The Rome Zoo

· Bolinda · Narrated by Robert Meldrum
Audiobook
5 hr 36 min
Unabridged
Eligible
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About this audiobook

Rome, too, wants the sound of roaring as evening falls ... The Rome Zoo – a place borne of fantasy and driven by a nation’s aspirations. It has witnessed – and reflected in its tarnished mirror – the great follies of the 20th century. Now, in an ongoing battle that has seen it survive world wars and epidemics, the zoo must once again reinvent itself, and assert its relevance in the Eternal City. Caught up in these machinations is a cast of characters worthy of this baroque backdrop – a man desperate to find meaning in his own life, a woman tasked with halting the zoo’s decline and a rare animal – the last of its species – who bewitches the world. Drifting between past and present, The Rome Zoo weaves together these and many other stories, forming a colourful and evocative tapestry of life at this strange place. It is both a love story and a poignant juxtaposition of the human need to classify, to subdue, with the untameable nature of our dramas and anxieties.

About the author

Pascal Janovjak was born in Basel in 1975 to a French mother and Slovakian father. He studied comparative literature and art history in Strasbourg before moving to the Middle East where he worked first in Jordan for an Aid and Development programme and then in Libya, where he taught literature at the University of Tripoli. His 2019 novel Le zoo de Rome (Rome Zoo), published by Actes Sud was awarded the 2020 Swiss Literature Award.

Robert Meldrum is an actor, director and teacher with over 35 years experience. His TV and film credits include Blue Heelers, Georgia and The Big Steal. Originally a member of the Australian Performing Group at the Pram Factory in Melbourne, he has performed with all the major Australian theatre companies and was a lecturer in acting at the Victorian College of the Arts for eight years.

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