What do you do with a gorilla with
toothache? What do you do with a giraffe at one o'clock in the
morning, at the height of a storm, in the middle of the English
countryside? What do you do with a gentle bear weighing seven
hundredweight, who hates pantomime horses? These are a handful of
the daily problems faced and solved by Dick Chipperfield, the
world's greatest animal handler.
The author emerges as a true original,
who tells his tale with engaging modesty and with flashes of great
humour.
"It is morning in the circus. In
the centre of the black-grit recreation ground, down by the canal,
stands the Big Top, its red and blue pennants fluttering from the
four blue king-poles. The canvas, grey from the smoke of the
industrial Midlands through which we are passing, billows in a wind
that is almost certainly blowing up more rain. In the distance,
across the wasteland and the allotments, are the smoking factory
chimneys, the church spires, the concrete cooling towers and the
homes of our audiences. In front of the Big Top stands the red and
blue box office and the gaily painted show-front depicting the
Bengal tigers, the forest-bred lionesses, the Himalayan bears and
the crocodiles. Like all show-painting, this is a special form of
art, designed to be seen and appreciated from a range of 50 yards by
an undiscerning public rather than with the closer eye of the
critic." From the Introduction.
Condition: Very good condition with
poor dustjacket. The dustjacket is torn and fully detached. front
and back cover separated. Click photo for larger view.
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