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An Inconvenience of Penguins

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An Inconvenience of Penguins

By: Jamie Lafferty
Narrated by: Angus King
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About this listen

'Jamie Lafferty embarks on an epic quest - in which the journey is at least as entertaining as the end result' - Stephen Moss, author of Ten Birds That Changed the World

'Highly entertaining and gloriously obsessional' - Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan

'A wise, rude, hilarious and oddly moving account' - Ed Caesar, author of The Moth and the Mountain

~ ~ ~

The problem started, as problems often do, with a penguin.

From Kings and Emperors to Macaronis and Rockhoppers, penguins are one of the most immediately recognisable animals on Earth. Yet for all that familiarity, what do we really know about them? An Inconvenience of Penguins follows award-winning travel writer Jamie Lafferty as he visits all eighteen species in a bid to understand the birds and their extraordinarily varied habitats a little better. On voyages to some of the planet's most inaccessible and challenging landscapes, he recounts the history of our unique relationship with the world's most popular bird, telling not only the stories of the penguins, but also the people and places around them.

From getting stranded in the Galapagos and marching through African guano fields to leading photography groups in the Antarctic and taking psychedelics on the Falklands, this is a birding quest like no other. Along the way, Lafferty relives the experiences of early polar explorers, for whom penguins were perplexing mysteries, welcome companions and even occasional meals, and meets the modern penguin lovers trying to save their fragile environments.

Featuring cameos from a wide cast of characters including Ernest Shackleton, Charles Darwin and Sir Francis Drake, as well as beautiful photographs of each penguin species, An Inconvenience of Penguins is part love-letter to and part biography of these remarkable creatures.©2025 Jamie Lafferty (P)2025 Headline Publishing Group Limited
Animals Biological Sciences Endangered Species Environment Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Travel Writing & Commentary Funny Witty Inspiring Polar Region Africa
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A very witty storyteller! The reader is taken on a world wide adventure through exquisitely accurate descriptions of unfamiliar landscapes. Not many of us will have the chance or tenacity to accomplish the same feat as Jamie Lafferty, but he takes the reader along with him and magically one can enjoy all 18 species of penguins without having to endure the smells! The research both scientific and historical that has gone into this book is commendable. Highly recommended for any one, birder, adventurer and even couch potatoe!

Gripping discovery of the penguins

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