We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Broken-Down Zoo, and the 200 Animals That Changed a Family Forever

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But tragedy was to strike for, in the midst of dealing with escaping wolves and jaguars, and troublesome adolescent vervet monkeys, Katherine, who had developed, and had removed, a brain tumour while in France, began to experience symptoms again. The prognosis was poor, and so Ben found himself juggling the complexities of managing the zoo and getting it ready for re-opening, and at the same time having to care for his rapidly deteriorating wife, their two young children, and their ever growing menagerie of animals. Matt Damon tells me over the phone from Los Angeles that the idea of suddenly becoming a bereaved, single parent was one of the things that drew him to the story. "For me, as a father, I was moved by the idea of how you help your children get through the loss of their mother and how you bring them up without your partner." Crowe thinks the best part is that the story continues in real life: "You can leave the movie theatre and go through the turnstiles into Dartmoor zoo." ThomasHadenChurchJoins'KillerJoevbvb'&'WeBoughtAZoo' ". ScreenRant. 6 October 2010 . Retrieved 2010-10-29.

Colin Ford as Dylan Mee, [6] Benjamin's 14-year-old son, who is initially drawn to Lily and eventually develops feelings for her and has a strained and rough relationship with his father. Benjamin’s passion for the zoo’s animals is undimmed, however, and our interview takes the form of a wander around the zoo, during which we make frequent stops to chat to the animals who live there. Born in Australia, he went to school in England but was expelled “several” times. He later became a science journalist with a column in The Guardian, until he decided to become a zookeeper. And science is still at the heart of what he does. “When we took over, I discovered the business was isolated from every other zoo,” he tells me. Throughout the book, despite its faults of construction and focus, the writer's talent shines through. He is engaging, has both charm and determined optimism. It make for quite an uplifting read, very honest, poignant and moving, quirkily humorous, yet revealing a genuine concern for both the individual animals, and the good of the species. The authors's heroes are Gerald Durrell and David Attenborough, and the reader can see that he tries to put all their principles into practice, and also develop new knowledge and good practice in the field on his own account. The book is also full of meaningless phrases: business plan, facing a huge challenge, identity and ethos (when it comes to the name for the zoo), profit optimization, risk minimization, comprehensive analysis of the situation. And throughout the book you get a rigid, official language, as if reading a report or a management manual. This bothered me the most; somehow it was difficult for me to find the humor or excess of emotions mentioned in the official description of the book. We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Broken-Down Zoo, and the 200 Animals That Changed a Family ForeverI learned much about the intricacies of owning a business open to the public, in particular. I learned a lot in general. The superficiality bothered me - we get no real idea of the numbers involved and I'd like to have seen it treated as more of a business case study. Buy an exclusive signed edition of our ‘We bought a zoo’ book, written by Benjamin Mee. This wonderful true story of our beautiful Dartmoor Zoo will give you the full picture of how we became the zoo we are today.

Would I recommend the book to someone who hates non-fiction? I would recommend this book to anyone interested in zoos. It's an interesting and easy read. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie and loaning this book out to the Significant Other and my mom. A lot of other reviewers on Goodreads seem to think that it was told in a very amateur style and was jumbled but I think that's pretty par for the course with first time memoirs, so it didn't bother me. The remarkable true story of a family who move into a rundown zoo–already a BBC documentary miniseries and excerpted in The Guardian. Rich, Katey (2010-05-17). "Cameron Crowe Commits To We Bought A Zoo For Late 2011 Release". Cinema Blend . Retrieved 2010-10-29. At the time, I would have preferred not to have the pressure but, with hindsight, the zoo and all its demands probably kept me sane.” On July 7 2007, the newly re-licensed Dartmoor Zoological Park opened, complete with new signs that Katherine, a graphic designer, had created. Dargis,Manohla (2011-12-22). "AModern-DayArk,WithChildren,AnimalsandEvenRomance". TheNewYorkTimes . Retrieved 2011-12-29.Harris, Scott (2010-06-24). "Matt Damon May Lead Cameron Crowe's 'We Bought a Zoo' ". Moviefone. Archived from the original on 2012-04-05 . Retrieved 2011-10-29. The song Gathering Stories was on the shortlist of 39 songs that had a chance of being nominated for Best Original Song Oscar at the 84thAcademyAwards. [12] This song was co-written by Jonsi Birgisson and Cameron Crowe. [12]