The Cowboy and His Elephant: The Story of a Remarkable Friendship [Paperback]

Malcolm Macpherson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 3, 2002

In the late 1980s, a female baby elephant was born on the plains of Southern Africa. In a "cull," her family was slaughtered. Only the newborn female's life was spared. Terrified and bewildered the young elephant was transported to America to be sold.

Bob Norris is a cowboy with an enormous empathy for animals. Handsome as a movie star, he was the Marlboro Man, with his face appearing on billboards around the world. But something was missing. When the hurt, vulnerable little elephant, Amy, came into his life, an incredible bond between the most unlikely of friends was forged.

Bob adopted Amy and through close observation, gentle training, humor, and endless perseverance, this accomplished horseman gradually coaxed Amy into overcoming her mistrust of humans, and her fear of the world. Amy became a beloved member of the Norris family, and partner to the ranch hands, but Bob knew from the start that the ultimate goal was for Amy to regain her confidence and her independence - even, if it were possible, to go back to the savannahs of Africa.

Amy may have left the cowboy's life, but she never left his heart. This is a story of mutual friendship, of genuine love and compassion, and foremost, this is an American story with roots that run deep in the values and traditions of the American West.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Malcolm MacPherson lives in the countryside of Virginia with his children Molly and Fraser, and his wife Charlie. He has worked on the staffs of New York Magazine and Premiere, and has contributed stories and articles to publications from The New York Times to Readers' Digest. For nearly fifteen years, he was a staff correspondent for Newsweek, based in the U.S., Europe, and Africa, where he took every opportunity to observe elephants in the wild.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (September 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312304064
• ISBN-13: 978-0312304065
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #287,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MALCOLM MACPHERSON is a journalist and author of 12 fiction and non-fiction books, including, most recently, his bestseller about the Afghan war, Robert's Ridge. He served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, and worked as a foreign correspondent for Newsweek for 12 years, covering the Yom Kippur war and other notable events. Most recently, he reported from Iraq for Time Magazine while living in the presidential palace in the newly formed "Green Zone." He lives in Virginia with his wife.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best thing I've read in a l-o-n-g time!, October 22, 2002

By 

T. Pajak (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Cowboy &His Elephant, The Story of a Remarkable Friendship - 2001 publication (Hardcover)

Once you start reading the story of baby elephant Amy and the bond all female elephants have with each other, and her subsequent separation from the herd due to merciless "culling" of the adults, your heart will break with the fate of the poor orphaned calf.

Only through the warm heart of the "Marlboro Man" cowboy does Amy become adopted and brought onto his Colorado ranch to grow up and learn how to be an elephant. Cowboy Bob gives her a little goat as her playmate, and little by little draws her out of her fear of everything and turns her into a mischievous, intelligent and loving creature.

Of course, nature takes its predestined course and Amy grows to quite a bit of tonnage and can't remain the cowboy's pet forever. The cowboy's decision to part with his "large love" is heart-wrenching on himself, the elephant, and the reader.

The book is written in a flowing style rich with elephant facts and wild west allusions to fence mending and cattle driving. There's not a reader alive who wouldn't succumb to this touching story.

Highly recommended....buy it, read it, and pass it around.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amy is in Arkansas, October 3, 2005

By 

Trunk to tail - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cowboy and His Elephant: The Story of a Remarkable Friendship (Paperback)

The true story of Bob and his good natured Amy. It is a wonderful read for anyone who loves animals but Amy's story did not really end the way the book implies. Instead, Amy resides at Riddle's Elephant & Wildlife Sanctuary in Arkansas. I don't believe the author intentionally misleads the reader but I think the plans just fell through in the end and everyone decided it was best. I saw first-hand the excellent care and freedom she is given at Riddle's and approve whole-heartedly of the true ending.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Story, September 9, 2005

By 

A. Haynes "person of many interests" (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cowboy &His Elephant, The Story of a Remarkable Friendship - 2001 publication (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful story of the connection between a man and his pet, this pet just happens to be an elephant. You will find out that the Marboro Man was not just a good-looking cowboy, but a man of exceptional depth and compassion. This is not great literature, but it is a great story and well told. The emotional lives of this unlikely pair will inspire a closer connection between man and beast.