Jolly Green Giant

Oct 6, 2024 4:22 PM

Author:David Bellamy

Jolly Green Giant

David Bellamy is a natural story teller whose memoir will be packed full of funny anecdotes and observations. It is the story of how a city boy, brought up in the middle of London, went for a trip into the countryside one day, an event which was to transform his life by setting in motion the amazing love of nature which would make famous this larger-than-life character. In his infectious style he illumines on, amongst other things, the fact that his father, the manager of a branch of Boots, had to grease his hair straight - because in those days managers of Boots weren't allowed to have curly hair! Then there was the time he and his brother discovered an exploded bomb, kept in the garden shed - and then accidentally blew off the front of the house with it. He reveals his secret passion is ballet dancing - and how his mother only found out about it when she saw him on stage at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon. His career as an academic, then author, broadcaster, consultant and television personality, spans 35 years and his main passion - campaigning for the environment - have led to many adventures including his being twice imprisoned in the Third World.

Reviews

A gripping account of the history of quantum mechanics and a clear description of its significance - and weirdness. Absolutely fascinating

—— Isaac Asimov

Precise yet mysterious... as beautiful as a poem and as exciting as a novel

—— The Sunday Times

Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it

—— Niels Bohr

The edgelands, where the veneer of civilisation peels away, are the most despised and ignored of landscapes. Ambition turns to dust in the sewage farm and landfill site. But Farley and Roberts's mischievous and elegant forays into these marginal wastes, show that dust turns back to life in them - into riotous ecologies, agitprop architecture and the wonderful business of playing. A provocative, left-field read

—— Richard Mabey

Haunting, often inspiring book...Edgelands covers an impressive range of politics, reminiscence, investigation and rumination

—— Scotland on Sunday

Edgelands delights with its sly, impish wit and observation

—— Spectator

Eye-opening and hugely enjoyable book ... overall this is an original, surprising and rather wonderful addition to our literature of place

—— Sunday Telegraph

A book that begs us to use our imaginations; to appreciate what we pass by every day but never really see

—— Metro

This is a delightful and important book. By focusing on the fringes, on the shabby reality of suburban life, these poets remind us that there are always new myths for old, that the 'edgelands' may even be our true centre

—— John Greening , Country Life

With chapters on paths, dens, wastelands, business parks and many other topics, this book has opened my eyes to all kinds of things I might not have noticed before

—— Wendy Cope , Daily Telegraph

A 2011 favourite

—— Wendy Cope , Observer, Books of the Year

The year's most unusual travel book

—— Tom Chesshyre , The Times

[An] eye-opening and hugely enjoyable book

—— Daily Telegraph

Written in a delectable prose that scatters flashes of poetry over a sardonic undertow of social comment, Edgelands is a lyrical triumph. On Britain’s grotty margins, the duo trace “desire paths” to find beauty and mystery in the rough darkness on the edge of town

—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent

Throw out your old atlas. The new version is here

—— Walter Kirn (author of UP IN THE AIR)

Kasarda ... and Lindsay convincingly put the airport at the centre of modern urban life

—— Economist

Highly recommended

—— Library Journal

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