The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter: A Memoir [Hardcover]

Holly Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 26, 2009

“What kind of Navy officer sits on his ship in the middle of the Mediterranean dreaming of gerbils?”

That’s the question that Holly Robinson sets out to answer in this warm and rollicking memoir of life with her father, the world’s most famous gerbil czar.

Starting with a few pairs of gerbils housed for curiosity’s sake in the family’s garage, Donald Robinson’s obsession with the “pocket kangaroo” developed into a lifelong passion and second career. Soon the Annapolis-trained Navy commander was breeding gerbils and writing about them for publications ranging from the ever-bouncy Highlights for Children to the erudite Science News. To support his burgeoning business, the family eventually settled on a remote hundred-acre farm with horses, sheep, pygmy goats, peacocks–and nearly nine thousand gerbils.

From part-time model for her father’s bestselling pet book, How to Raise and Train Pet Gerbils, to full-time employee in the gerbil empire’s complex of prefab Sears buildings, Holly was an enthusiastic if often exasperated companion on her father’s quest to breed the perfect gerbil. Told with heart, humor, and affection, The Gerbil Farmer’s Daughter is Holly’s ode to a weird and wonderful upbringing and her truly one-of-a-kind father.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Robinson, a former contributing editor to Ladies' Home Journal, wryly narrates this memoir about growing up with a stern navy father who abruptly takes up breeding the then little-known gerbil in the late 1960s. Though her mother equates the creatures with rats, and her father must keep his behavior hushed in his military circles, his hobby soon becomes an obsession that he believes will not only make him an income but allow him to retire. Robinson grew up as a fish out of water navy brat in the 1970s with a strong-willed mother and younger siblings—including her sister Gail who died of cystic fibrosis at age four. But her father is the true focus; he accidentally discovers that gerbils have epileptic seizures, a discovery that leads him to become the world's largest supplier of gerbils bred for research. Robinson intersperses her compelling narrative with accounts of gerbil mayhem, managing to milk a great deal of humor and pathos out of the rodent that eventually became a common children's pet. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Robinson’s traditional military-brat upbringing is upended by her father’s sudden and inexplicable fascination with gerbils. As she details the family’s dedication to this new project, her mother’s grudging tolerance, and the machinations required to keep the gerbils secret from the navy (which would frown upon such kitschy weirdness), Robinson makes her family seem ordinary in spite of this one bit of strangeness. And her father was no rodent dilettante, as evident in her chronicling of his years of research into using gerbils in lab experiments and his careful business plan. What keeps this surprising memoir from becoming a Lucille Ball/Henry Fonda parody is, sadly, the sudden death of Robinson’s younger sister from cystic fibrosis, a disease her father hopes can be cured through scientific inquiry. Suddenly gerbil farming isn’t so silly after all. Robinson writes with humor and honesty, creating a charming story, a reminder of how all the love and care in the world may not be enough, and a moving tribute to a father who, nonetheless, never stopped trying. --Colleen Mondor

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Crown; First Edition edition (May 26, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307337456
• ISBN-13: 978-0307337450
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.1 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #574,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I never meant to be a writer. I studied biology in college because I wanted to be a doctor - preferably one of those doctors who's always jetting off to villages in Africa to save thousands of lives in a single weekend. But life intervened during my last semester of college, when I chose a class in creative writing.

From the moment I sat down to write, I became completely absorbed in my work. While I was writing, seven hours could pass like seven minutes. To the horror of my parents, I abandoned the idea of medical school to become a writer, promising that, if I didn't get to be rich or famous in, oh, a year or so, I'd let common sense rule and find a real career.

Of course, none of that happened. A year went by. Two. Then more. As I became even more engrossed in the writing process, I did what all writers do to support my secret habit: I worked a thousand odd jobs, from proofreading telephone books (really) to construction. I kept writing, filling up the corners of my life and lots of paper with words.

Then one day, as I was driving home from the grocery store, a title floated across the windshield of my car: The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter. After I finished laughing, my mouth went dry. I knew I had the title of my first book, which sets out to answer this question: How did my father, a career Navy man, end up on a farm with 9,000 gerbils?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful Story of Childhood Amid Pet Rodents, June 4, 2009

By 

S. Hanna (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter: A Memoir (Hardcover)

I am a person who doesn't get much time to read, but I put this book on my nightstand and read a chapter or two every night. It is just wonderful! Ms. Robinson has a delightfully wry sense of humor and she sure can turn a phrase to elicit a laugh. Her stories of growing up the picked-on, smart, "new" kid in a hick town in rural Mass. are touching and may resonate with many a reader. It really is a wonderful book!

The book reminded me at various times of Shirley Jackson's stories about home life, and also Sarah Bird's delightful book "The Yakota Officers' Club" about life as a military kid and the special difficulties of getting through normal adolescent rebellion within the confines of military life. And of course, the gerbils! As a member of the American Gerbil Society myself, I read the section on the AGS Show right away. Reading that section again AFTER reading the whole book made the story touching on a whole new level. I sure wish Kinky could have been there to win a ribbon in the ball race.

Definitely a must-read for anyone who's grown up with a somewhat non-standard childhood and who emerged with their sense of humor not only intact but enhanced, as clearly happened to Holly Robinson!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and well written.. a must for any rodent aficionado!, May 30, 2009

By 

K. Paden - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter: A Memoir (Hardcover)

Having gerbils since the age of 8 and a very odd father myself, I can wholly relate to this wonderfully written memoir of growing up in a unique situation. I loved the novel from beginning to end and highly recommend it to any one who has grown up with an obsessive parent or raised gerbils. From the daughter of the writer behind the first "bible of gerbils" I adored in my childhood, comes a heartfelt and entertaining tale of her life and the impact these lovable rodents can have.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating book; A wonderful memoir, June 12, 2009

By 

Judith H. Block (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter: A Memoir (Hardcover)

The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter is a fascinating memoir! It is often funny, yet also extremely touching in parts. Holly Robinson is such a wonderful writer- she "paints" with words.
I've had gerbils for many years, but one doesn't have to have owned gerbils to appreciate this book. It is also a fascinating "coming of age memoir, the story of growing up in a rather "unique" family. The book reads so well, it's hard to put down. Most definately NOT a children's book- be advised of that.
I highly recommend The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter! I think it would make a terrific film, too.