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All Creatures Great and Small [Paperback]

James Herriot
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (220 customer reviews)

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Book Description

August 1, 2004
The classic multimillion copy bestseller

Delve into the magical, unforgettable world of James Herriot, the world's most beloved veterinarian, and his menagerie of heartwarming, funny, and tragic animal patients.
For over thirty years, generations of readers have thrilled to Herriot's marvelous tales, deep love of life, and extraordinary storytelling abilities. For decades, Herriot roamed the remote, beautiful Yorkshire Dales, treating every patient that came his way from smallest to largest, and observing animals and humans alike with his keen, loving eye.

In All Creatures Great and Small, we meet the young Herriot as he takes up his calling and discovers that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire are very different from the sterile setting of veterinary school. From caring for his patients in the depths of winter on the remotest homesteads to dealing with uncooperative owners and critically ill animals, Herriot discovers the wondrous variety and never-ending challenges of veterinary practice as his humor, compassion, and love of the animal world shine forth.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Absolutely super, a rarity, magnificently written, insightful, unforgettable. . . . If you have ever loved a friend, human or otherwise, this is the book for you."
- Houston Chronicle

"This warm, joyous and often hilarious first-person chronicle of a young animal doctor . . . shines with love of life."
- The New York Times Book Review

"One of the funniest and most likeable books around."
- The Atlantic Monthly

"[Herriot] is the most entertaining, most thoroughly likeable, most engaging person to have come along in a long time, and the stories he has to tell are fascinating."
- The Washington Post

"If there is any justice, All Creatures Great and Small will become a classic of its kind . . . With seemingly effortless art, this man tells his stories with perfect timing and optimum scale. Many more famous authors could work for a lifetime and not achieve more flawless literary control."
- Chicago Tribune Book World

"Herriot charms because he delights in life, embraces it with sensitivity and gust and writes with grace. All Creatures Great and Small may well be the happiest book of the year."
- The New York Times Book Review

"Absolutely super, a rarity, magnificently written, insightful, unforgettable . . . If you have ever loved a friend, human or otherwise, this is the book for you."
- Houston Chronicle

"Refreshingly original . . . as close to a novel as a chronicle of memoirs could be . . . hilarious, touching, athletic and warming . . . Dr. Herriot's characters . . . rival any from British fiction."
- Los Angeles Times

"James Herriot . . . is one of those rare men who know how to appreciate the ordinary . . . a natural storyteller."ar- The New York Times

"Warm, anecdotal . . . All Creature Great and Small makes you feel good about the worried and some of the people in it."
- San Francisco Chronicle

"What the world needs now, and does every so often, is a warm, G-rated, down-home, unadrenalized prize of a book that sneaks onto the bestseller lists . . . James Herriot's memoirs qualify admirably."
- Time

"An inspirational book . . . with all its comedy; tragedy, drama, and farce . . . works like a spring tonic: It lifts the spirits and warms the heart . . . There is no advice, no pat formula for better living. There is just Herriot, a man you cannot resist."
- Chicago Tribune

"Herriot has a real flair for writing and his book is a treat."
- Publishers Weekly


"This warm, joyous and often hilarious first-person chronicle of a young animal doctor . . . shines with love of life." (The New York Times Book Review )

"One of the funniest and most likeable books around." (The Atlantic Monthly )

"[Herriot] is the most entertaining, most thoroughly likeable, most engaging person to have come along in a long time, and the stories he has to tell are fascinating." (The Washington Post )

"If there is any justice, All Creatures Great and Small will become a classic of its kind . . . With seemingly effortless art, this man tells his stories with perfect timing and optimum scale. Many more famous authors could work for a lifetime and not achieve more flawless literary control." (Chicago Tribune Book World )

"Herriot charms because he delights in life, embraces it with sensitivity and gust and writes with grace. All Creatures Great and Small may well be the happiest book of the year." (The New York Times Book Review )

"Absolutely super, a rarity, magnificently written, insightful, unforgettable . . . If you have ever loved a friend, human or otherwise, this is the book for you." (Houston Chronicle )

"Refreshingly original . . . as close to a novel as a chronicle of memoirs could be . . . hilarious, touching, athletic and warming . . . Dr. Herriot's characters . . . rival any from British fiction." (Los Angeles Times )

"James Herriot . . . is one of those rare men who know how to appreciate the ordinary . . . a natural storyteller." (The New York Times )

"Warm, anecdotal . . . All Creature Great and Small makes you feel good about the worried and some of the people in it." (San Francisco Chronicle )

"What the world needs now, and does every so often, is a warm, G-rated, down-home, unadrenalized prize of a book that sneaks onto the bestseller lists . . . James Herriot's memoirs qualify admirably." (Time )

"An inspirational book . . . with all its comedy; tragedy, drama, and farce . . . works like a spring tonic: It lifts the spirits and warms the heart . . . There is no advice, no pat formula for better living. There is just Herriot, a man you cannot resist." (Chicago Tribune )

"Herriot has a real flair for writing and his book is a treat." (Publishers Weekly )

From the Publisher

Here is the heartwarming true story of Dr. James Herriot, a country veterinarian whose unique courage, warmth, and natural storytelling ability have captured the heart of American in a very special way!

"A classic of its kind...'miraculous' is not too strong a word!" -- Chicago Times Book World

."Warm, joyous, often hilarious... shines with love of life." -- The New York Times Book Review. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; Reprint edition (August 1, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312330855
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312330859
  • Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (220 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

A lovely book for animal lovers. Erika Sorocco  |  58 reviewers made a similar statement
The story is warm, funny and heartwarming. Phome  |  49 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
70 of 74 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great and not-so-small December 29, 2002
Format:Mass Market Paperback
James Herriot was a country veterinarion who lived in Yorkshire before (and after) World War II. His stories are funny, heartwarming, sad, and highly educational. And after reading this, you will either want to be a vet or be very grateful that you aren't one.

The book opens (after a brief chapter taking place several months later) with James arriving in Yorkshire, to be the assistant to the eccentric but kindly Siegfried Farnon (yes, that is his name). He becomes accustomed to Siegfried, Siegfried's mischievous younger brother Tristan (yes, that is his name), and the gruff, kindly farmers who eke out a living in the Yorkshire Dales. Pampered pooches who are spoiled rotten, savage pigs who chase Tristan around the farm, a nightmarishly strict secretary who drives Siegfried up the wall, James's car-with-no-brakes, cows running on three cylinders, a sadistic vet who makes James wear a rubber bodysuit, and an elderly, immensely wealthy widow who adopts a pig. And through this, James falls in love with the beautiful Helen Alderson and worms his way into the trust of the farmers.

James Herriot (real name, James Wight) was truly a one-of-a-kind man. He let readers into his head throughout the book, where the cows kick him across the yard, farmers often treat him as an interloper or a nuisance, and his boss gives contradicting orders from one day to the next. But he never loses his drive or his love of animals. (Okay, he hates some animals, but only as individuals) He even lets the readers see him at his worst, when he's humiliated by some recalcitrant livestock, and one horrible scene where he and his date show up drunk and mud-smeared in front of the girl he adores. (Not to mention when Tristan got him to use very feminine-smelling bath salts) But don't think that all of these stories are funny or romantic -- quite a few are aggravating or outright sad. James didn't soften the blows at all.

The people around James are just as fantastic: Siegfried, his weird but genial boss who can kick Tristan out of the house and forget about it overnight; Tristan, the mischievous anti-scholar who usually manages to keep out of trouble; and Helen, who seems a little too saintly at times (which isn't surprising, since James married her). There are a lot of details about surgery and stuff like that that will gross out the squeamish, but at least you'll learn a lot of medical trivia. (For example, what is a torsion?)

It's sweet, sad, funny, romantic, dramatic. "All Creatures Great And Small" (and its four sequels) is a fantastic read for all ages.

Was this review helpful to you?
47 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
These stories are true treasures. While the BBC series is amusing, these stories are far more personal. You get to met Dr. Herriot (a pseudonym for James Alfred Wight) who starts as a young veternarian just out of school and joins a country practice. Cows get the better of him, the local Yorkshire farmers one-up him, he gets his car inevitably stuck in the mud and yet prevails as a caring, resourceful vet who loves his quirkly rural clients as much the animals he cares for. He also writes with such laugh-outloud humor and self-deprecation you just wish the book would go on and on. Fortunately, he wrote four more of these books (each named for a line in a hymn) and a memoir of his father, in whose practice he began. They really give you the flavor of rural life in England before and after WWII.

I can't believe these stories are 30 years old, and Dr. Herriot has passed on. Thankfully he left this legacy behind for us to savor. These are books to re-read on dreary days with a cup of tea or just when you really need something to lift your spirits.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Timeless Classic November 17, 2006
By Smash B
Format:Hardcover
What can one say about a masterpiece. For this is truly what this novel is. This is a timeless classic that will endure for generation after generation.

Follow the true adventures of Yorkshire veterinarian James Herriott and his charming comrades as he traverses the Yorkshire dales in the 1930's attending to the ailing animals that he loved so dearly. You'll feel every mile as he bumps along over the fells and moors. You'll see all the wild beauty of the extraordinary Yorkshire territory of England. But most importantly, you'll feel all the emotions tugging at your heart from the hardened Yorkshire farmers to the humorous and warmhearted denizens of Darrowby. You'll meet the inimitable Seigfried Farnon, James's veterinary partner, whose constant contradictions nevertheless fail to conceal a heart truly without malice of any kind and filled with love and generosity. You'll meet Seigfried's brother, Tristan, with his, shall we say, overly relaxed view of life. There's also Helen, the woman who captures James's heart and the hysterically funny Granville Bennett whose eating and drinking prowess is not to be outdone by anyone. Yes, there are these lively characters and more that pepper the pages of this work of literary genius.

But most of all, this novel will leave you with the warmest and coziest of feelings. From the blazing fires in the drawing rooms to the shivering winter nights spent delivering precious new animal lives, you'll be drawn into this world of delight and joy. Don't miss the opportunity of a lifetime to own this enchanting marvel!

Smash B
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars James Herriot Books
I had loaned this book to a friend out of my set and never got it back. I ordered this specific book to replace the one in my set and it was exactly like the one I had before. Read more
Published 8 hours ago by Kathryn L. Cook
5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic
One of the best books ever. It is witty, charming, sad and happy. I rank this book at the top.
Published 1 day ago by Margaret A. Landow
5.0 out of 5 stars James Harriot brings to life people and their relationship with their...
I highly recommend this book for anyone. It will be difficult to put it down once you start reading. Read more
Published 17 days ago by TBowser
5.0 out of 5 stars All Creatures Great and Small
My favorite book of all time-I've read all of the James Herriot books, but this one is closest to my heart!
Published 18 days ago by M. Davis
3.0 out of 5 stars aj sez
I usually don't write reviews positive or negative. I'm making an exception here because I don't know the condition of the book because it was a gift. Read more
Published 19 days ago by Tony Matarazza
5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Book
This is a warm, wonderful book. Stories are told with humor and insight. Read the whole series...you won't be disappointed!
Published 25 days ago by Tracy M Walters
4.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable!
I enjoyed the discription of the countryside and life In the rolling dales of Yorkshire in the early years. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Teacherx3
5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious!
The people, animals and their antics are described in a way that is captivating and very amusing. Even though it was written many years ago human nature and animal behaviour has... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sabine Schmidt
5.0 out of 5 stars James Herriot
I read these books first in high school, and am rediscovering them and enjoying them even more! All animal lovers should read them.
Published 1 month ago by Joe A. Brent
5.0 out of 5 stars Book, James Herriot, All Creatures Great and Small
I have read James Herriot's whole series previous, but my book club wanted to read it and it is purely delightful a second time around.
Published 2 months ago by Karren
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