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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | "Herriot has a real flair for writing and his book is a treat." -- Publishers Weekly
"James Herriot . . . is one of those rare men who know how to appreciate the orddinary . . . a natural storyteller." -- The New York Times
"One of the funniest and most likeable books around." -- The Atlantic Monthly
"This warm, joyous and often hilarious first-person chronicle of a young animal doctor . . . shines with love of life." -- The New York Times Book Review | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | James Herriot | | Paperback: | 448 pages | | Publisher: | St. Martin's Griffin | | Publication Date: | August 01, 2004 | | ISBN: | 0312330855 | | Package Length: | 8.3 inches | | Package Width: | 5.4 inches | | Package Height: | 1.2 inches | | Package Weight: | 0.8 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 3 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review:
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Superb from the hand of a master storyteller Jan 07, 2008
This compilation of many of the stories of this master storyteller is superb in every way. I've met the man and one of the subjects of his experiences (in the story of the man with cattle). James Alf Wight (real name of author)was famous in the vicinity of Thirsk for his stories. One of his customers told me that as a kid he couldn't wait for the annual visits as "Herriot regailed him and his family with stories the whole time." The book is a retelling of some of his stories - and entertaining in every way. Super book!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A Masterpiece! Feb 10, 2007
James Harriott's ability t create characters, that we all recognize, rivals shakespeare's famous gift,. His description is such that I went to England just to see that part of the world. It is exactly as he describes it. A very good read and one that makes us anxious for the follow on books.
8 of 10 found the following review helpful:
Everything "Great" (and sometimes small) Mar 21, 2005
If you ever wanted to be a vet... "All Creatures Great and Small" will either inspire, or send you running off to be a lawyer. Heartwarming, funny, sad and highly educational, James Herriot's debut biography (he wrote five in all) give readers the whole messy, glorious picture of being a 1940s country veterinarian.
The book opens (after a brief chapter taking place several months later) with James arriving in Yorkshire, to be the assistant to the eccentric but kindly Siegfried Farnon (yes, that is his name). He becomes accustomed to Siegfried, Siegfried's mischievous younger brother Tristan (yes, that is his name), and the gruff, kindly farmers who eke out a living in the Yorkshire Dales.
Among the oddballs James encounters: Pampered pooches, savage pigs who chase Tristan around the farm, a nightmarishly strict secretary who drives Siegfried up the wall, James's brakeless car, cows running on three cylinders, a sadistic vet who makes James wear a rubber bodysuit, and an elderly, immensely wealthy widow who adopts a pig. And through this, James falls in love with the beautiful Helen Alderson and worms his way into the trust of the farmers.
James Herriot (real name, James Wight) was truly a one-of-a-kind man. He let readers into his head throughout the book, where the cows kick him across the yard, farmers often treat him as an interloper or a nuisance, and his boss gives contradicting orders from one day to the next. But he never loses his drive or his love of animals. Okay, he hates some animals, but only as individuals.
He even lets the readers see him at his worst, when he's humiliated by some recalcitrant livestock, and one horrible scene where he and his date show up drunk and mud-smeared in front of the girl he adores. (Not to mention when Tristan got him to use very feminine-smelling bath salts) But don't think that all of these stories are funny or romantic -- quite a few are aggravating or outright sad. James didn't soften the blows at all.
There are a lot of details about surgery and animal care that will nauseate the squeamish, but at least you'll learn a lot of medical trivia. For example, what is a torsion? Herriot tells you early on, when he documents his nerve-wracking first case. But more than that, his love of animals is infectious -- it's easy to come out of this with a new appreciation for ordinary dogs, cows, cats, and so on.
The people around James are just as fantastic: Siegfried, his weird but genial boss who can kick Tristan out of the house and forget about it overnight; Tristan, the mischievous anti-scholar who usually manages to keep out of trouble; and Helen, who seems a little too saintly at times (which isn't surprising, since James married her).
It's sweet, sad, funny, romantic, dramatic, and full of the blood and sweat of vet work. "All Creatures Great And Small" is a truly unique and heartwarming biography.
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