Zoo Memoirs, The Zoo Memoirs

The British naturalist and bestselling author of the Corfu Trilogy—the inspiration for the Masterpiece production The Durrells in Corfu—founds a zoo.

In this trio of delightful memoirs, British wildlife preservation pioneer and national bestselling author Gerald Durrell recounts the ups and downs he faces in transforming his lifelong dream of creating a new kind of zoo into a reality.

A Zoo in My Luggage: In 1957, Durrell and his wife travel to the British Cameroons in West Africa to begin assembling his menagerie. The greater challenge proves to be in safely transporting their exotic animals back to Britain and finding a home for them.

“Animals come close to being Durrell’s best friends. . . . He writes about them with style, verve, and humor.” —Time

The Whispering Land: On an eight-month journey in South America to expand his menagerie, Durrell and his wife travel across windswept Patagonian shores and through tropical forests in the Argentine, encountering fur seals, ocelots, penguins, parrots, pumas, and more.

“An amusing writer who transforms this Argentine backcountry into a particularly inviting place.” —San Francisco Chronicle

Menagerie Manor: In 1959, on the grounds of an old manor house on the Channel Island of Jersey, Durrell finally opens the Jersey Zoo—now known as the Durrell Wildlife Park. Along with the satisfaction of providing a safe habitat for rare and endangered species come the trials of operating a fledgling zoo, including overdrawn bank accounts and escaped animals.

“No one can be funnier than Mr. Durrell in relating his own adventures or the antics of the claw and paw set.” —The Christian Science Monitor