West With Giraffes

West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
Read November 2023

I listened to this one on audiobook and enjoyed it well enough.  It was not a 5 star or maybe even 4 star book, but it was an enjoyable story nonetheless.  I do love reading stories that fill in more information about a time or a place for me.  This book definitely did that.  It added new layers of history and understanding to the depression of the 1930’s and the pre-World War 2 times.  Although the story is based on a true event, the story itself is fiction in that the author imagines the adventures and interactions during the cross country trek with the giraffes.  It centers on a young orphan, only 17, named Woodrow Wilson Nickel who finds himself on the adventure of a lifetime - helping transport two African giraffes across country from New York to the (then new) San Diego Zoo.  He drives the truck alongside the older giraffe caretaker and as they travel they begin to share parts of their stories with one another, as they encounter lots of people along the highways of America (some friendly, some not so much).  Throw in a lady photographer who pursues them, and has plenty of her own story to share, and you have a threesome who develop bonds of friendship around their determination to get the giraffes safely across country and to their new home at the San Diego Zoo.  

The audiobook version was fine, but the voice doing the narrating wasn’t my favorite.  I do get that the story is narrated by Woodrow Wilson Nickel in his old age, but it just didn’t always sound right to have an old mans raspy voice telling all the adventures of the young 17 year old roustabout.  I kind of wonder if I would have enjoyed this book more if I had read it instead of listened to it.  That really may be the case because I know for many folks this was a 5 star read. 

I’m glad I read this book, but also admit that I’m glad it wasn’t picked as a Zoom Reading Circle selection.  Not sure all would have enjoyed it quite so much.  I will rate it a 3.5.  

Here is a fascinating account of the true story of transporting the two giraffes across country to the San Diego Zoo, complete with photographs. 

https://zoohistories.com/2021/02/11/west-with-giraffes/