Where to Start with Gerald Durrell: The Best First Book
New to Gerald Durrell? My Family and Other Animals is the perfect entry point — but this guide explains what to expect and which book suits different types of reader.
By Natalie Osei
For virtually every new reader, the answer is the same: start with My Family and Other Animals.
It is one of the funniest memoirs in the English language, it has never been out of print since 1956, and it is the perfect introduction to everything that makes Durrell distinctive: the extraordinary eye for animal behaviour, the family comedy, the sun-drenched Corfu setting, and the warmth of a writer who genuinely loved the living world.
Start here: My Family and Other Animals
The ten-year-old Gerald arrives on Corfu with his eccentric family and proceeds to spend three years collecting every creature on the island — while his novelist brother Larry hosts parties, his brother Leslie shoots at everything, and his sister Margo pursues various diets and romances. It is simultaneously a work of natural history, a family comedy, and one of the most evocative portraits of a Mediterranean childhood ever written.
If you read it and don’t want more, the other Durrell books will not change your mind. If you do want more, the complete Corfu trilogy and the Africa expedition books await.
By reader type
| If you like… | Start with |
|---|---|
| Family memoirs and comedy | My Family and Other Animals |
| Natural history writing (David Attenborough) | My Family and Other Animals then The Overloaded Ark |
| Travel writing with wildlife | The Bafut Beagles |
| Wildlife conservation history | A Zoo in My Luggage |
| Greece and Corfu | My Family and Other Animals trilogy |
What to read next after My Family
Complete the Corfu trilogy first: Birds, Beasts, and Relatives continues the story with the same family and island; The Garden of the Gods concludes it with more retrospective feeling and genuine beauty.
Then the Africa expeditions: The Overloaded Ark is where Durrell’s career began — the first Cameroon expedition, with all his qualities fully formed. Follow with The Bafut Beagles for the extraordinary Fon of Bafut, and A Zoo in My Luggage for the expedition that created the Jersey Zoo.
See the complete works
Gerald Durrell Books in Order →
For the full Gerald Durrell bibliography, reviews, and biography, visit the Gerald Durrell author page on Editors Reads.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is My Family and Other Animals suitable for children?
Yes — it is widely read by older children and teenagers as well as adults, and is often assigned in schools. The natural history content is presented accessibly, and the family comedy works at any age. It is one of the best books for young readers interested in animals or the natural world.
Do I need to be interested in wildlife to enjoy Durrell?
No — My Family and Other Animals works as pure comedy and family memoir, and many readers who came to it without any particular interest in wildlife have been enchanted. The animals are characters rather than scientific subjects, and Durrell's prose is funny and vivid regardless of your interest in natural history.
