BEASTS IN MY BED

Jacquie is the wife of naturalist-writer Gerald Durrell and this is the story of their happily frenetic life together. But where ""Gerry"" related his adventures in umpteen books, Jacquie packs it all into this one and it's just like reading a sketchy diary. Fortunately Jacquie's dry humor makes it readable enough and Gerald contributes some humorous footnotes. They married when Gerry had no assets, no job. Finally after three weeks managing a seaside menagerie, ""Operation Nag"" went into effect and Jacquie forced Gerry to write his first book about his trips collecting zoo specimens. It succeeded beyond their wildest expectations and they were now solvent enough to start expeditions: Argentina, Paraguay, Cypress, Africa, Patagonia, New Zealand, Australia, Malaya and the assortment of birds and beasts that Jacquie mothered sounds like a Noah's Ark gone mad. Still, this book lacks the excitement of her husband's books and probably will not share the same audience.