
Big Snake
Big Snake
Robert Twigger(Author)
Weidenfeld & Nicolson (Publisher)
Published on 1. February 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-0-7538-0857-3 (ISBN)
Description
Robert Twigger goes to the Far East in search of the world's longest snake - 'echoes of Gerald Durrell's trips crossed with Redmond O'Hanlon's foray into the heart of Borneo . . . a fantastic book' DAILY MAIL
About to be married, Robert Twigger decides on his last great adventure as a bachelor. Surfing the net, he discovers the Roosevelt Prize - worth $50,000 - for the capture of a live 30 foot python. Armed only with a tin of High Toast Snuff (deadly if sniffed by a snake), Twigger sets off into the remote jungles of Indonesia in search of his prey.
Along the way, he investigates the legendarily beautiful women of Sulawesi, treads in Nabokov's footsteps, looks for giant snakes beneath the sewers of Kuala Lumpur, and spends time with a variety of snake catchers and cults. After being caught up in anti-Chinese riots and surviving on greasy civet cat in the jungle, Twigger finally comes face to face with the big one; but the final capture is not quite what he had in mind.
About to be married, Robert Twigger decides on his last great adventure as a bachelor. Surfing the net, he discovers the Roosevelt Prize - worth $50,000 - for the capture of a live 30 foot python. Armed only with a tin of High Toast Snuff (deadly if sniffed by a snake), Twigger sets off into the remote jungles of Indonesia in search of his prey.
Along the way, he investigates the legendarily beautiful women of Sulawesi, treads in Nabokov's footsteps, looks for giant snakes beneath the sewers of Kuala Lumpur, and spends time with a variety of snake catchers and cults. After being caught up in anti-Chinese riots and surviving on greasy civet cat in the jungle, Twigger finally comes face to face with the big one; but the final capture is not quite what he had in mind.
Reviews / Votes
Twigger's adventures are vastly entertaining and he relates them as well as he seeks his zoological goal * Publishing News * There are travelogue, natural history and mythology here, and the hunt is always entertaining and often hilarious. Twigger is a generous and easygoing observer and participant, even when the going gets rough. * Sunday Times * Funny, immensely readable ... Twigger has found a narrative voice all too rare in contemporary travel writing: clear-eyed, unaffected, deadpan, slyly witty and unobtrusively erudite. By the end you cease to care whether or not he fulfils his mission... Merely to travel in his company is pleasure enough -- James Delingpole * Mail on Sunday * Part travelogue, part boy's own adventure story * The Mirror * Echoes of Gerard Durrell's trips crossed with Redmond O'Hanlon's foray into the heart of Borneo... a fantastic book -- Georgia Metcalfe * Daily Mail * A yarn that manages to be ripping, thoughtful and at times very, very funny * Maxim * A wonderfully enjoyable tale * Independent * Moving and comic, both a poetic quest and a real adventure, Big Snake paints a hitherto unseen portrait of the Malay and Indonesian archipelagos and will leave you checking under your bed for your own hidden monster snake. A terrific read * Irish News * Engaging, humorous, and poignant -- Joe Culley * Irish Times * Robert Twigger's masterful tale is a rare blend of savage reality and poetic finesse -- Tahir Shah * Geographical *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Orion Publishing Co
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
19
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 167 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
275 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7538-0857-3 (9780753808573)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2010
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
€2.99
Available for download
Person
ROBERT TWIGGER has won the Newdigate Prize for poetry, the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award and the Somerset Maugham Award. His twelve books have been translated into over twenty languages and cover both fiction and non-fiction, memoir and travel. He spent a year training with the Tokyo riot police, crossed Canada in a homemade birchbark canoe and was the first person to traverse entirely on foot the Egyptian Great Sand Sea. His quarterly comic of memoir and travel, This Simple Life, is available at roberttwigger.com