CAMEL LOT: The True Story of a Zoo-Illogical Farm

by Moselle Schaffer ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1990

Though grossly overwritten, this account of a suburban couple who raise unusual animals (camels and llamas among them) does have its witty, entertaining moments. When Schaffer and her husband Ed, an orthopedic surgeon, trade in their small, urban home for a 26-acre Indiana farm with a runway (she flies small planes commercially), their lives take an interesting turn. They are soon spending all of their spare time raising and breeding camels, llamas, zebras, and goats, as well as Siberian tigers, monkeys, an orphaned deer (""Jane Doe""), and a baby pig named Hamlet--all of which do their best to keep the Schaffer household hopping. Unexpected duties include helping to hatch an ostrich egg after taking a ""crash course in ostrich obstetrics""; nursing all manner of abandoned infant and dangerously ill animals back to health; and retrieving all the grown animals who develop wanderlust from time to time. But when her marriage of 20 years comes to an end, the financial responsibilities of running ""Camel Lot,"" as her farm is called, intensify, and after many failed business attempts (here described in far-too-lengthy detail), Schaffer finally succeeds, opening a most unusual B&B. Not dull by any means, but the inflated writing seriously detracts from the rich anecdotage.

Pub Date: April 1, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1990

Categories: NONFICTION