- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd; First Edition edition (7 Jun 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0241140676
- ISBN-13: 978-0241140673
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13.2 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
708,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #60 in Books > Science & Nature > Popular Science > Extinction
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Review
"* 'A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius' meets 'The Surgeon of Crowthorne' - a funny and hugely entertaining tale * 'Brilliant... everyone should read it' - Tony Parsons * 'A splendidly written adventure' - Independent on Sunday * 'At last, a travel book with a raison d'etre... a wonderfully enjoyable tale' - Independent"
Product Description
For 1000 years, Milu - an exotic species of deer - existed only in the Chinese Emperor's private park in Beijing. Milu was odd-looking, with the neck of a camel, the horns of a stag, the feet of a cow and the tail of a donkey. In second half of the 19th century, a Basque missionary, Pere David, became the first westerner ever to see Milu. Eventually, he acquired some bones and a pelt, which were shipped in a diplomatic bag to Paris. The cured remains caused excitement across Europe, as zoologists clamoured to get hold of a live specimen. Soon every major nation in Europe had a Milu or two. But the deer did not thrive, and most of them died quickly. The one exception was in Bedfordshire - Woburn, the family seat of the 11th Duke of Bedford. He was devoted to the Milu, and under his care it flourished. Meanwhile in China, during the period of the Boxer Rebellion, Milu became extinct. Today, for a price, one can shoot a Milu in wild game reserves located throughout the world - but especially in Texas. This text is Robert Twigger's attempt to tell the story. In the process, he provides a meditation on a number of human obsessions - evolution, truth-telling, extinction, myth-making, and survival.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A dazzling book,
By TAHIR SHAH (CARDIFF, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Extinction Club: The Mostly True Story of Two Men, One Deer and a Writer (Hardcover)
First there was Longitude, then there was Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, after that it was The Potato: How it Changed History. Three years ago publishers were frantic for quirky tales for the new 'short book' slot. Such books are a rich blend of history and fact, where truth and goodness triumph in the face of great adversity. The Extinction Club turns the genre of short books on its head, revealing the sometimes lunatic craze for books for the sake of books.Enter Robert Twigger, hungry author, generally eager, and willing to do anything for a big advance. The phone rings. It's the call that every hungry author is awaiting ('The phone call that will change your life with money'). Twigger's agent is on the line. She's just heard of the greatest short book story imaginable. She claims that a big publisher would pay 'five figures'. The tale involves a species of deer, known as Milu, which was saved from extinction in China during the Boxer Rebellion by a Basque priest called Père David. For 1000 years Milu had lived in the Imperial park, hunted only by Emperors. It's a strange animal: with the neck of a camel, the horns of a stag, the feet of a cow and the tail of a donkey. The priest, who was the first Westerner ever to see Milu, risked his life obtain a specimen. He bribed a sentry to knock one off in the dead of night. Then he embalmed it and sent it to Paris in a diplomatic bag. A few live examples followed. They were taken to Woburn Abbey, the seat of the eccentric 11th Duke of Bedford. While their cousins thrived in Bedfordshire, the Emperor's Milu were victims of the Boxer Rebellion. They were all chopped up for food by soldiers (their meat is apparently delicious). Years passed, and Woburn's herd of Milu flourished. In 1986 part of the British herd were returned to China. Woven in through The Extinction Club is Twigger's own tale. He blows the advance on frivolities, and soon realises that he's short of material. Milu's interesting, and there's certainly the theme of triumph in the face of adversity. Meanwhile Twigger's publisher and agent are nagging for the draft. Twigger fends them off for as long as he can. The Extinction Club is without doubt the most bizarre and brilliant short book written in recent times, and Robert Twigger must be the bravest author in history for challenging the system in the way that he does. There are lessons for us all in this book, not least for hungry writers and frenzied publishers.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hugely disappointing....,
By
This review is from: The Extinction Club: The Mostly True Story of Two Men, One Deer and a Writer (Hardcover)
Those of you expecting something on the lines of Dava Sobell's 'Longitude' or Simon Winchester's 'Surgeon of Crowthorne', be prepared to be very disappointed.Not so much a book about a species on the verge of extinction; more a story of a man trying and failing to write that story. Consisting mostly of describing how the author could milk the maximum out of his sponsors, along with side-tracks about Naguib Mafouz and a genocidal maniac, it fails miserably to meet the description on the coverleaf. I kept reading, hoping against hope that it would suddenly transform into a gem, with all the loose threads collected together in a brilliant climax... Sadly not.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Work of genius,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Extinction Club: The Mostly True Story of Two Men, One Deer and a Writer (Hardcover)
This book blows ordinary "little books" (i.e. Longitude and all the variants on the "Thing that Changed the World" genre) clean out of the water. Quite frankly I've never read anything like it. It takes the marginally interesting topic of a Chinese deer and unexpectedly turns it into a fascinating and masterful meditation on creativity and the loss of knowledge in an overly-mechanised world, and with it the decline of human civilisation. Anyone disappointed with the book has failed to grasp its genius. We want more writing like this. Fantastic!
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