Caesar: The Life Story of a Panda Leopard

A stark tale encompassing the cruelty and beauty of the natural world, and a clear demonstration of the storytelling gift that would later flower in the Aubrey/Maturin series. When he was fourteen years old and beset by chronic ill health, Patrick OBrian began creating his first fictional character. "I did it in my bedroom, and a little when I should have been doing my homework," he confessed in a note on the original dust-jacket. <em>Caesar</em> tells the picaresque, enchanting, and quite bloodthirsty story of a creature whose father is a giant panda and whose mother is a snow leopard. Through the eyes and voice of this fabulous creature, we learn of his life as a cub, his first hunting exploits, his first encounters with man, his capture and taming. <em>Caesar</em> was published in 1930, three months after OBrians fifteenth birthday, but the dry wit and unsentimental precision OBrian readers savor in the Aubrey/Maturin series is already in evidence. The book combines Stephen Maturins fascination and encyclopedic knowledge of natural history with the narrative charm of Rudyard Kiplings <em>The Jungle Book</em>. It was published in England and the United States, and in translation in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Japan. Reviews hailed the author as the "boy-Thoreau." <em> <em>"We can see here a true storyteller in the making....a gripping narrative, which holds the readers attention and never flags."--</em>The Spectator</em>