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| The Wisdom of Donkeys | 
 enlarge | Author: Andy Merrifield
Publisher: Short Books, London
Category: Book
List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £6.43
You Save: £6.56 (51%)
New (18) from £6.43
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 28981
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 1906021244
EAN: 9781906021245
ASIN: 1906021244
Publication Date: March 6, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new book sourced directly from the publisher. Delivery in 3-5 days. Customer service 7 days per week
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| Customer Reviews:
 An lovely asinine doodle - one for the holidays! July 25, 2008
I don't have a donkey, so I cannot comment upon the accuracies of Mr. Merrifield's observations, but like so many people, I am fascinated by them.
The book is written largely in the present tense, and Merrifield uses the experience of an extended walking excusion with a donkey (aka philosopher for hire: Gribouille) as a stem from which assorted autobiographical and literary musings (all donkey related, however tenuously) sprout.
It's a stream of consciousness style that at first I found somewhat overblown and possibly a little pretentious, but, as I continued to read, I found myself becoming more and more involved and interested in the slow, meditative atmosphere that the book creates.
At the beginning I feared that it might become repetitive and, well, it sort of is I suppose, but you know, I think that might be the point. This book really did have an effect on me. It is charming, eloquently and skillfully written, and most importantly, it does transmit a wisdom of sorts.
A comparison is made to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence on the cover, and indeed there are similarities in that the physical journey is used as a vehicle for a philosophical transformation. I wouldn't put it quite in the same class as Prisig's classic,(The ending is a little anti-climactic) but it is a really good read that fulfils its promise.
Really enjoyable read, that makes you want to pack your bags and head to meet a Gribouille for yourself.
 Everybody's got something to hide except for me and my donkey. June 3, 2008
3 out of 10 found this review helpful
The subtitle of this book is "finding tranquility in a chaotic world". Well, I ascertain that if Mr Merrifield (if that really is his name) believes donkeys provide this, he has never ever seen a donkey. I will go further - he has never heard a donkey. He has never smelt a donkey. He has never touched a donkey. He may have tasted a donkey, but it's not for me to cast aspersions on a) his diet, and b) what he gets up to in the privacy of his own barn.
Take my two latest donkey aquisitions, Katy and Zoe - lordy lord lord, they give me a donkey shaped headache. Katy will not eat any donkey food, she will only eat Quorn cottage pies that have been cooked three times and then mildly warmed on a toaster. Zoe will also not eat any donkey food, but will happily eat anything else - grass, fencing, sunlight, masonry, buses, and on one fateful occasion she ate Prince Edward's antique gazebo (I swear we won't be invited back to another one of their garden parties...)
But then, compare them to the rest of my donkey menagerie. How do they fare against Sebastian? Edgar? Billy Sideways? Braying Simon? Jesus the donkey? MUCH better, because they're all boring idiots that give me a quiet life, which is absolutely what you don't want in the heady, exciting, anything-can-happen-and-then-get-eaten world of donkey ownership.
Tranquility? My ass.
ps - the book is good read it.
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