Gerald Durrell is of universal interest, not only as a writer about wildlife, but as a man dedicated to the saving of species likely to die out. As a result of his pioneering zoo in Jersey he is everyone's ideal of a crusading conservationist. MY FAMILY AND OTHER ANIMALS has joined the classics. Each new generation of readers has grown up with Gerald and his adventures. David Hughes was a friend of Gerald Durrell for forty years, convivially when editing his books in the 1950s, intimately when they were neighbours in southern France during the 1970s, closely when Gerald Durrell was dying in London hospitals during his last months. `This is a tender and poetic memoir of a prophet we should still heed. ' Nigel Spivey, FINANCIAL TIMES `Glints with riveting anecdotes of a life brimmingly lived over delicious long lunches in southern France. . A brilliant of a visionary bon viveur who committed himself to his ideals. 'Maris Ross, DAILY MAIL `This is an honest, fair-minded, intelligent book, not a fawning fan's eulogy. . HIMSELF AND OTHER ANIMALS is a thoughtful, vivid and moving portrait of a real individual. 'Eileen Battersby, IRISH TIMES
Gerald Durrell is of universal interest, not only as a writer about wildlife, but as a man dedicated to the saving of species likely to die out. As a result of his pioneering zoo in Jersey he is everyone's ideal of a crusading conservationist. MY FAMILY AND OTHER ANIMALS has joined the classics. Each new generation of readers has grown up with Gerald and his adventures. David Hughes was a friend of Gerald Durrell for forty years, convivially when editing his books in the 1950s, intimately when they were neighbours in southern France during the 1970s, closely when Gerald Durrell was dying in London hospitals during his last months. `This is a tender and poetic memoir of a prophet we should still heed. ' Nigel Spivey, FINANCIAL TIMES `Glints with riveting anecdotes of a life brimmingly lived over delicious long lunches in southern France. . A brilliant of a visionary bon viveur who committed himself to his ideals. 'Maris Ross, DAILY MAIL `This is an honest, fair-minded, intelligent book, not a fawning fan's eulogy. . HIMSELF AND OTHER ANIMALS is a thoughtful, vivid and moving portrait of a real individual. 'Eileen Battersby, IRISH TIMES
`David Hughes's portrait rings absolutely true; reading this book is uncanny because he manages to bring Gerry so vividly back to life. . . Durrell's life was a combination of great pleasure and great desperation, and this portrait of him perfectly captures these extremes, which pull you along in their wake. ' Edward Whitley, LITERARY REVIEW
David Hughes spent his childhood holidays in Bournemouth at the same time as Durrell was growing up in that resort. Three of his early books, including an informal study of J.B. Priestly, were brought out by Durrell's publisher Rupert Hart-Davis, for whom Hughes worked as an editor. His best regarded novels are The Major, The Imperial German Dinner Service, The Pork Butcher and The Little Book. he lives with his family in London.
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