There isn’t a single false note in this funny book. Not an ounce of bravado, or a page that doesn’t lift the spirits with some beautifully turned anecdote or piece of recondite information. Here is the background to the famous rolling-with-gorillas sequence, the great Siberian hamster fiasco, the hazardous encounter with a salmon-fishing brown bear. David Attenborough’s familiar voice comes through in every line, his curiosity as sharp today as it was when he started in broadcasting nearly 60 years ago. And to think that he might have been lost to a career in publishing.
Reviewing this memoir, Life on Air, is about as necessary as recommending bluebell woods in May or an umbrella in a rainstorm. All you need to know is that it’s here – enchanting, dependable and as astute about human nature as any aspect of animal behaviour or film technology. As the book unfolds, its importance as a piece of television history or even an account of life on earth is eclipsed by insights into the questing, generous spirit of the man himself. Dryness is his hallmark, as in: “Gorilla dung is very informative.”
