In the Way Elephants Do

Noah the Wanderer is a cantankerous 100-year-old bull elephant who tells the story of his incredible life in his own words. His story unfolds in magnificent detail, from his birth on the plains of eastern Africa in the 1880's to his capture and eventual confinement in a small Midwestern zoo. Across three continents Noah traveled as a circus performer, sideshow attraction, or zoo exhibit. He witnessed everything the human world has to offer: war, peace, love, hatred, kindness and absolute cruelty. Along the way, he learned the story of his own kind, from the ancient times of Rome and Carthage to the modern holocaust of poaching and famine. And he learned that man and elephant have been inseparable throughout the ages, for they are more alike than any other creatures on this earth. He has both loved and despised humans that he has encountered, but has always felt a kinship with them. To pass on their history to another living being is a custom of the elephant, so Noah chooses as the recipient of this tale a small boy who visits the aged animal in a broken-down zoo. Communicating with him in a silent language that bridges their species, he gently tells the boy his story, from the day of his birth to the current moment. This description may be from another edition of this product.