{"product_id":"crocodile-by-the-door","title":"Crocodile By The Door","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Crocodile by the Door \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eby Selina Guinness - shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award - is a remarkable, compelling and moving memoir of a farm, a family and a home.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Selina Guinness and her partner Colin, both young academics, moved in with Selina''s uncle Charles, an elderly bachelor, they had no idea what the coming years held for them: a crash course in farming, tense discussions with helicopter-borne property developers, human tragedy, and the challenge of dragging a quasi-feudal estate at the edge of Dublin into the twenty-first century. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Crocodile by the Door - a dazzling debut memoir that will appeal to fans of Edmund de Waal, William Fiennes and Richard Benson''s \u003ci\u003eThe Farm \u003c\/i\u003e- tells this remarkable story.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Something close to a \u003cb\u003esmall masterpiece\u003c\/b\u003e ... enchanting and hopeful'' Miranda Seymour, Daily Telegraph (five stars)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''A surprisingly entertaining primer on the travails of farming today,from ungovernable sheep to unfathomable bureaucracy; a fascinatingglimpse of what had become of the Anglo-Irish by the late 20th centuryand into the 21st; an elegant modern pastoral and, at the same time, an astute dismantling of that genre; and a meditation on the meaning oflabour, and on how hard work shapes identity as well as achievement.... \u003cb\u003eA remarkable book\u003c\/b\u003e'' Belinda McKeon, Guardian\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Guinness is \u003cb\u003ean astute observer and stylish chronicler\u003c\/b\u003e of landscape, architecture and human character. ... she describes her domestic setbacks and achievements with engaging candour.'' \u003ci\u003eIrish Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e''\u003c\/i\u003eA memoir so exceptional that it deserves to be ranked as the Irish Book of the Year'' \u003ci\u003eIrish Independent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''A very fine writer with a lovely turn of phrase ... Stories need adversity and the overcoming of obstacles and The Crocodile by the Door has plenty'' \u003ci\u003eSpectator\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e''Astutely chronicling the wider story of Ireland''s downfall through the prism of the farming life, Guinness''s book is the unexpected hit of the year'' \u003ci\u003eSunday Business Post\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e''Beautifully wrought ... The book is rich in beautiful imagery ... This is the story of bringing a landscape to life, and it is glorious'' \u003ci\u003eEvening Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57379393765758,"sku":"NW9780141034669","price":12.35,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9780141034669.jpg?v=1778599778","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/crocodile-by-the-door","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}