Nine Lives

by David S. Gill

Building a zoo by hand was the easy part. Though he was almost blinded during the building process, David S Gill transformed a large piece of Cumbrian wasteland into a unique feature of the Lake District - a place where people could see tigers, bears and rhinos up close and hand feed giraffes, penguins and lemurs in natural habitats. Yet the real trials of his life were just beginning. Since 1994 David Gill has survived being stabbed in the neck, countless attacks by animals and somehow avoided death whilst travelling in some of the most inhospitable places on earth. He might have drowned in Peru and Australia, where he also became an enemy of the state before fleeing for his life. He risked his own life attempting to save a drowning kangaroo and again when he walked into a raging inferno to save his own lemurs. Tragedy struck when he had to shoot his own rhino in a mercy killing. The hardest thing to cope with has been years spent away from his own children while fighting the family court. He had a gorgeous home, a zoo and a Bentley in the garage. Yet he had nothing. How had this happened and could he ever regain his children who are the love of his life? Nine Lives is such a roller-coaster ride that you might expect to find it in the fiction section of the book store. Yet every event here actually happened for real. These events would have killed lesser men but David S Gill is a survivor and he is still surviving to tell the tale - a tale you must read to believe.

600 pages, Paperback

First published November 26, 2011

Reviews

[Sam Griffin]

This is one of the most appalling books I have ever read. Having said that, I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the zoo world! It is not easy reading, not only because of the distasteful content but due to the fact it is very poorly written. At times it appears to have been penned by two entirely different authors, or at least large sections appear to be entirely unedited. The first few chapters are almost unreadable, with very disjointed prose and a self indulgent story which certainly does not leave the reader wanting to know more. If, through not inconsiderable perseverance, you can make it past the first few chapters, you will be rewarded with a debauched tale filled with bitterness, resentment, arrogance and genuinely unbelievable anecdotes. At times I found this book difficult to put down. But only in the way one is compelled to stare at a car crash despite the image being so repugnant it turns your stomach.

'Nine Lives' has very few redeeming features. I did laugh out loud more than once; the claim that the author, whilst working on a farm, would fall asleep leaning on a cow or during the unrestrained and gratuitous personal attacks on individuals he has known. The book does not contain the line 'needless to say, I had the last laugh'. But almost every chapter could be concluded with this Partridge-esque conclusion.

The book contains precious few tales about zoo keeping. There is even less of a conservation message. Instead it is a self indulgent auto-biography which seeks to justify a life spent in self gratification. The irony is that this man has tales to tell. Adventures to write about. Messages to get across. Instead this book is used for his own divisive ends. Read this book. But find a second hand copy!

[Milly]

Although not the greatest written book it's an interesting insight into the motivation and background of a zoo owner. Looks into self belief, relationships and many family that have sometimes detrimental impacts of the zoo or family life by having a one view focus of life.

[Beth Phethean]

The badly written ramblings of a narcissistic maniac.