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We Bought a Zoo

Benjamin Mee

3.51 · Rating details · 6,938 ratings · 996 reviews

In the tradition of "Marley & Me" comes an unforgettable memoir about the mysteries of the animal kingdom, the power of family, and the triumph of hope over tragedy in this chronicle of the Mee family's purchase of the Dartmoor Wildlife Park, a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside.Weinstein Books ...more

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Hardcover, 261 pages

Published September 1st 2008 by Weinstein Books (first published 2008)

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May 03, 2020 Miranda Reads rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook

The May Reading Vlog (aka tier listing 30+ books) is up! Now that you know where this one ranks, click the link to check out the rest!

The Written Review

You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.

Benjamin Mee and his family...bought a zoo.

They literally up and bought a zoo.

And that zoo? Whew. It needed a LOT of work.

To put it mildly, i ...more

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Dec 22, 2020 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, audible, non-fiction, 2020, biography

3.5 to 4 Stars

Sometimes the whole book is right there in the title. This is a book about a family who bought a zoo, and it is just about what you would expect! They don’t have a zoo, they decide to buy one, and they do.

Well, there is a bit more to it than that, but generally it is pretty much that straightforward. So, if you want to read the story of an Average Joe deciding to buy a zoo and everything that could potentially be involved in the care of animals, maintenance of the grounds, business ...more

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Jul 03, 2013 Bionic Jean rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: animals, read-authors-m-p, non-fiction, auto-and-biography

This is the story of one man's dream, and how he achieved it. But it is no fairy story, although there is a happy ending of sorts.

Benjamin Mee is a journalist, with a talent for making what must have been a traumatic and nerve-racking experience sound both entertaining and poignant. This is his true account of how he bought a failing ramshackle zoo, with the aim of rescuing and re-opening it to the public. There are about two hundred animals now in his care, in the revamped Dartmoor Zoological P ...more

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Jan 07, 2012 K.D. Absolutely rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: with-movie, memoirs, family-drama

My work in the office is to be in front of the computer for almost the whole day. I’m an information technology-systems analyst guy assigned on North American projects so I rarely talk to anybody except during lunch time. Due to this, I can don a headset and listen to a radio station. 8 hours a day.

Since early this January, my favorite afternoon station, RJ 100.30 has been airing the teaser for the movie adaptation of this memoir We Bought a Zoo with one line that goes something like: ”You don’ My work in the office is to be in front of the computer for almost the whole day. I’m an information technology-systems analyst guy assigned on North American projects so I rarely talk to anybody except during lunch time. Due to this, I can don a headset and listen to a radio station. 8 hours a day.

Since early this January, my favorite afternoon station, RJ 100.30 has been airing the teaser for the movie adaptation of this memoir We Bought a Zoo with one line that goes something like: ”You don’t need a lot of knowledge to run a zoo. What you need is a lot of heart.” The voice sounds sincere and the irony (who would thought of buying a zoo and declare it as if what you bought was just a new set of plasma TV?) is just intriguing. Then one evening, I saw a poster on top of a waiting shed along EDSA and when I saw Scarlett Johansson (my well-kept secret crush) and Matt Damon (who to my disappointment lost the lead role in the latest The Bourne movie that is currently shooting here in Manila), I said whoa this seems to be a fun movie. Then the following day, I saw a copy of this book at NBS with exactly the same people on the poster along EDSA, so I bought it right away forgetting my new year’s resolution of not buying books, especially brand new books because they are expensive and they derail my monthly budget. But anyway, I resolved that I would not see the movie anyway so the cost of the book approximates the savings from not seeing the movie with my family.

I liked the book particularly that fact that this was based on a true story. It was hard for me to bring my own experiences that would have made this a memorable read. My childhood experiences in zoos were not that really beautiful. The Manila Zoo was the first zoo I visited, once when I was a small boy and I was so young I could not remember anything about it. All I remember now was the stinking smell and the big scary elephant. I also remember that I wanted to eat another ice cream but my mother would not allow me to have another cone. My wife had a somewhat strange memory about her visit: she fell on the pavement and all she remembered when I asked her was that she was crying endlessly because of the pain. When my daughter was young, we bought her to the same zoo, Malabon Zoo and the ones in Tagaytay. She also had the chance to visit Ocean Park (in Hongkong), Singapore Zoo and Zoobic (in Olongapo City) and I know she enjoyed those. It’s always nice to give somethings to your children especially those that you were not able to have when you were young, right?

There is nothing really wrong about the writing. Mee tried to capture everything that happened in an organized manner. Not sure if he exerted effort to make the telling interesting but I just did not feel anything while reading. Okay, he bought the zoo for his mother as he would like her to have something to excite her now becoming boring twilight years. Okay, he was losing his wife, Katherine, to cancer and he probably thought that this would be a diversion of his grief. Okay, his two kids were all excited to own the 200 animals in the zoo and their father seemed like a God-sent hero to save those animals. Sure Mee has all the heart, and I salute him. It’s just that the writing is a bit boring because it is so plain and predictable. There are heartwarming scenes but from page 1, despite all the hurdles thrown by Mee in the air for me to believe otherwise, I knew that the ending would be happy: that they would succeed in running the zoo.

If you are interested on animals, however, I still recommend this book especially if you are planning to buy your own zoo. Quite informative, I would say.

That radio teaser is still being played. I just heard it while typing this review. After reading this book though, I don’t have any interest to see the movie.
...more

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Mar 28, 2019 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2019

I was exited to read this book because I loved the movie.
Unfortunately however, this was one of those cases where the actual book fell short of the movie.

I loved the story but the writing style, perhaps too plain and direct, made me feel like I'm reading a newspaper article instead of a book. It didn't allow feelings to be properly shown. And it didn't allow me to really bond with any of the characters either. The humour also fell flat and felt like sarcasm most of the time.

I may be the odd on ...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Sandie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: feel-good-reads, contemporary-lit, 2012-books

Recently saw this family friendly movie and enjoyed it. If you have read Benjamin Mee's book WE BOUGHT A ZOO you may be disappointed at the "hollywood spin". Any similarity between the book and the movie basically ends with the title.

In the book Mee's father died and HIS MOTHER bought the Dartmoor Zoo (located in the UK not California) using funds received from the sale of her home in Surrey. Mee's wife Katherine was alive at the time of the purchase and moved to the zoo with their two children Recently saw this family friendly movie and enjoyed it. If you have read Benjamin Mee's book WE BOUGHT A ZOO you may be disappointed at the "hollywood spin". Any similarity between the book and the movie basically ends with the title.

In the book Mee's father died and HIS MOTHER bought the Dartmoor Zoo (located in the UK not California) using funds received from the sale of her home in Surrey. Mee's wife Katherine was alive at the time of the purchase and moved to the zoo with their two children Milo age six (hardly the trouble teen, Dylan, as portrayed in the movie) and Ella age four (a seven year old named Rosie in the movie). His brother, portrayed in the movie by Thomas Hayden Church is not Mee's only sibling nor was he an unwilling participant in the venture, but a willing accomplice. Also, the Benjamin Mee in the book does not come across as the devoted, loving husband and father but as a rather selfish "I want what I want" personality who willingly uproots his family again and again to pursue his dreams.

Those are just a few of the more glaring differences between book and "true story" movie. These discrepancies do not detract from the movies overall appeal (particularly if you have not read the book). As I mentioned, the movie is as warm and gooey as a hot fudge sundae and provides a great viewing experience for the entire family. Particularly enchanting is Maggie Elizabeth Jones who plays little Rosie. She is truly a delight to watch as she attempts to assume the roll of woman of the house. Another performance that tickled my funny bone was that of MacCready the volatile zoo carpenter as played by Angus Macfadyen a very talented and, in my opinion, underrated actor who has portrayed everyone from Robert the Bruce in Braveheart to Richard Burton and even did a turn as Sandra Bullocks fiancé in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

While the book provides the reader with a more in depth look at Mee, the man, and the intricate problems involved the running of a zoo, he comes across as not very likable. The movie, on the other hand, give us a kinder, gentler Mee as we watch a heartbroken Matt Damon cope with the loss of his wife and attempts to raise two children while mastering a domain consisting of over 200 exotic animals. For once, the movie outshines the book........or perhaps I was just in the mood for less reality and more fantasy in my day. ...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Terri rated it it was amazing

Part of what I'm writing is a review of the book, and part of it is a review of the reviews of the book. First of all, a disclaimer: I am primarily, by personal choice, a fiction reader, but I do know that one must bring different reading skills and expectations to a non-fiction account than to a novel. This book is exactly what it says, the story of a young British family living in France (think of some of those House Hunters International episodes from HGTV). The father is a writer of DIY arti Part of what I'm writing is a review of the book, and part of it is a review of the reviews of the book. First of all, a disclaimer: I am primarily, by personal choice, a fiction reader, but I do know that one must bring different reading skills and expectations to a non-fiction account than to a novel. This book is exactly what it says, the story of a young British family living in France (think of some of those House Hunters International episodes from HGTV). The father is a writer of DIY articles who has a long-standing project going of writing about animal behavior; the mother has a rather varied background in commercial art and design. The mother is diagnosed with a brain cancer which will be recurring. In spite of this setback, they continue with their plans for a life in France on a remodeled country property. After his father's death, the opportunity pops up for his family to buy a run down wildlife park in Devon on Dartmoor. (Terribly romantic setting, if you think about stories rather than the prison.) Difficulties ensue--legal, financial, etc. Finally get the property. Trials and stories, some sad, some funny, some just factual, of gradually restoring the park and turning it into a conservation-minded, financially stable business.

What the book is not-- It is not the movie, which has departed rather far from the original story in many instances. It is not a "how-to" book on financing a business or animal care. Admittedly, one does pick up little tidbits here and there, such as if one needs to anesthetize a tiger, do not use a sedative designed for a horse. It is also not a book in which you get the feeling that real-life events have been altered to make them more exciting. This is a story about an extended family taking a risk and overcoming obstacles and a fairly frank evaluation of what tangible and intangible benefits they have gained from the experience. The reader gets a good idea of what the author/narrator really detests and what he finds quite satisfactory about the experience. ...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Melissa (ladybug) rated it liked it

Shelves: yearly-challenge, non-fiction, biography-memoir

While I basically liked this book, I did have several problems with it. The author would (frequently) say something like "but more on that later" but then Mr. Mee never returned to the subject. This happened frequently towards the end of the book. I hated this aspect of the book. Another issue, I had problems with Mr. Mee going on about money complaints and dealings with back room boys and others. He was beating a dead horse with some of his story. It was like he was trying to think of what to w ...more

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Sep 10, 2008 Ellen rated it liked it

It's written rather breathlessly and the photo gallery is completely unsatisfying (more shots of the house and zoo rather than their animal inhabitants would have been nice, not to mention more photos of the family) but the tale itself is pretty darn touching.

...more

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Mar 19, 2010 gargamelscat rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2010, bio

An interesting story spoiled by a literal take, inadequate writing quality and a superficial treatment.

Ok for a memoir maybe there is no requirement for flights of lyrical prose but I expect better from a professional writer.

The superficiality bothered me - we get no real idea of the numbers involved and I'd like to have seen it treated as more of a business case study.

The park itself, the background history and personality of the animals are never detailed except as involved in a couple of anec ...more

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Jan 07, 2012 Yzobelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: animal lovers

Shelves: for-sharing-at-blink

After loving the movie so much, it is difficult for me to give this book 3 stars. I thought and hoped I would be able to proudly give it 5 shining stars.

The book is not entirely bad. Benjamin Mee wrote as a journalist would -- the style was flowing, easy-to-read, a bit witty, and has a pretty good play of words. It was perhaps the focus of the book and the diversion from the movie (or rather, vice-versa -- the movie diverted from the book) that made it a little disappointing. I was expecting to ...more

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Jan 01, 2009 Matt rated it liked it

Apparently in England you can buy a zoo if you have a million pounds or so...

The best parts were the references to Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail, and the part where when they are testing the zoo restaurant before the zoo opens they drink most of the keg of Stella Artois before the zoo opens...

I felt slightly used when it became apparent that one of the author's motivations for buying the zoo was so that he could write a book about it.

Overall the writing is average, but it was a q ...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Jane rated it liked it

Shelves: memoir, nonfiction

Once the family bought the zoo, I enjoyed this book a great deal. However, it was very slow starting. The opening chapter deals with life in France, as the author's wife is diagnosed with a brain tumor. I'm sure it was very important to the author to include this, but it would have served the book better if it had been covered later in the book as a look back. It dragged the book down and made me reluctant to continue.

I run a movie club and we are going to see the movie. I like to read the book ...more

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Jan 12, 2009 Sarah rated it it was ok

Shelves: nonfiction, animals

I did enjoy this book. To be specific, I enjoyed the storyline--a family in England buys a small rundown zoo and works to get it licensed and started up again in the midst of a family tragedy. Now that being said, this book was in serious need of a good editor with lots of red ink. At times it did not flow logically and suffered from a severe overuse of parentheses. Rarely was there a simple sentence containing one uninterrupted thought. And it was downright aggravating that the author would com ...more

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Jan 21, 2012 ♥Xeni♥ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ebook, non-fiction, 2012-books-read, animal, memoir, biography, nature

Alright, so normally I don't pick up a book and read it all the way trough in one (or one and a little) sitting unless it's captivating and usually fiction. Yet, this non fiction book on one man's experience in buying a zoo I read from 1 am to 6 am and then the last 15% after I woke up at noon. Finished the whole thing before 1 pm.

And I don't know why.

Certainly I've been reading some crazy shit lately: John Dies at the End (fucked up fiction which is screwing with my sense of insanity), The Er Alright, so normally I don't pick up a book and read it all the way trough in one (or one and a little) sitting unless it's captivating and usually fiction. Yet, this non fiction book on one man's experience in buying a zoo I read from 1 am to 6 am and then the last 15% after I woke up at noon. Finished the whole thing before 1 pm.

And I don't know why.

Certainly I've been reading some crazy shit lately: John Dies at the End (fucked up fiction which is screwing with my sense of insanity), The Erotic Adventures of Ambrose Horne (an extremely odd revitalization of Sherlock Holmes with a very erotic twist), Annabel (fiction work about a hermaphrodite Innuit child), The Rose Garden (historical-romance-scifi-time travel-adventure fiction which makes me question both time travel and love), Slave Species of God (non fiction trying to explain our origins) as well as countless of crazy website blogs and posts mostly focusing on reddit and crack.com such as the crazy interview questions google doesn't ask anymore, glitch in the matrix stories, ACTA things, illuminati, the music industry and this list is probably boring you to tears right now if you're even still reading.

My point was that all these crazy things have gotten my mind spinning and yet I stay up an entire night to read an (albeit rather humerus) account of a man acquiring a run down zoo against all odds and all the crazy things that happen when you decide to do something so majorly insane.

All I know is that one day, I'd given the chance, I too will buy a zoo. Hopefully I too will have amazing encounters with wolves escaping, jaguars tearing through containers and ballistic monkeys. But if I can't have that, I definitely will continue to visit zoo's and animal parks and happily endorse them with plenty of cash spent. Why? Because not only did this book show me how incredibly ballsy and clinically insane you have to be to buy a zoo, but also that it's one of the best things you could do for animals at this time.

I'd always been one I'd those people who'd happily debate on keeping animals locked up in fake environments vs. freeing them to be hunted and poached and driven to extinction. I think I've finally found my footing on this issue, and it's on the sides of the animals.

I plan to watch this movie / tv show. And if I'm ever in England I am definitely stopping by to invisibly help continue this amazing endeavor. That said, I still like fiction works more, but this book gripped my heart. ...more

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Jun 12, 2020 Martyna rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-books, american-literature, cinema, biography-or-simply-bio

Benjamin Mee is a British journalist, writing to known papers like The Guardian. In 2006, together with his family, he bought a zoo and that is what the book "We bought a Zoo" is about. Mee talks in it about the initial period of running it, or rather its preparation for the official opening, because the facility required renovation and re-obtaining a license to run.

For me, the author wasted the potential for a really cool book. It is both about the choice of content and the style in which it wa Benjamin Mee is a British journalist, writing to known papers like The Guardian. In 2006, together with his family, he bought a zoo and that is what the book "We bought a Zoo" is about. Mee talks in it about the initial period of running it, or rather its preparation for the official opening, because the facility required renovation and re-obtaining a license to run.

For me, the author wasted the potential for a really cool book. It is both about the choice of content and the style in which it was written. In "We bought a Zoo" a lot of space is occupied by the description of financial and administrative problems, including problems with obtaining credit and renewing licenses, problems with banks and officials. Mee writes with real pleasure about all renovation and construction works at the zoo - no wonder, since he professionally writes articles about DIY. You can learn from these stories what you need to pay attention to when designing a zoo, although Mee also writes about renovations at home, workshop or restaurant. Detailed descriptions of how and where someone hit the nail and with what tool drove me crazy as well as other detailed descriptions of uninteresting activities or events, such as garbage disposal.

In "We bought a zoo" we can also read about various theories about biophilia, ecosystem, biodiversity and the role of zoos. Only the animals in this book are scarce - a few stories, somewhere in the background, mostly about escapes of predators and chasing them.

The book is also full of meaningless phrases: business plan, facing a huge challenge, identity and ethos (when it comes to the name for the zoo), profit optimization, risk minimization, comprehensive analysis of the situation. And throughout the book you get a rigid, official language, as if reading a report or a management manual. This bothered me the most; somehow it was difficult for me to find the humor or excess of emotions mentioned in the official description of the book.

Mee saved the Dartmoor Zoo, and I praise him for his love of animals. However, he definitely does not have a writing talent or gift of storytelling. His style is heavy, he was able to change an life interesting story into a boring report - which is surprising, since he's a professional journalist. ...more

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Mar 30, 2011 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction

My four-sentence or less take on the plot: Benjamin Mee and his family decide an extremely run down zoo (so run down that the animals are going to be quickly euthanized if a buyer isn't found). The zoo provides an extreme amount of both enjoyment and difficulty. During this time, Mee runs in to personal tragedy when his beloved wife gets diagnosed with brain cancer. This book deals with a lot of the nitty gritty business details of the buying and opening of a zoo.

Rating: 8

What worked:I really li ...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Lisa Kay rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: m-library-sj-audio-oda, has-a-movie, genre-grief, male-pov, 2012-in-2012-group-challenge, authors-m, authors-b, animal-animals-in-story, genre-memoir

★★★½✩ (This is a review of the audiobook.) This was narrated by Gildart Jackson, who does a decent job of reading this memoir. However, he pretty much sounds like he is talking from a lectern, if somewhat informally. In his defense, this is in large part due to the way the author wrote the story.

I can see why this book would make a good movie. Nevertheless, the book spends a lot of time on Mr. Mee’s troubles with wills, bank loans, finances, and his wife's illness and death, when - sorry to say ...more

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Dec 06, 2017 Caly ☯ Crazy Book Lady rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobooks

This was an excellent book and I enjoyed it much more than Gerald Durell's "My family and other animals". Would love to see the movie some time. ...more

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Oct 26, 2018 Julianna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Animal Lovers

Shelves: biography-memoir, read-2018, animal-stories

Reviewed for THC Reviews
I’ve had We Bought a Zoo on my TBR list for some time now. Generally being a sticker for reading the book before watching the movie, I finally decided to pick it up for a book-to-movie reading challenge I’m working on. It ended up being a good read. It’s the story of a British man and his family who decided to buy an old, broken-down zoo and revitalize it. I can’t quite decide if Benjamin Mee is very brave, a little crazy (in a good way), or both. I think it probably requ Reviewed for THC Reviews
I’ve had We Bought a Zoo on my TBR list for some time now. Generally being a sticker for reading the book before watching the movie, I finally decided to pick it up for a book-to-movie reading challenge I’m working on. It ended up being a good read. It’s the story of a British man and his family who decided to buy an old, broken-down zoo and revitalize it. I can’t quite decide if Benjamin Mee is very brave, a little crazy (in a good way), or both. I think it probably requires some of both to take on a project of this magnitude. It would be daunting enough to purchase a zoo that was in good working order and didn’t have any major problems. Taking on one that’s been going downhill for years and has already lost its zoo license because of its decline is a monumental task even for an experienced zoo director, let alone one who’s never done anything like this before. I have to commend Mr. Mee and his family for taking such a risk, and then pouring so much love and energy into it. Not to mention, the bulk of the work was undertaken both during his wife’s unsuccessful battle with brain cancer and immediately after her death, which made it all the more impressive. At least he had his mother, brother, and children there supporting him (although his kids were quite young at the time), along with moral support and some financial support from two other siblings, so it was really a group effort. But still, it had to have taken some serious nerve, along with boundless fortitude and energy to succeed in their endeavor. And succeed they have. It’s been ten years since this book was written, but I looked up the website and found that the Dartmoor Zoo is still going strong and looks great, so kudos to the Mee family for making their dream a reality.

As for the book itself, it mainly chronicles the time from when they first got wind of a zoo being for sale and started thinking about possibly buying it, all the way up to the opening day of the new, revamped park. It was quite the journey to getting there with lots of bumps and hiccups along the way, not to mention the major tragedy of Mr. Mee losing his wife, but it seems to have been an immensely rewarding one. For me, the most interesting parts, and what I thought were the strongest parts, were the individual stories of the various animals, as well as some of the more personal details of his wife’s illness, more so than the business woes. However, I admit that was also part of the overall story of how the zoo came to be. It’s just that IMHO, sometimes the narrative was a bit meandering, and didn’t always seem to follow a linear path. This meant there were some sections that held my attention better than others. Overall, though, as a huge animal lover, I enjoyed the book, and I think others like myself probably will, too. However, as much as I love animals, it has also proven to me that I definitely don’t have what it takes to be a zoo director.:-) I’ll leave that to the Mees and others like them, and simply visit whenever I get a chance. In fact, if I ever make it across the pond, I just might have to put the Dartmoor Zoo on my itinerary. ...more

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Feb 01, 2019 Dana rated it liked it

Benjamin Mee and his family decide to buy a run down zoo in Dartmoor, England. In the midst learning about the zoo and preparing for opening day, Ben's wife Katherine suffers a recurrence of a brain tumor and passes away. It was fun reading about the different animals and experiences around the zoo, but it seemed to be disjointed at times. I still enjoyed the book though and reading about their future plans for the zoo and animal conservation. ...more

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May 25, 2012 Keilani Ludlow rated it really liked it

What a wonderful book! So many laugh out loud moments even in the midst of sadness and trial. I saw and enjoyed the movie, but the book really expands the story. However, without the movie I would never have known of the book so can't deride the movie for changing so much.

He is an excellent writer, witty and observant. As a fan of Gerard Durrell (another writer with a zoo), I also really enjoyed his discussions of the different animals, habits that they have, bits and pieces of scientific inform ...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Gayle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

I'm so excited! I am receiving 'We Bought a Zoo' by Benjamin Mee, as a gift through Goodreads Giveaways and Mandy. Today my husband and I just purchased the movie and I'm more than thrilled and cannot wait to receive, read and review the book. Thank you so much. I feel like a lottery winner!!

I liked this book! There were laugh out loud moments and well-deserved triumphs.

I read a previous review where it was stated that the reader felt that Mee was not very likable in the book. I thought ( and I ...more

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May 19, 2012 Diane rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: memoirs, movie-adaptation

This is a fun and interesting read, though it has a sad story at the heart of it. Benjamin Mee and his family decide to buy a rundown zoo in England, but in the middle of the adventure, his wife dies after a lengthy battle with a brain tumor. (In the overly precious movie version of this book, the wife's death is what causes Benjamin to buy the zoo, in addition to other Hollywood script doctoring.)

I like stories about fixer-uppers and when a group pulls together to accomplish a goal, which is wh ...more

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Apr 13, 2013 M.T. McGuire rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Having picked this book up, on a whim, at a car boot sale, I read it in a morning. The style is easy to read and voice is particularly clear, I really got the impression that I was sitting having a chat with Benjamin Mee. The voice is very strong. He's a journalist and it's an easy read journalistic style which I enjoyed. Because it's written by him, it has an immediacy that some of the more obviously ghost written celebrity biographies lack.

The book is funny enough to have me laughing out loud ...more

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Jan 11, 2009 Leigh-ann rated it really liked it

My own love of animals may have made this book more interesting to me than to the average person. The idea of owning a zoo seems like heaven, so I was happy to follow along as the author and his family traveled the very difficult and expensive road to zoo ownership. The book is not just about the zoo, however... it's also about the author's wife, who develops (and dies from) brain cancer (that's not a spoiler, as her death is revealed on the book jacket). Her death was particularly sad because s ...more

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Mar 17, 2012 Sim Carter rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: film, memoir, books-made-into-movies

About the Book:
Knowing it was the basis for what looked like a romantic comedy starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, I really wanted to LOVE this book. It was not at all what I expected and I tried to enjoy it for its own merits. If you've seen the movie, believe me, this is nothing like the film. BUT if you are an animal lover and find topics like extracting a tooth from a bear or how to get a decrepit animal park in shape for the inspectors, then this book may be for you. It was occasion ...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Teal rated it did not like it

Shelves: nonfiction

I almost never say this, but the movie was much better. More of a coherent story, better characterizations. I know that means that a lot of it is made up, but honestly the book is more about the technical and financial aspects of running a zoo, which is interesting in it's own way, but not that great of a "story." So for a heartwarming tale of family and zoo life, the movie wins. ...more

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Sep 01, 2015 Cyndi rated it did not like it

Didn't actually like this book. Didn't like the movie, either. It is written with the flavor of a DIY book. If you ever decide to take over a dilapidated zoo in the UK, this is your 'How-To'. ...more

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Feb 20, 2017 Analisa rated it it was amazing

Loved it! Mee's writing is witty, hilarious and kept me wanting to read more! ...more

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About Benjamin Mee

Benjamin Mee

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Benjamin Mee, a former bricklayer and decorator, returned to education in his early twenties in order to investigate animal intelligence. Ben studied psychology at UCL and wrote his dissertation on dolphin intelligence, after which his first article appeared in the Independent, while he was a student on the MSc in Science Journalism at Imperial College.

As the world preferred articles on health and ...more

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“All it takes is 20 seconds of insane courage and great things will happen.” — 21 likes

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