Giraffe

Recounting the history of the slaughter of the largest captive herd of giraffes on the eve of May Day 1975, Czechoslovakia J.M. Ledgard, a former correspondent for The Economist, makes his debut with this meditation on the extent of power and freedom. Tracking the history of the giraffes from their capture in Africa to their eventual death in a zoo located in a small town in Czechoslovakia, Ledgard uses the massacre as a starting point to ruminate about the beliefs of the inhabitants of the middling totalitarian state. A blend of well researched historical fiction and fairy tale about the power of living creatures, this is an astounding fiction debut by an accomplished journalist.