Preview of Every Living Thing Summary:

As in the earlier books, Herriot celebrates the simple life. His farmers are still struggling with their harsh but beautiful environment, and his work deals with the universal issues of life and death. A calf is born, an old dog dies, a no-nonsense farmer reveals a soft heart for a "useless" pet. Compared to the earlier works, this book is perhaps less unified and more episodic, but the author's love for the bare landscape of the fells, the stark beauty of the Dales, is as strong as ever, and he takes time to describe the natural scene in considerable detail. More leisurely, and less harried now, he takes time out just to stop by the roadside and to admire the tenacity of the people who wrest a hard living from an unforgiving land. He is also increasingly aware of the nondomestic animals of his world, a concern not...