We Bought a Zoo

The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals That Change Their Lives Forever

By: Benjamin Mee

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Already a BBC documentary miniseries and excerpted in the Guardian, We Bought a Zoo is a profoundly moving portrait of an unforgettable family living in the most extraordinary circumstances. This touching memoir is set to be a major motion picture starring Scarlett Johansson and Matt Damon, in theaters December 23, 2011.

When Benjamin Mee decided to uproot his family and move them to an unlikely new home—a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside where over two hundred exotic animals would be their new neighbors—his friends and colleagues thought he was crazy. But Mee’s dream was to refurbish the zoo and run it as a family business. So in 2006, Mee, his wife and two children, his brother, and his 76-year-old mother moved into the Dartmoor Wildlife Park. Their extended family now included: Solomon, an African lion and scourge of the local golf course; Zak, the rickety alpha wolf, a broadly benevolent dictator clinging to power; Ronnie, a Brazilian tapir, easily capable of killing a man but hopelessly soppy; and Sovereign, a jaguar and would-be ninja, who devised a long-term escape plan and implemented it.

The grand reopening was scheduled for spring, but there was much work to be done and none of it easy for these novice zookeepers. Tigers broke loose, money was tight, the staff grew skeptical, and family tensions reached a boiling point.

Then tragedy struck. Katherine Mee, Benjamin’s wife, had a recurrence of a brain tumor, forcing Benjamin and his two young children to face the heartbreak of illness and the devastating loss of a wife and mother. Inspired by the memory of Katherine and the healing power of the incredible family of animals they had grown to love, Benjamin and his kids resolved to move forward. Today the zoo is a thriving success.

©2008 Benjamin Mee (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Charming throughout, and touching as well.” ( New York Daily News)

A Guidebook for Becoming Your Best Self

I love Benjamin Mee’s many important messages. Among them,I admire his exploration of the idea that trusting yourself to chase what you love is what everything is about, even if it means a steep learning curve, trusting others who know more, and a ton of hard work.

This audio recording was so well done that I felt like I was at the center of the story. I was completely transported into this world and felt I had my own life at stake.

Bravo to this brave and honest book and to the audio performance that brought it thoroughly to life.

engageing but.....

Cute story, I would have prefered more about the relationships and less banking,
financial and legal data. The animal stories were great and the people were inspirational.
Quite an impressive undertaking. Interesting reading.

Very enjoyable!

Easy and fun to listen too. Great to hear about the makings of purchasing and managing a zoo. What a great story. Ready for part two!

Tenacity

Fantastic story of a families persistence to make there dream zoo a reality! Highly recommend it!

The Full Story

I enjoyed the movie but thought some of it a bit hard to swallow as my dad is a zoologist. So I was fascinated but this careful account of what really happened. Mr. Mee leaves nothing out and frequently repeats the important points in case you missed them. He is an experienced writer and writes about the things closest to his heart: his family and his zoo. Of course, I checked on line and found out the zoo is still going strong.

People like to say things like "follow your dreams" and "put your money where your heart is" and it sounds easy. This is the story of a man who didn't know what his dream was but was ready to recognize it when it came along. It is also the story of how very risky and expensive following your heart can be and how much hard work! Fortunately for a lot of people and animals, Mr. Mee stuck with it.

I'm inspired by this story. I appreciate hard work. I particularly like the ending. He says it is a lot of hard work, but it doesn't feel like hard work. It feels like vacation. I think that might serve as an excellent definition of a true dream.

The narrator is quite good. So good, you forget he's there and just live in the story.

Excellent book and performance

Excellent book; if you've seen the movie version, this will be a little different sequence but an excellent, intriguing storyline. Mr. Jackson did an outstanding job with this narration.

Interesting, but...

I couldn't finish due to its so-called PC (aka politically correct) bent. This includes categorizing and the name calling of anyone who might disagree with the author's mind set.

What a wonderfully charming story.

I really loved this story as well as the narrator. Since seeing the movie advertised backing in 2011 it has been on my list to "read". I am happy I did because it looks like in the movie they changed a lot of the story. If you are looking for a heartwarming story I highly recommend this book.

Fabulous narrator.

He took an interesting story and made it irresistible. A lot went on in the re-opening of this zoo, and it could have been very dry reading. The author did a good job of interspersing the details with bits of humor, drama, and, yes, sadness, while the narrator did a fabulous job bringing the story to life. I wouldn't mind listening to it again, and I hope the author does a sequel, because I'd love to hear more about the zoo now that it has been open for a few years and the changes that have been made. I'll definitely be looking for other books the narrator has done the reading for, too.

Not "G" rated

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Recommended for an adult audience. Although I read the reviews before I downloaded this story for a family road trip, nothing lead me to expect the string of F-bombs and other curse words in the latter half of the story. We had to have a long conversation with our young sons about curse words the day we listened to that part of the story; I considered turning it off, but we elected to finish the story. We did feel that the treatment of the author's wife's illness was well done and explores grief openly.

Did Gildart Jackson do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

yes

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Apparently it is a movie, and as per usual Hollywood treatment, the movie is very different from the book.