All Creatures Great and Small

All Creatures Great and Small is the first in a series of fictionalized memoirs by Yorkshire veterinarian James Alfred “Alf” Wight (1916-1995), writing under the name James Herriot. Originally published in the UK as two shorter volumes, If Only They Could Talk (1970) and It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet (1972), the US publisher released them as a single volume in 1972 under a new title drawn from the Anglican hymn “All Things Bright and Beautiful.” This edition made the New York Times bestseller list in January 1973 and revisited it for 16 weeks that year. This was a surprising success for stories about a simple country vet, centering on the joys and struggles of ordinary life. In this study guide, as the author and the main character share the same name, “Herriot” will be used to refer to the author and “James” to the character.

All page numbers are from the 2011 Open Road Integrated Media edition.

Summary

Presented as a collage of stories and vignettes, All Creatures Great and Small follows two main narrative threads. The first is James’s arrival in Yorkshire. There, he must settle into the practice at Skeldale House and get to know the local farmers and pet owners.