{"product_id":"the-crocodile-by-the-door","title":"The 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":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54234330530136,"sku":"9780141034669","price":19.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9780141034669.jpg?v=1769242535","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/the-crocodile-by-the-door","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}