The Wisdom of Donkeys: Finding Tranquility in a Chaotic World

Lovely, meditative book…Merrifield walks cross-country in the Auvergne, with most of the narrative ostensibly addressed to his only companion, his beloved rented donkey Gribouille. Erudite and profoundly humane, everything from Don Quixote to Primal Scream comes up along the way, but primarily the book’s about finding your humanity in the moment via the love for and example of the purest of sentient beings, the “lowly” donkey. On the back flap, Jim Crace calls it “Zen and the Art of Donkey Walking.” For animal lovers of all kinds. What Horses Teach Us; Animals in Translation, by Temple Grandin….a long list I’ll think of.

DNF at 20%

Unfortunately the author's meandering, "stream of consciousness" style prose just wasn't for me. The narrative constantly wanders to whatever seems to be on the author's mind in the moment he was writing it and not enough on his travels with his donkey Gribouille. As always, your mileage may vary.

Rating: N/A

One star for the book and one for the donkeys ... I found this difficult to keep going with because the narrative of the journey was too frequently broken for asides to reference historical, real life or other fictional donkeys.

As a book to link donkey tales together it was great ... as a story itself I found it lacking a little.

However it did give me an interesting insight to an indecisive friend! (you will have to read it now, if only to find this description of donkey indecision)

Made me want to know more about the author's personal journey from New York college professor to a wanderer. Many references to other authors and works that would be worthwhile following up on.

nonfiction; self-help section (de-stressing?). I was hoping this would be more like Jon Katz's idyllic narratives with lovable animal personalities and humorous mishaps, but it was a lot of boring blather that I didn't care to force myself to read.