My Family and Other Animals - wikipedia My Family and Other Animals For the 2005 film, see My Family and Other Animals ( film ). My Family and Other Animals First edition Author Gerald Durrell Country United Kingdom Language English Series Gerald Durrell 's Corfu Saga Subject Gerald Durrell 's life in Corfu Genre Autobiography Published 1956 Rupert Hart - Davis ISBN 0755111974 ( hardcover edition ) ISBN 0141321873 ( paperback edition ) Followed by Birds, Beasts, and Relatives, The Garden of the Gods My Family and Other Animals ( 1956 ) is an autobiographical work by British naturalist Gerald Durrell. It tells of the years that he lived as a child with his siblings and widowed mother on the Greek island of Corfu between 1935 and 1939. It describes the life of the Durrell family in a humorous manner, and explores the fauna of the island. It is the first and most well - known of Durrell 's ' Corfu trilogy, ' together with Birds, Beasts, and Relatives ( 1969 ) and The Garden of the Gods ( 1978 ). Durrell had already written several successful books about his trips collecting animals in the wild for zoos when he published My Family and Other Animals in 1956. Its comic exaggeration of the foibles of his family -- especially his eldest brother Lawrence Durrell, who became a celebrated novelist and poet -- and his heartfelt appreciation of the natural world made it very successful. Durrell was able to found the Jersey Zoological Park ( now known as the Durrell Wildlife Park ) in the Channel Islands. He also became known as a novel - writer and television personality. His books helped stimulate the development of tourism in Corfu. Contents 1 Summary 2 Background 3 Adaptations 3.1 Television and film 3.1. 1 1987 3.1. 2 2005 3.1. 3 2016 - present 3.2 Theatre 4 Title 5 References 6 External links Summary The book is an autobiographical account of five years in the childhood of naturalist Gerald Durrell, age 10 at the start of the saga, of his family, pets and life during a sojourn on the island of Corfu. The book is divided into three sections, marking the three villas where the family lived on the island. Gerald is the youngest in a family consisting of their widowed mother, the eldest son Larry, the gun - mad Leslie, and diet - obsessed sister Margo together with Roger the dog. They are fiercely protected by their taxi - driver friend Spiro ( Spiros `` Americano '' Halikiopoupenelos ) and mentored by the polymath Dr. Theodore Stephanides who provides Gerald with his education in natural history. Other human characters, chiefly eccentric, include Gerald 's private tutors, the artistic and literary visitors Larry invites to stay, and the local people who befriend the family. Background The book was written in 1955 in Bournemouth, where Durrell was recuperating from a severe attack of jaundice. Whereas Durrell often claimed to find writing a chore, this book was different : his first wife Jacquie recalled `` Never have I known Gerry work as he did then ; it seemed to pour out of him ''. Durrell maintained `` he had started off like a good cook with three ingredients which, delicious alone, were even better in combination : namely, the spellbinding landscape of a Greek island before tourism succeeded in spoiling it for tourists ; his discovery of and friendship with the wild denizens, both animal and Greek, of that island ; and the eccentric conduct of all members of his family. '' The book was an instant success. Although My Family is presented as autobiographical, if not completely objective, the events described are not always true -- in particular Larry lived in another part of Corfu with his first wife Nancy Durrell, whom Gerald does not mention at all. The chronology of events as they occur in the book is also inaccurate, and the reason for the Durrells ' departure from Corfu ( World War II ) is not given ; instead, it is implied that the family returned to England for the sake of Gerald 's education. However, the book does succeed in preserving the impressions of ten - to fifteen - year - old Gerald extremely vividly and with a great deal of light - hearted humour. Despite the omissions and inaccuracies, Lawrence Durrell commented `` This is a very wicked, very funny, and I 'm afraid rather truthful book -- the best argument I know for keeping thirteen - year - olds at boarding - schools and not letting them hang about the house listening in to conversations of their elders and betters ''. The book was first published by Rupert Hart - Davis Ltd in 1956 and in paperback by Penguin Books in 1959 and has remained in print ever since. Adaptations Television and film My Family and Other Animals was made into a ten - part BBC television series in 1987 written by Charles Wood and directed by Peter Barber - Fleming. It starred Hannah Gordon as Louisa Durrell and Brian Blessed as Spiro Amerikanos, with Darren Redmayne playing the young Gerry. Nigel Marven of the Natural History Unit, Bristol was responsible for the animals side of the production ; Denis McKeown, then PhD student in Psychology University of Sussex did the training of the famous pigeon Quasimodo in the series. The whistling for the theme tune was provided by Ken Barrie who was also the original voice of the children 's television character Postman Pat. 2005 In 2005, it was adapted by the BBC as a 90 - minute film, My Family and Other Animals, starring Eugene Simon as the young Gerry, Imelda Staunton as Mrs. Durrell and Omid Djalili as Spiro. This adaptation was written by Simon Nye. 2016 - present On 3 April 2016 ITV began running the six - part series The Durrells, also adapted by Simon Nye. Loosely based on the book, it stars Keeley Hawes as Louisa Durrell and Milo Parker as Gerald Durrell. The second series of The Durrells ran on ITV between 30 April and 28 May 2017. The third series started airing on ITV on 18 March 2018. The first series is set in 1935, the second in 1936 and the third in 1937. Theatre In 2006, the Jersey Arts Centre 's Theatre in Education company produced the first stage version, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the book 's publication in 1956. Adapted and directed by Daniel Austin, the play premiered on 22 February 2007 at Rouge Bouillon School in St Helier. Title Several works have referenced the title of Durrell 's book, including Simon Doonan 's memoir Nasty : My Family and Other Glamorous Varmints, Kirin Narayan 's memoir My Family and Other Saints, and Josephine Feeney 's novel My Family and Other Natural Disasters. In Nanny Ogg 's Cookbook by Terry Pratchett, there is reference to a fictional book titled My Family and Other Werewolves. Clare Balding 's 2014 autobiography is titled My Animals and Other Family. References ^ Jump up to : Botting, Douglas ( 1999 ). Gerald Durrell -- The Authorised Biography. London : HarperCollins. ISBN 0 - 00 - 255660 - X. Jump up ^ Durrell, Jacquie ( 1967 ). Beasts in My Bed. Collins. Jump up ^ Hughes, David ( 1997 ). Himself & Other Animals -- a portrait of Gerald Durrell. London : Hutchinson. ISBN 0 - 09 - 180167 - 2. Jump up ^ `` Drama - My Family and Other Animals ''. BBC. Retrieved 2011 - 01 - 27. Jump up ^ `` Keeley Hawes leads the cast of new ITV drama The Durrells ''. ITV Press Centre. March 2016. Retrieved 2016 - 11 - 06. Jump up ^ `` Jersey - Living Here - Durrell to take centre stage ''. BBC. Archived from the original on 2012 - 10 - 12. Retrieved 2011 - 01 - 27. External links My Family And Other Animals ( 1987 TV adaption ) on IMDb My Family And Other Animals ( 2005 film adaption ) on IMDb The Durrells ( 2016 TV adaption ) on IMDb Gerald Durrell Institutions associated with Durrell Wildlife Park Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust EcoHealth Alliance Wildlife Preservation Canada Mauritian Wildlife Foundation Madagascar Fauna Group Programme for Belize World Land Trust World Conference on Breeding Endangered Species in Captivity as an Aid to their Survival Species associations Aye - aye Gorilla Mauritius kestrel Pink pigeon Pygmy hog Rockfowl St. Lucia parrot Volcano rabbit Books written The Overloaded Ark Three Singles to Adventure The Bafut Beagles The New Noah The Drunken Forest My Family and Other Animals Encounters with Animals A Zoo in My Luggage The Whispering Land Island Zoo A Look at Zoos Menagerie Manor Two in the Bush The Donkey Rustlers Rosy is My Relative Birds, Beasts, and Relatives Fillets of Plaice Catch Me a Colobus Beasts in My Belfry The Talking Parcel The Stationary Ark Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons The Garden of the Gods The Picnic and Suchlike Pandemonium The Mockery Bird Ark on the Move The Amateur Naturalist How to Shoot an Amateur Naturalist Durrell in Russia The Fantastic Flying Journey The Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure The Ark 's Anniversary Keeper Toby the Tortoise Marrying Off Mother and Other Stories The Aye - Aye and I Puppy Tales The Best of Gerald Durrell Illustrators Ralph Thompson Edward Mortelmans Peter Barrett Graham Percy Keith West Cliff Wright Famous TV series Two in the Bush Catch Me a Colobus The Garden of the Gods The Stationary Ark Ark on the Move The Amateur Naturalist Ourselves and Other Animals Durrell in Russia Durrell family Lawrence Samuel Durrell ( father ) Louisa Dixie Durrell ( mother ) Lawrence Durrell Margaret Durrell Jacquie Durrell Lee McGeorge Durrell Notable others Theodore Stephanides Douglas Botting Achirimbi II Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=My_Family_and_Other_Animals&oldid=857175622 '' Categories : 1956 books British autobiographies Books by Gerald Durrell Books about Greece British novels adapted into films 1930s in Greece Hidden categories : Use British English from December 2012 Use dmy dates from December 2012 Pages to import images to Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Eesti Español Galego Italiano עברית ქართული Latviešu Русский Suomi Українська 3 more Edit links This page was last edited on 30 August 2018, at 01 : 33 ( UTC ). 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Question: when was my family and other animals written
Answer: 1956