the worst books I've started in decades.
Read
July 29, 2022A difficult book to review. The writing is detailed and meticulous - somewhat TOO detailed and meticulous at times - and yet I don't really have a sense of getting to know Alf. Maybe thats because I still 'see' Herriot as the genial vet etc.
It's not a book I will reread. Not because the writing was bad (it isnt, it's just not my sort of style) but because it lays open the truth about 'Herriot' and his wife and his relationships with his companions etc, and for that reason I wish I hadn't read it. One thing I was grateful for though, was the respect given to 'Siegfried' when writing about his death. It was gently done.
Not rating
It's not a book I will reread. Not because the writing was bad (it isnt, it's just not my sort of style) but because it lays open the truth about 'Herriot' and his wife and his relationships with his companions etc, and for that reason I wish I hadn't read it. One thing I was grateful for though, was the respect given to 'Siegfried' when writing about his death. It was gently done.
Not rating
March 5, 2017
Looks like the author jumped onto the bandwagon of someone else, who was famous. I was looking for animal stories.
December 2, 2018
so much speculation that I just stopped reading it, terrible book
September 2, 2021
Interesting biographical subject, truly terrible biographer. Graham Lord positions himself as a personal friend of James Herriot (Alf Wight), but by the first third of the book it is extremely clear that even though this book was written fairly soon after Wight's death, Lord did not have the support of Wight's family or even Wight himself. Lord has no access to Wight's personal papers, did no background interviews with Wight, and not a single direct quote from Wight's wife, children, or even the children of Wight's veterinary partner. The closest Wight got to the family was an interview with Wight's former son-in-law (who his daughter divorced after three years of marriage). Instead, Wight mines every print interview that Wight ever did for quotes, and appears to have done deep background by interviewing every person who lived near, attended school with, or had even the most tertiary connections to Wight. He doesn't do much sifting, and other than some interesting interviews with Wight's American publisher the whole thing starts to feel substantially like a large pile of gossip. An example of this is when two unnamed sources apparently mention that Wight's wife felt that one of the first TV actresses to portray Helen was too "sluttish," which Lord then asks the actress about directly in an interview, who then says that she's really hurt by that, as Wight's wife never said anything like that to her in person or even hinted at such a thing. Such is Lord's approach to a biography.
That the James Herriot books were fiction, with anecdotes that were rooted in Wight's decades of being a rural vet, is established pretty quickly, yet Lord seems absolutely fixated on pointing out every "gotcha" moment where Wight adjusted events and timelines for the books. He's also really committed to arguing that Wight kept a daily diary. And the pinnacle of Lord's ridiculousness is when he writes that "In 1985 [Wight] was asked to write an article for the Hillhead High School centenary magazine in which he claimed that he had joined the old school in Cecil Street in 1927. In fact he had not joined until September 1928 and one wonders how he could possibly have forgotten. Nobody forgets the date of his first day at school and certainly not someone as sharp and intelligent as Alf. Or did he perhaps choose the incorrect date deliberately?" It takes a rare individual to see that a man in his late 60s, in poor health, mis-remembers the day he started school *57* years ago, by a whole year, and immediately suspects a conspiracy.
This is also, beyond some pretty sloppy research, the biggest problem with the biography --- Graham Lord. He is an incredibly intrusive biographer who has some extremely heavy baggage that comes to the fore --- there are more than a few eyebrow-raising comments about Scottish people in here, several that are flat-out offensive. Lord seems to have some pretty strong issues with both Wight's mother and wife, and honestly there are enough comments about other women as well to suggest that there's an issue here with Lord and women in general. Lord's dislike of Chinese food restaurants comes up bizarrely (apparently Wight was a fan of Chinese food, which Lord seems completely thrown about), one very unnecessary comment about James Baldwin (the writer --- or, as Lord puts it "the black American writer"), his assertion that the All Things Great And Small TV series saved television from an outright descent into "pornography" (I'm not making this up, that's actually the word he uses), and the list goes on and on.
Supposedly Wight's son published a biography about his father fairly soon after this, which Lord mentions in an overly casual way that suggests a great deal of messiness was occurring behind the writing of this biography, and could very well be part of the reason that Lord had absolutely zero access for this book. Honestly, given that Lord was a writer of fiction, and his only link to Wight was a good review of his second book and what seems like several friendly, but completely unremarkable, basic interviews with Wight that were interchangeable with the interviews he gave any journalist or reviewer, it seems like the only reason Lord even wrote this book was the certainty that he could make money by writing about a popular subject, and all the better if he did it before Wight's son could get his own biography out.
I finished the whole thing, but by the halfway mark it was only because Lord manages to be such a walking caricature of a certain kind of British man that it was starting to feel like an opportunity for research.
If you would like to read about the writer who was James Herriot, definitely find another biography.
That the James Herriot books were fiction, with anecdotes that were rooted in Wight's decades of being a rural vet, is established pretty quickly, yet Lord seems absolutely fixated on pointing out every "gotcha" moment where Wight adjusted events and timelines for the books. He's also really committed to arguing that Wight kept a daily diary. And the pinnacle of Lord's ridiculousness is when he writes that "In 1985 [Wight] was asked to write an article for the Hillhead High School centenary magazine in which he claimed that he had joined the old school in Cecil Street in 1927. In fact he had not joined until September 1928 and one wonders how he could possibly have forgotten. Nobody forgets the date of his first day at school and certainly not someone as sharp and intelligent as Alf. Or did he perhaps choose the incorrect date deliberately?" It takes a rare individual to see that a man in his late 60s, in poor health, mis-remembers the day he started school *57* years ago, by a whole year, and immediately suspects a conspiracy.
This is also, beyond some pretty sloppy research, the biggest problem with the biography --- Graham Lord. He is an incredibly intrusive biographer who has some extremely heavy baggage that comes to the fore --- there are more than a few eyebrow-raising comments about Scottish people in here, several that are flat-out offensive. Lord seems to have some pretty strong issues with both Wight's mother and wife, and honestly there are enough comments about other women as well to suggest that there's an issue here with Lord and women in general. Lord's dislike of Chinese food restaurants comes up bizarrely (apparently Wight was a fan of Chinese food, which Lord seems completely thrown about), one very unnecessary comment about James Baldwin (the writer --- or, as Lord puts it "the black American writer"), his assertion that the All Things Great And Small TV series saved television from an outright descent into "pornography" (I'm not making this up, that's actually the word he uses), and the list goes on and on.
Supposedly Wight's son published a biography about his father fairly soon after this, which Lord mentions in an overly casual way that suggests a great deal of messiness was occurring behind the writing of this biography, and could very well be part of the reason that Lord had absolutely zero access for this book. Honestly, given that Lord was a writer of fiction, and his only link to Wight was a good review of his second book and what seems like several friendly, but completely unremarkable, basic interviews with Wight that were interchangeable with the interviews he gave any journalist or reviewer, it seems like the only reason Lord even wrote this book was the certainty that he could make money by writing about a popular subject, and all the better if he did it before Wight's son could get his own biography out.
I finished the whole thing, but by the halfway mark it was only because Lord manages to be such a walking caricature of a certain kind of British man that it was starting to feel like an opportunity for research.
If you would like to read about the writer who was James Herriot, definitely find another biography.
June 4, 2024
I grew up reading these books and stumbled across 'The Life of a Country Vet' in a secondhand book shop in Madrid. Considering they have never been out of print, perhaps it is no surprise that it popped up there.
Like any book that relies on a series of vignettes, some stories are stronger than others. It will depend on your preferences and your mood. Still, an argument could be made for saying that those slice-of-life, whimsical chapters are profound in their own way, and are as important as his musings about being deployed in the British army during WWII.
The book ends beautifully. While I won't give any spoilers, I will say that the two sides of the book, the lightheartedness and the seriousness, dovetail wonderfully, showing off Herriot's skill as a writer in the process.
Like any book that relies on a series of vignettes, some stories are stronger than others. It will depend on your preferences and your mood. Still, an argument could be made for saying that those slice-of-life, whimsical chapters are profound in their own way, and are as important as his musings about being deployed in the British army during WWII.
The book ends beautifully. While I won't give any spoilers, I will say that the two sides of the book, the lightheartedness and the seriousness, dovetail wonderfully, showing off Herriot's skill as a writer in the process.
July 13, 2016
Will the real James Herriot please step forward
I am a binge reader, I love reading books in the same series and or by the same author whenever possible. I knew this book was not by the original author, James "Alf" Wigt, aka James Herriot but about him. However, the description of this book proved a bit misleading. There was a great deal of idiosyncrasies that were discussed as to the characters, the city, the time periods, etc. I don't even remember how many times the theory of what percentage Alf's books were fact or fiction, but I can tell you it was way too often. I must give the author credit in trying to keep with the authenticity of who James/Alf was. It was evident that they knew each other.
At several points of the book, I felt frustration from the author as to correcting so many beliefs about the subject and his life that his only goal of the book was to show the rest of the world that they are wrong and only he knows the truth.
The book felt long and wordy, but at the same time it was interesting to learn about the man behind-the-scenes. I would not have minded one bit if the discussions about some very private human medical conditions treated by his vet partner were left out. However it just solidified the "too much info" theme carried throughout the book. Stick with the work by James Herriot, you might enjoy them better.
I am a binge reader, I love reading books in the same series and or by the same author whenever possible. I knew this book was not by the original author, James "Alf" Wigt, aka James Herriot but about him. However, the description of this book proved a bit misleading. There was a great deal of idiosyncrasies that were discussed as to the characters, the city, the time periods, etc. I don't even remember how many times the theory of what percentage Alf's books were fact or fiction, but I can tell you it was way too often. I must give the author credit in trying to keep with the authenticity of who James/Alf was. It was evident that they knew each other.
At several points of the book, I felt frustration from the author as to correcting so many beliefs about the subject and his life that his only goal of the book was to show the rest of the world that they are wrong and only he knows the truth.
The book felt long and wordy, but at the same time it was interesting to learn about the man behind-the-scenes. I would not have minded one bit if the discussions about some very private human medical conditions treated by his vet partner were left out. However it just solidified the "too much info" theme carried throughout the book. Stick with the work by James Herriot, you might enjoy them better.
June 22, 2025
I read this a while ago. I have read some of Alf Wight/James Herriot’s books. As far as biographies go, it wasn’t a great one. Take away the personal feelings of the biographer (which definitely does impact the quality), it just didn’t seem well researched enough. Although he was a “ good friend” of Alf’s, it just felt superficial and lacked the depth necessary to write a good, quality biography. I didn’t give it too much thought because it felt like a collection of tabloid articles. Idk just my personal opinion.
psa: I’m not THAT big of a James Herriot fan, I just read it at a book shop and felt obligated to finish it.
psa: I’m not THAT big of a James Herriot fan, I just read it at a book shop and felt obligated to finish it.
Want to read
February 18, 2008James Harriot was one of my favorite authors. Not for those who aren't interested in the country life of a veternarian or his experiences. He was quite humorous to read and I enjoyed all his books but this one that is about him. I think it is one I would check out from the library to see if it is actually worth buying.
January 19, 2009
Not very good. Seems to be concerned about debunking other biographical material and cross referencing.
March 12, 2015
Detailed, yes. Affectionate? I don't think so.
December 4, 2015
Bit dry reading
I read this through hoping it would get better. It didn't . Nice to learn a bit more about my favorite vet but I wish the story was less like an obituary.
I read this through hoping it would get better. It didn't . Nice to learn a bit more about my favorite vet but I wish the story was less like an obituary.
April 20, 2021
Wishing for more stories and less refuting of information from other sources
July 30, 2022
It is with absolute disgust and shock that this book could even be conceived as a biography of Alfred Wight. The biographer Graham Lord self claimed to be the source of Alf’s success has created this book to discredit the famous vet leveraging his supposed life long friendship with Wight (based on a few interviews and letters) to use the name Herriot to try and bring fame to himself in the wake of wight’s fame. You would think that Lord would use the anecdotes of wight’s children; the people who were around him most as support for the book. But that was not the case instead he used old gossip and wives tales from people who only barely new Alf in his early days and never stayed in touch during his days in Thirsk. The one time he quoted Rosemary and Jim (Alfred Wights children) was in the introduction to glorify himself as the reason for wights fame. It is shocking that someone would write a book trying to discredit, spread assumptions, myths, and try and project a lower image of Wight based only on dull statistics and newspaper articles as primary sources. Lord claims that Wight’s story are 2/3s fiction and are stolen from other vets. That is just absurd. And while Heriot created new names for people and towns that is because he was protecting the lives of the innocent. There is even contradictions about his relationship with his mother saying he developed a hate complex about her when it later mentions Wight dedicated his fourth book with “love to his mother.” It is a shame someone dedicated all of that time in research to discredit a great man and author based on jealousy and all at the same time trying to convey it as though his research is like a divine message. To all Herriot fans do not waste your time or money on this book. It is a sorry let down after reading the Herriot books. In stead try Wight’s son’s book “Alfred Wight: A Memoir of my Father.” It brings a true and lively view into Alfred's Life.
September 18, 2019
This was an okay read, as biographies go. I usually find them (biographies) a bit dry, since the author invariably has to include every bit and speck of information gleaned from comprehensive research. This one was no different. There was a seemingly endless parade of names of people who had gone to school with Alf Wight (James Herriot), who had known him later in life or who were in some way linked to the publishing of his books. It was all right at first, when each name came with an explanation, but as they kept recurring, the reader was expected to keep them straight--but I got hopelessly lost. However, sifting through all the information, I was able to enjoy the book, thanks to the interesting bits.
There was quite a bit of information about Alf Wight's--heck, let's just call him James!--James' childhood, which was very interesting. I always find that reading about people's childhoods is the best part of biographies. There were also some funny quotes and ironies. Here are a few of my favourites:
And by the end of the year the books were being published in twelve languages, including Japanese. 'I mean,' Alf said to me at the time, baffled, 'can you imagine it? Yorkshire dialect in Japanese?' (pp. 230-231) As a translator, that put a smile on my face.
His mood in that letter was almost jocular and he told McCormack that he had been most amused that summer by a bed-and-breakfast advertisement in the local paper that had read: 'Excellent accommodation in Herriot country. No pets.' (p. 302) Love it!
Afterwards he was cremated and his ashes were scattered on the Yorkshire moors that he had loved so much for more than fifty years. (p. 337) I have not yet reached that stage of life where I think about how I wish to be buried, but this seems fitting.
There was quite a bit of information about Alf Wight's--heck, let's just call him James!--James' childhood, which was very interesting. I always find that reading about people's childhoods is the best part of biographies. There were also some funny quotes and ironies. Here are a few of my favourites:
And by the end of the year the books were being published in twelve languages, including Japanese. 'I mean,' Alf said to me at the time, baffled, 'can you imagine it? Yorkshire dialect in Japanese?' (pp. 230-231) As a translator, that put a smile on my face.
His mood in that letter was almost jocular and he told McCormack that he had been most amused that summer by a bed-and-breakfast advertisement in the local paper that had read: 'Excellent accommodation in Herriot country. No pets.' (p. 302) Love it!
Afterwards he was cremated and his ashes were scattered on the Yorkshire moors that he had loved so much for more than fifty years. (p. 337) I have not yet reached that stage of life where I think about how I wish to be buried, but this seems fitting.
July 26, 2022
DNF
This book started off being a little bit of a drag to read because it included tons of irrelevant information like street name changes from the 1930s to present day and speculation around Alf Wight’s life rather than an actually interesting and flowing story. I was determined to push through this until the conservative and casually racist commentary became too much. The author Graham Lord wrote that some building Wight had used as a kid was demolished and replaced with the “bleak” sight of a mosque, he describes ‘The Birth of a Nation’ as a “legendary film” without acknowledging how problematic and harmful that film is, he likened communism to alcoholism and violence, he describes Wight as a Staunch Conservative and admirer of Margaret Thatcher, and in the Postscript mentions how Wight had considerable wealth upon his death despite “giving huge amounts away to…the taxman” (I was really expecting to see he had given $$$ away to some animal organization). Graham Lord brings up being a writer for the Sunday Express multiple times; it was then unsurprising to read on wiki that this is a hugely conservative tabloid and that a former owner is quoted as saying "[I run the paper] purely for the purpose of making propaganda and with no other motive".
Y’all I really just wanted to read about a veterinarian’s veterinary work
I’m not even opposed to reading another biography about Alf Wight, this is just not the one
This book started off being a little bit of a drag to read because it included tons of irrelevant information like street name changes from the 1930s to present day and speculation around Alf Wight’s life rather than an actually interesting and flowing story. I was determined to push through this until the conservative and casually racist commentary became too much. The author Graham Lord wrote that some building Wight had used as a kid was demolished and replaced with the “bleak” sight of a mosque, he describes ‘The Birth of a Nation’ as a “legendary film” without acknowledging how problematic and harmful that film is, he likened communism to alcoholism and violence, he describes Wight as a Staunch Conservative and admirer of Margaret Thatcher, and in the Postscript mentions how Wight had considerable wealth upon his death despite “giving huge amounts away to…the taxman” (I was really expecting to see he had given $$$ away to some animal organization). Graham Lord brings up being a writer for the Sunday Express multiple times; it was then unsurprising to read on wiki that this is a hugely conservative tabloid and that a former owner is quoted as saying "[I run the paper] purely for the purpose of making propaganda and with no other motive".
Y’all I really just wanted to read about a veterinarian’s veterinary work
I’m not even opposed to reading another biography about Alf Wight, this is just not the one
March 30, 2021
Lord has researched and written a detailed and affectionate biography of a remarkable man whose charm and modesty remained unchanged by phenomenal success and adulation. Alf wrote amazingly little about his parents, his poor childhood in a crowded Glasgow tenement or his schooldays, but Lord describes them all in vivid detail after interviewing friends of Alf's from his earliest days in Glasgow up to the end in Yorkshire, where he worked for over fifty years with his partner Donald Sinclair, whom he called 'Siegfried' in his books, Lord has also uncovered some extraordinary events and hidden tragedies in Alf's life and he asks a series of pertinent questions. How much of the Herriot books was true? How much was fiction? And what was his real relationship with the various characters who inhabit the books. This warm but incisive portrait will be enjoyed by James Herriot's countless admirers but will also dispel the myths that have already grown up around the life of the most famous and deeply loved vet the world has ever known.
September 23, 2023
Skip this book.
I am giving this 2 stars because there were a few times I found it interesting. However, I wanted to DNF it more times than I could possibly count.
I felt like the author was more interested in talking about himself & his impact on Herriot's career than in actually sharing the subject with the reader. He repeated himself SO often that this book could have been far shorter.
Additionally, it seemed at times that he was more interested in embarrassing his subject, Dr. Wight. I would not want anyone to know of my health details that he mentioned probably greater than 10 times!
He doesn't seem to like Mrs. Wight and seems to revel in tales that portray her in a poor light.
He loves to discuss that Dr. Wight's books were fictionalized while he speculates extensively on the subject of Dr. Wight's parents.
I am going to read his son's account of his father next. I adore the Herriot books and look forward to reading about him from someone not bent on any negative they can find about him.
I am giving this 2 stars because there were a few times I found it interesting. However, I wanted to DNF it more times than I could possibly count.
I felt like the author was more interested in talking about himself & his impact on Herriot's career than in actually sharing the subject with the reader. He repeated himself SO often that this book could have been far shorter.
Additionally, it seemed at times that he was more interested in embarrassing his subject, Dr. Wight. I would not want anyone to know of my health details that he mentioned probably greater than 10 times!
He doesn't seem to like Mrs. Wight and seems to revel in tales that portray her in a poor light.
He loves to discuss that Dr. Wight's books were fictionalized while he speculates extensively on the subject of Dr. Wight's parents.
I am going to read his son's account of his father next. I adore the Herriot books and look forward to reading about him from someone not bent on any negative they can find about him.
June 28, 2021
Long and boring
To me, this was a book written for one reason only --To publish a book! The author obviously collected every quote he could find and included it as.if he had been there when it was spoken. Quotes were from people that did not even know Alf Wight and repeated as fact even though they weren't sure if the dates or locations. I bought the book because I wanted to know more about the real James Herriot. To be honest I did learn some new things about him, but those things were gleaned from dozens of newspaper articles, not from the author's first hand experience. Like I said he wrote it so he could put a bound book with his name on it on his shelf. I was very disappointed and if I was a member of his family I would be upset that Mr Lord made his bit off of a dedicated and talented sweet and beloved man. I would not recommend it, there are lots of other ways to get this information without guilding this man's pockets.
To me, this was a book written for one reason only --To publish a book! The author obviously collected every quote he could find and included it as.if he had been there when it was spoken. Quotes were from people that did not even know Alf Wight and repeated as fact even though they weren't sure if the dates or locations. I bought the book because I wanted to know more about the real James Herriot. To be honest I did learn some new things about him, but those things were gleaned from dozens of newspaper articles, not from the author's first hand experience. Like I said he wrote it so he could put a bound book with his name on it on his shelf. I was very disappointed and if I was a member of his family I would be upset that Mr Lord made his bit off of a dedicated and talented sweet and beloved man. I would not recommend it, there are lots of other ways to get this information without guilding this man's pockets.
October 8, 2023
The beginning chapters were the most interesting, with lots of historical information about what jobs were like in 1916 (when Alf Wight who wrote the James Herriot books was born) and decades after, what housing and school were like, how much people were paid. I would have liked to read more about being a vet in the 1930s and 40s before antibiotics and disposable sterile syringes existed, but I suppose Wight's fictional books do that.
Most of the rest of the book could have been cut and nothing would have been lost. There were several chapters about the vet books' publishing history, the casting of the TV show, repetitive anecdotes from others recalling what Alf Wight was like, how Alf and Joan reacted to fame, their declining years. The first third of this book was very interesting and detailed; the rest was boring and detailed.
Most of the rest of the book could have been cut and nothing would have been lost. There were several chapters about the vet books' publishing history, the casting of the TV show, repetitive anecdotes from others recalling what Alf Wight was like, how Alf and Joan reacted to fame, their declining years. The first third of this book was very interesting and detailed; the rest was boring and detailed.
January 25, 2020
Awful. Alf Wight kept insisting that he was an average Joe; well, he was right. God-awful boring. The first 80 pages are complete rubbish, speculating again and again about whether Alf’s father was a musician or not. Who cares? And Alf himself, although agreed by everyone to be a nice man, clearly strings out endless falsehoods about “exactly how he remembered it”.
The author repeats himself countless times. It is as if he felt obliged to include every interview verbatim with anyone who had met or heard of Alf. This 250-page book could have easily been 100 pages of something interesting. I forced myself to finish it.
The author repeats himself countless times. It is as if he felt obliged to include every interview verbatim with anyone who had met or heard of Alf. This 250-page book could have easily been 100 pages of something interesting. I forced myself to finish it.
July 31, 2022
Where do I even begin??? This book drove me nuts! If you're going to write a biography, don't "suppose" or come to your own conclusions about things and speculate. Stick to facts not rumors. If you don't have enough facts, don't write about it! I felt like this book was all about what the author guessed or "supposed" and the rest was about pointing out how many times he could catch Alf Wight in the wrong and call him a liar or telling his stories in half or false truths. I think most people know that the James Herriot books are fiction. Sorry. Spoiler alert if you didn't...
The author says he's a good friend of Alf's. I certainly didn't get that impression from this biography.
The author says he's a good friend of Alf's. I certainly didn't get that impression from this biography.
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