-
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
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $13.22
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Editorial reviews
Benjamin Mee's We Bought a Zoo oscillates between being a hilarious tale of a family managing a shabby zoo in Southwest England and a truly heart-wrenching story about love and personal loss.
The Mees decide to pool their assets to buy Dartmoor Zoological Park (formerly Dartmoor Wildlife Park) on what seems to be an earnest whim. While lawyers and bankers prattle over the fine print, Benjamin has another very serious problem to deal with: his wife, Katherine, is dying of brain cancer.
Narrator Gildart Jackson displays a range well-suited to Mee's own voice. He makes sure that the funny parts stay funny, while also delving fully into the sadder aspects of the story. When Mee is tasked with moving a deadly big cat from an enclosure to a nearby van, Jackson imbues his performance with equal parts anxiety and absurdity. Contrarily, there is nothing but real pain in his voice when he recounts an intense period of Katherine's rapidly deteriorating health.
We Bought a Zoo is less about the animals than the people involved with Benjamin Mee's purchase and the upkeep of this life-altering family business. There are the previous owners, who are quirky and unmovable in their strange demands. There's also a parade of zoological professionals (curators, veterinarians, handymen, and keepers) woven seamlessly into the fabric of the tale. Mee, his children, his wife, and his extended family provide balance to a saga that has more than its share of madcap moments, mainly provided by the crafty escapes of numerous dangerous animals.
Most of all, the book is a reminder that hope can be found in unlikely places - in this case, a rundown zoo. By opening day, it's obvious that it was in fact worth all the trouble. Gina Pensiero
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.
Critic reviews
More from the same
Author
Narrator
Related to this topic
-
Brain Energy
- A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health—and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More
- By: Christopher M. Palmer MD
- Narrated by: Christopher M. Palmer MD
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are in the midst of a global mental health crisis, and mental illnesses are on the rise. But what causes mental illness? And why are mental health problems so hard to treat? Drawing on decades of research, Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Chris Palmer outlines a revolutionary new understanding that for the first time unites our existing knowledge about mental illness within a single framework: mental disorders are metabolic disorders of the brain. Brain Energy will transform the field of mental health, and the lives of countless people around the world.
-
-
Arguing brain health theory to medical profession
- By Maya H Saric on 03-10-23
-
Napoleon's Hemorrhoids…And Other Small Events That Changed History
- By: Phil Mason
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hilarious, fascinating, and a roller coaster of dizzying, historical what-ifs, Napoleon's Hemorrhoids is a potpourri for serious historians and casual history buffs. In one of Phil Mason's many revelations, you'll learn that Communist jets were two minutes away from opening fire on American planes during the Cuban missile crisis, when they had to turn back as they were running out of fuel. You'll discover that before the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's painful hemorrhoids prevented him from mounting his horse to survey the battlefield.
-
-
They just throw the facts too fast
- By Concerned_llama on 12-11-20
By: Phil Mason
-
Gut
- The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ
- By: Giulia Enders
- Narrated by: Katy Sobey
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our gut is almost as important to us as our brain, yet we know very little about how it works. Gut: The Inside Story is an entertaining, informative tour of the digestive system from the moment we raise a tasty morsel to our lips until the moment our body surrenders the remnants to the toilet bowl. No topic is too lowly for the author's wonder and admiration, from the careful choreography of breaking wind to the precise internal communication required for a cleansing vomit.
-
-
Doctors opinion
- By KevinMcVeigh on 03-02-17
By: Giulia Enders
-
Chemistry and Our Universe
- How It All Works
- By: Ron B. Davis, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Ron B. Davis
- Length: 30 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chemistry and Our Universe: How It All Works is your in-depth introduction to this vital field, taught through 60 engaging half-hour lectures that are suitable for any background or none at all. Covering a year’s worth of introductory general chemistry at the college level, plus intriguing topics that are rarely discussed in the classroom, this amazingly comprehensive course requires nothing more advanced than high-school math. Your guide is Professor Ron B. Davis, Jr., a research chemist and award-winning teacher at Georgetown University.
-
-
Great Professor, Hard to Follow.
- By Jen on 05-14-19
By: Ron B. Davis, and others
-
The Selfish Gene
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands to rethink their beliefs about life.
-
-
Better than print!
- By J. D. May on 07-31-12
By: Richard Dawkins
-
Inspired
- How to Create Tech Products Customers Love, Second Edition
- By: Marty Cagan
- Narrated by: Marty Cagan
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do today's most successful tech companies - Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Tesla - design, develop, and deploy the products that have earned the love of literally billions of people around the world? Perhaps surprisingly, they do it very differently from the vast majority of tech companies. In Inspired, technology product management thought leader Marty Cagan provides listeners with a master class in how to structure and staff a vibrant and successful product organization and how to discover and deliver technology products that your customers will love.
-
-
Great book, terrible audio wanted to ask a refund
- By Srikanth Ramanujam on 11-15-18
By: Marty Cagan
-
Brain Energy
- A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health—and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More
- By: Christopher M. Palmer MD
- Narrated by: Christopher M. Palmer MD
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are in the midst of a global mental health crisis, and mental illnesses are on the rise. But what causes mental illness? And why are mental health problems so hard to treat? Drawing on decades of research, Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Chris Palmer outlines a revolutionary new understanding that for the first time unites our existing knowledge about mental illness within a single framework: mental disorders are metabolic disorders of the brain. Brain Energy will transform the field of mental health, and the lives of countless people around the world.
-
-
Arguing brain health theory to medical profession
- By Maya H Saric on 03-10-23
-
Napoleon's Hemorrhoids…And Other Small Events That Changed History
- By: Phil Mason
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hilarious, fascinating, and a roller coaster of dizzying, historical what-ifs, Napoleon's Hemorrhoids is a potpourri for serious historians and casual history buffs. In one of Phil Mason's many revelations, you'll learn that Communist jets were two minutes away from opening fire on American planes during the Cuban missile crisis, when they had to turn back as they were running out of fuel. You'll discover that before the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's painful hemorrhoids prevented him from mounting his horse to survey the battlefield.
-
-
They just throw the facts too fast
- By Concerned_llama on 12-11-20
By: Phil Mason
-
Gut
- The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ
- By: Giulia Enders
- Narrated by: Katy Sobey
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our gut is almost as important to us as our brain, yet we know very little about how it works. Gut: The Inside Story is an entertaining, informative tour of the digestive system from the moment we raise a tasty morsel to our lips until the moment our body surrenders the remnants to the toilet bowl. No topic is too lowly for the author's wonder and admiration, from the careful choreography of breaking wind to the precise internal communication required for a cleansing vomit.
-
-
Doctors opinion
- By KevinMcVeigh on 03-02-17
By: Giulia Enders
-
Chemistry and Our Universe
- How It All Works
- By: Ron B. Davis, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Ron B. Davis
- Length: 30 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chemistry and Our Universe: How It All Works is your in-depth introduction to this vital field, taught through 60 engaging half-hour lectures that are suitable for any background or none at all. Covering a year’s worth of introductory general chemistry at the college level, plus intriguing topics that are rarely discussed in the classroom, this amazingly comprehensive course requires nothing more advanced than high-school math. Your guide is Professor Ron B. Davis, Jr., a research chemist and award-winning teacher at Georgetown University.
-
-
Great Professor, Hard to Follow.
- By Jen on 05-14-19
By: Ron B. Davis, and others
-
The Selfish Gene
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands to rethink their beliefs about life.
-
-
Better than print!
- By J. D. May on 07-31-12
By: Richard Dawkins
-
Inspired
- How to Create Tech Products Customers Love, Second Edition
- By: Marty Cagan
- Narrated by: Marty Cagan
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do today's most successful tech companies - Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Tesla - design, develop, and deploy the products that have earned the love of literally billions of people around the world? Perhaps surprisingly, they do it very differently from the vast majority of tech companies. In Inspired, technology product management thought leader Marty Cagan provides listeners with a master class in how to structure and staff a vibrant and successful product organization and how to discover and deliver technology products that your customers will love.
-
-
Great book, terrible audio wanted to ask a refund
- By Srikanth Ramanujam on 11-15-18
By: Marty Cagan
-
The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality
- By: Don Lincoln, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Don Lincoln
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of his career, Albert Einstein was pursuing a dream far more ambitious than the theory of relativity. He was trying to find an equation that explained all physical reality - a theory of everything. Experimental physicist and award-winning educator Dr. Don Lincoln takes you on this exciting journey in The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality. Suitable for the intellectually curious at all levels and assuming no background beyond basic high-school math, these 24 half-hour lectures cover recent developments at the forefront of particle physics and cosmology.
-
-
Audible’s Best Science Offering, A Gem
- By MikeB on 12-08-18
By: Don Lincoln, and others
-
Welcome to the Universe
- An Astrophysical Tour
- By: Michael A. Strauss, J. Richard Gott, Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to the Universe is a personal guided tour of the cosmos by three of today's leading astrophysicists. Inspired by the enormously popular introductory astronomy course that Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott taught together at Princeton, this book covers it all - from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes, wormholes, and time travel.
-
-
All About What We Know About the Universe - ALL
- By J.B. on 02-17-17
By: Michael A. Strauss, and others
-
How the Earth Works
- By: Michael E. Wysession, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Michael E. Wysession
- Length: 24 hrs and 31 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How the Earth Works takes you on an astonishing journey through time and space. In 48 lectures, you will look at what went into making our planet - from the big bang, to the formation of the solar system, to the subsequent evolution of Earth.
-
-
Excellent course
- By Doug B. on 05-23-19
By: Michael E. Wysession, and others
-
Zombified: Real-World Lessons from Fictional Apocalypses
- By: Athena Aktipis, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Athena Aktipis
- Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Athena Aktipis of Arizona State University is a self-professed apocalypse enthusiast, and as the host of the podcast Zombified, she knows the undead inside and out. With Zombified: Real-World Lessons from Fictional Apocalypses, she’s compiled her research and insights into a fascinating Audible Original that will have you thinking deeper about all those shambling, brain-hungry corpses in pop culture—not to mention our everyday lives. Drawing on years of research on zombies and zombification, these six lessons offer a fun way to explore and understand the many forces that influence us.
-
-
Good attempt, lackluster execution
- By R. MCRACKAN on 10-14-23
By: Athena Aktipis, and others
-
Consciousness Explained
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Paul Mantell
- Length: 21 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The national bestseller chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 1991 is now available as an audiobook. The author of Brainstorms, Daniel C. Dennett replaces our traditional vision of consciousness with a new model based on a wealth of fact and theory from the latest scientific research.
-
-
Confuses Consciousness with Ego
- By Rahul Yadav on 07-11-19
-
Storytelling with Data
- A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals
- By: Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
- Narrated by: Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Storytelling with Data teaches you the fundamentals of data visualization and how to communicate effectively with data. You'll discover the power of storytelling and the way to make data a pivotal point in your story. The lessons in this illuminative text are grounded in theory but made accessible through numerous real-world examples - ready for immediate application to your next graph or presentation.
-
-
Very insightful and actionable
- By Amazon Customer on 04-27-18
What listeners say about We Bought a Zoo
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mary from the OC
- 03-02-23
Very Interesting and Worth Listening to
It is worth listening to this book. The narrator is easy to listen to. The Mee Family's story is heartfelt and honest. It is interesting how the Mee Family handled the major changes in their lives, whether those changes were made by them or not. Their new life to rebuild a zoo is truly remarkable. It is wonderful they were able to make such a wonderful contribution to the community and to take such good care of the zoo animals and to support animal conservation overall.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A. M. Dalessandro
- 01-02-20
Would Have Made An Interesting Magazine Article
The story seemed interesting enough, and I did not necessarily except the book to resemble the movie (which it doesn't), but after about three hours I was ready to put it down. I did listen to the end, but it was a grind. I listen to most of my audiobook books while doing my daily gym workouts, so I stayed with it with the same determination I use in doing 40 minutes of hard cardio. This would have made an interesting magazine article, but in the end, it was just too much detail, too much of the author's internal monologue, and too much about his wife's illness and death.
I understand that his wife's untimely death from cancer was unfortunately intertwined with the purchase of the zoo, but I felt they just seemed to be two different stories. Some people might enjoy his frank and open discussion of her illness, the effect of it on their family, and his emotions during her illness and after her death. For me, to listen to all of that in connection with his family's decision to buy a zoo seemed terribly self-indulgent -- just not my thing perhaps.
I was also caught off guard by his salty language, and I would rate the overall narration was adequate. I also found his condescending comments about several of his staff members to be quite off-putting. A couple of staffers decided to leave when the business hit a rough patch during the first year, fearing they might end up jobless. He considered this a lack of loyalty. I have to wonder how long he would have continued to pay their salaries if the rough patch had continued. I realize this was a labor of love and a chosen way of life for him, but it was a job to them. By then I had been listening to this book for too long anyway. For me, it was worth neither the time nor the money.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- cathy burns
- 02-20-22
I read this for a book project
Incredible book! Sometimes filled with small filler, but that's how it is in a non-fiction book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Noreen
- 06-18-16
Ben's Zoo
A heart break of the loss of his wife and the healing power of animals. Not as PG a story as the movie. Much more grit, drama and pain. Was disappointed with the narrator. I felt he just read the book instead of told the story. I was wishing Matt Damon read it. But it is a British story. So get Jim Dale!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kathy Smith
- 07-20-14
Story was intriguing
Is there anything you would change about this book?
The ending.
Would you be willing to try another book from Benjamin Mee? Why or why not?
It would depend on the story involved.
Would you listen to another book narrated by Gildart Jackson?
Maybe.
Could you see We Bought a Zoo being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
Well since it was, yes.
Any additional comments?
Because I had seen the movie first, I had an expectation that was probably unrealistic. While I appreciated the truthfulness that was told, it was not as entertaining as the movie made it seem. The end of the book became hard to deal with for me as the language became objectionable. I would still not mind visiting this little zoo, however, if I was ever in that country.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- E. Smith
- 05-31-12
We bought a zoo -- Why???
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
A good story for listening while you're walking, etc. as there are no major plot twists or mysteries to have to keep up with. This is the real story - not the movie - and it takes place in England. I recommend this for a time when you just can't decide what you want - and you're not in the mood for more murder, mayhem, political intrigue.
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
Would have liked to get to know the characters more. More indepth on the children, interaction with the animals.
What about Gildart Jackson’s performance did you like?
Narrators performance is great.
Do you think We Bought a Zoo needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
I would read a follow-up book - if he puts a little more "beef" in it.
Any additional comments?
I realize the author was giving us his real life "diary" of events and not making up sensational happenings.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Schmanet
- 03-12-22
Very informative, entertaining, and heartfelt
I enjoyed this book very much. such hard work and devotion to owning and running a zoo. The story of Benjamin's wife was well-written and very heartfelt. I did learn a lot about the animals in his zoo from his real-life experiences.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bobbie C. Wilbur
- 08-05-15
vlmmepruyppovm .
gareat
Bork .
worrth a
listen!
iq recommend
to anyrone. shoo loves ,animals and. people.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sunshinedaisychains
- 06-30-16
Good story. PG-13?
Any additional comments?
As I listen to this I become increasingly aware, this story isn't really intended for kids. A chapter all about gay animals, not a huge deal but was kind of unexpected. A lot of the story is about the wife's cancer and treatment, as well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- k. e.
- 06-13-16
What a lovely surprise
Feed your inner science geek and your spirit with this lovely autobiography. Benjamin Mee's voice is smart, gentle, self-deprecating, and witty. His in-depth accounts of animal behavior and care, zoo construction, terrific descriptions of place, and anecdotes about family and friends are interspersed with moments of depth and wisdom that brought me to tears-- for example, in describing the death of his wife.
I purchased this to listen to with my 12 yo son, who quickly proclaimed it "boring" (he's not the most patient pre-adolescent), and then found I had been drawn in enough by the first 20 minutes to continue to the end. I'm so glad I did.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!