'Myself and Other Animals' is a book mosaicked from unpublished autobiographies, uncollected pieces and previously published extracts from Durrell's work and archives. The result is an extraordinary journey through Durrell's life in his own words, edited and introduced by his widow Lee Durrell. Drawing on a memoir that Durrell started writing before he became too ill to continue it, and an unfinished book from a trip to Australia in 1969 to the Great Barrier Reef, Northern Territory and Queensland, here is the unvarnished story of Durrell's life, from touching family tributes to golden bats and pink pigeons.