Giraffe - Softcover

Ledgard, J.M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099490536 ISBN 13: 9780099490531

Publisher: Vintage Books, 2007

Synopsis

In April 1975, forty-seven giraffes were executed in a zoo in a small Czechoslovakian town. There are no records of the event. This strange and beautiful novel tells their story from the moment of their capture in Africa, to the night when they are secretly shot one by one.
From the Hardcover edition.

About this title

About the Author:

J.M. Ledgard was born on the Shetland Islands, Scotland, in 1968, and educated in England, Scotland and America. He has been a foreign correspondent for the Economist since 1995. He divides his time between Europe and Africa.

From AudioFile:

Ledgard's novel, based on a true story, takes us from East Africa and the birth of a white-bellied giraffe cow to a Czechoslovakian zoo and the 1975 extermination of the largest captive giraffe herd in the world. Narrators Jamie Heinlein and Pablo Schreiber create characters oppressed by the harsh realities of Czech communism and tempered by dreamy inner moments. Heinlein is particularly poignant as Amina, a nightwalker in a nation of sleepwalkers, who loves the giraffes. Schreiber effectively handles Emil, a scientist who studies blood flow; Tadeas, the virologist who diagnoses the plague among the animals; and Jiri, the hunter who must exterminate the herd as humanely as possible. Legard's haunting story and the understated, powerful performances by Heinlein and Schreiber make this a remarkable listening experience. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0099490536
• ISBN 13: 9780099490531
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320