ISBN 978-1-733547-40-6 | paperback | $16.95 | publication date Feb 2020
Published under the Powers Squared imprint
Foreword by Dr. Brian J. Olsen
In an irreverent but loving treatise on the creatures of South Africa and beyond, David Muirhead features the eccentric animal behaviors in his native home, mixing folklore and legend with a heavy dose of scientific facts. No wart is left unexamined in these hilarious stories of unrespectable animals.
In a fast changing world of raw data and flickering screens, it’s comforting to know that the strange and fantastical still roam, crawl, wiggle, swim and soar through the terrestrial and aquatic natural world, ready to delight and surprise us. These stories allow us to laugh our way to a reconnection with the creatures we co-evolved with as a species over millenniums, highlighting their importance to our collective past and precarious futures.
Delightful pen-and-ink drawings by Cape Town-based artist Patricia de Villiers lend an added satirical twist.
Reviews
“An inherently fascinating, impressively informative, and thoroughly entertaining read from first page to last” — Midwest Book Review
“You may know some of these animals well; others you might not have heard of. But one thing’s for certain: this clever, breezy book delivers delightful surprises on every page, along with a bracing dose of wonder.”—Sy Montgomery, author of Tamed and Untamed: Close Encounters of the Animal Kind
“No matter what page you turn to, you will be charmed, educated and entertained by the language and the lexicon of Mr. Muirhead.” —Pamela Kramer, book reviewer and animal advocate
About David Muirhead (author)
David Muirhead was born and raised in East Africa and his fascination and love for African wildlife began at an early age. He was educated at schools in Uganda, Kenya and the UK, and attended St Andrews University in Scotland, graduating with a degree in Philosophy. His career has spanned finance, trade development, economic research, publishing and journalism, and he has worked all over Africa, as well as in Europe and the Middle East.
He is currently a freelance journalist and writes for magazines, notably Wildside, a South African ecotourism and nature conservation magazine which he founded in 1999 in partnership with KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation (now KZN Wildlife). He has authored several books, including The Curious Case of the Imaginary Tourist, a collection of satirical and humorous short stories which drew acclaim from the British press, and a novel, The Clamour King, published in London. Random House’s Struik Nature imprint published his two anthologies of riotous, irrespectable essays on animals, which have been combined into one volume for North America. He now lives near Cape Town and is married with two children and two grandchildren. His daughter and her family live in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
About Patricia de Villiers (illustrator)
Patricia de Villiers is an artist, illustrator and designer. She has been active as a cultural worker since the early 1970s contributing to various community organizations including the Community Arts Project in the 1980s.