Vet in a Spin [Paperback]

I am a huge fan of James Herriot, the Scots veterinarian who worked all his adult life in the harsh but beautiful Dales countryside in Yorkshire. He arrived there as a just-graduated new 24 year old veterinarian in the 1930's, at the height of the world wide Depression. He arrived, fell in love with the area and its' people, and never left.

Every couple of years I re-read his four classics : "All Creatures Great and Small", "All Things Bright and Beautiful", "All Things Wise and Wonderful", "The Lord God Made Them All". (The book titles are from a poem).

Reading Herriot's books are like hearing stories from the past told by a beloved uncle or grandfather. These are all true stories and Heriot brings to life the primative conditions of the Dales people, their hard working ethic, honesty, and kindness to strangers. It is amazing to hear about the different life lived in 1930's Britain when these books took place. For example, the extreme poverty of much of the population, "the pensioners" (senior citizens) are often key characters, but so are aristocrats with mansions, hunting horses and dogs, and full time live in servants. The people who live the hardest lives are people high up in the mountainous Dales, with rocky soil and bitter cold for many months of the year. When he describes how matter-of-factly they put up with tattered thin clothes in all weather---quite amazing.

Most of all, each little vignette is about an animal--a dog, cat, or, more common for the veterinary practice of that time and place--a large farm animal such as a horse, cow, pigs, sheep, and so on. Herriot's caring for these animals shines through in each story. He cared about them and did his best for them.

Herriot is an excellent story teller: one minute having you laugh until you cry; the next minute having you grab, really, for kleenexes.

These books originally were written or published in the early 1970's. I recall reading them at about that time---I don't recall if they were big best sellers or just word or mouth popular, but they became classics.

The publishers took various incidents from the inital four books listed above and created "James Herriot's Dog Stories" and "James Herriot's Cat Stories". They also made separate books for children, with illustrations, and simpler re-telling of various stories from the initial books. "James Herriot's Treasury for Children: Warm and Joyful Tales by the Author of All Creatures Great and Small","James Herriot's Dog Stories: Warm And Wonderful Stories About The Animals Herriot Loves Best", "Herriot's Cat Stories",
"James Herriot's Treasury of Inspirational Stories for Children", "James Herriot's Treasury for Children: Warm and Joyful Animal Tales" are just some of the titles.

Specifically for younger children: Bonny's Big Day;Only One WoofThe Market Square DogMoses the KittenOscar, Cat-About-TownBlossom Comes HomeThe Christmas Day KittenBlossom Comes Home and others.

In all those cases, I think the buyer can tell that these are offshoots of Herriot's original books. The current books I am referring to here, are the same stories but split up into many smaller groups, thinner books, and given entirely new titles, so that it is not easy at all to tell that these are the same stories, merely repackaged. I purchased "Vet in a Spin" and found it to be about one-half of one of the four original books, yet there was nothing to tell me that when I purchased it. I don't have the names of the other books in this series which is NOT the original and "official" Herriot series: there are no new stories in the books, so don't waste your money. Buy the original Herriot books if you haven't read them--they also come in a set and are really worth owning---and buy his children's books for the children in your life, but stay away from the series which includes "Vet in a Spin" "Vet in Harness", "Let Sleeping Vets Lie" and others.

However, while I believe it should have been made more clear that these are NOT new Herriot stories, there is a reason to purchase them: they all come in large print, which I appreciate for buying books for my elderly mother. The "regular" Herriot books don't come in large print, which is a shame.

From what I can tell, looking at the "combo" editions of these "new" retitled Herriot books, I think this is the order they come in:

1. If Only They Could Talk
2. It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet
3. Let Sleeping Vets Lie
4. Vet in Harness
5. Vets Might Fly
6. Vet in Spin
7. The Lord God Made Them Al

Great book. I would have liked to have known that these are not "new" stories, but part of his larger volumes. I enjoy the small size and I don't mind rereading his stories.

Love love love this whole series! I cant say enough about it. i have enjoyed reading and re-reading this series for several years and there is just nothing like it. Great stories of a Vets life in the olden days of england. Colorful descriptions and comedic and gripping writting. I would suggest this book for anyone looking for a chuckle or aspiring veterinarians... like me!!