Product Description

A collection of fascinating animal trivia

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28265 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-23
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

JONATHAN ROSS, August 2006
'Weird, wonderful and witty. ... this is a must have'

Synopsis
South American rats settle arguments by boxing. Tuna fish sunbathe and herring communicate with each other by breaking wind. Llamas hum to each other, elephants impersonate traffic sounds and whales sing ballads. Some kangaroos grow on trees. Strange new, scientifically-proven facts about the animal kingdom emerge seemingly every day. Here, gathered together in one book, are hundreds of the funniest, most fascinating and plain bizarre things we have discovered about the non-human world. All animal life is here: from the only dog that can develop gout to the wren whose song sounds just like Beethoven, from the cattle that generate electricity to the worm that has the power to brainwash. It is a book full of surprises. Who would have thought giraffes can't trot, reindeer 'fly' after taking magic mushrooms or that elk turn nasty when drunk? Who would have known that shark embryos attack, that caterpillars tap dance or that - out of our earshot - male mice are serenading their girlfriends with high-pitched love songs? And who on earth would have guessed that male pandas court potential partners by performing handstands?

Customer Reviews

everyone must own this book
Oh my god!! i had this book brought for me on Thursday (November 30th) and I have finished it already, it is truly unique. Never have I read such brilliance. Its fast paced, easy to read, witty and breathtakingly good. Everyone must own this book. I think it is one of those books in which you'll honestly lose yourself, its stupidity is astounding and yet you will be hooked. It seems almost pointless and yet it is unputdownable. Never before has a book accomplished such humour and wit and yet included hundreds of facts. I really was shocked at how good it was. It was so good I barely put it down. I was eating like a hummingbird (they eat almost constantly that's why they hum- a fact from the book) this is a magnificent piece of writing, a breakthrough for factual books, if only they were all written this way, shocking, stupid yet splendid. Without a doubt in my top 5 books for the year.

beware of tittering
Careful where you read this as unexpected fits of giggling will have to be managed carefully. It's like the wonder of gazing on a David Attenborough film as amazing things scroll across each page and capture the imagination , some hilarious some cruel, all remarkable. The variety of extraordinary visions which tumble from each page will make you desperate to tell all your friends , and all of them absolutely true.
Augustus Brown has taken the animal world in all its curious glory and synthesised a fascinating collection of strange parallels odd behaviour and humour , which few will fail to enjoy. Only one word of warning though - some of the content just might put the more prudish off ( does your gran need to know about marine flatworms bizarrely penis fencing?-mine would , and would certainly laugh but some might recoil), and the presence of pandas on the cover doesn't mean it's a stocking filler for the very young. For everyone else though - grab it and smirk!