Rating: 
Summary: Difficult....but worth it.
Review: I have read every James Herriot book published. My need to know the man behind the "legend" was more powerful than my struggle to read this book. Although I thank Jim very much for putting all of this down....I'm afraid I expected too much of him....probably (not rightly so) comparing him to his dad. Their style of writing is very different and I had a hard time keeping myself focused through the sometimes boring delivery of material. I must admit...I skimmed some pages along the way. In the end I felt satisfied. It was a friend that I needed to know better and I am glad he was as wonderful as I had imagined he would be. This must have been a very difficult undertaking by his son.....my sincere thanks to him!
Rating: 
Summary: Talent runs in the family
Review: I love Jim Wright's style of writing; it is as easy as his father's. He uses letters, unpublished writings, and his own recollections in this biography of his father. Some of the stories, which James Herriot didn't include in his books as he thought them too outrageous, made me laugh out loud. The book is touching as well, especially regarding his relationship with his wife. I appreciate the honesty of the author in that he includes some potentially embarassing material regarding Herriot's health and episodes of mental illness.My one criticism is that I wished the author included less about James Herriot's friends and more about James Herriot himself.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and painful
Review: I never cared for the Herriot books because some comments seemed anti-female. Reading about how Alf Wight's mother always told her son he owed everything to his father, I understand why he would say some things. That is my impression, sadness. Boys and girls, when you leave home, put as much distance between your parents and you as possible. I still would like to know where to buy Wensleydale cheese.
Rating: 
Summary: Tremendous appeal for James Herriot fans
Review: I resisted this biography because I enjoy James Herriot's books so much that I didn't want any realities to sully my image of the famous vet. The hesitance was entirely misplaced. If anything, the real Alf Wight emerges more interestingly here than in the Herriot books (where his modesty often conceals the depth of the author's character). James Wight writes beautifully about his parents and the "Farnon" brothers. (Sigried had even more of an edge than I imagined). I believe that animal lovers and Herriot fans will be as happy to meet the young "vitnery" as I was.
Rating:
Summary: Another Treasure For My Herriot Collection
Review: I waited eagerly for 8 months to receive this book, then I had to wait another week before I could open the pages without weeping. The first two paragraphs in the Prologue are enough to set me off: "On that day a great friend had died. His name was James Alfred Wight, a father in whose company I had spent countless happy hours. A man I shall never forget." We have all lost a great friend in Alf Wight. How many countless happy hours have we spent with James Herriot, either in books or TV shows? Indeed none of us will ever forget him. I wish I had been able to meet him. I would like to thank Jim Wight personally for writing this book. He expresses his first feelings of misgiving about trying to live up to his father's excellent writing, but he need not have worried. He tells about a boyhood friend of Alf's who jumps out of a second floor window with an umbrella. "The old umbrella suddenly turned inside out and, accompanied by the screaming boy, zoomed to the ground." This could have come straight off James Herriot's pen. Alf Wight had a huge heart, and it seems that his son does, too. It is clear that he misses his father terribly. He presents Alf as a perfectly ordinary person who was astonished at his own fame, and who still remained "99% vet." This book shows the good and the bad of Alf Wight, his family and his friends. And yet I came away still in love with Siegfried, Tristan, and all the rest. And still totally devoted to James Herriot. Thank you, Jim.
Rating:
Summary: LAUGHING PAIN SURFACED AND HEART STRINGS PULLED
Review: If there were 6 stars, I would have given this book that many. This is one of the best biographies I have ever read..and that is like 70 yrs. worth. I read & loved all of James Herriot's books and this one is a tribute like none other by his son. A wonderful life of a "common" man that wasn't common at all. A lifetime of highs and lows, pain and elation is enough to want to start living all over again, but do it better. The last chapter was when I lost it and cried out loud (I was in my car at the time so I could really let it out)with the rushing of many events all at once. If you don't like this book, you would have to be a block of concrete.
Rating:
Summary: Heartwarming tribute from a son to his father
Review: If you have read and enjoyed the "James Herriot" books, like I did, you will enjoy this intimate biography of the real James Herriot, Alf Wight, written by his son.
Although I have read all his books, I never thought too much about the real man behind them, but reading "The Real James Herriot" has a awakened a tremendous appreciation for one of my favorite authors. Too often after reading a biography of one of my favorite authors I found that their lives did not quite measure up to their books, but with this author I found quite the opposite, I found myself in awe of this modest and unassuming man.
My first reaction upon finishing this book was how unusually nice it is for a son to write so well of his father, and it certainly made me stop and think about my relationship with my own children. What greater tribute can a person have that his children should think so highly of them, should write with such love and devotion about a parent? How rare it is today (or at least psychologists would have us believe that it is rare) for a son to follow in his father's profession, working in the same practice, living just miles away, with hardly an unkind word for his father?
This book is an anti-dote for all those "dark" books, where the worst of human nature is emphasized again and again, and it is refreshing to read about a "normal", happy person, with a devoted wife and family, a humble and modest man who succeeded in life beyond his wildest dreams. A man who, upon making millions when his books hit the bestseller list, refused to change his lifestyle one iota, preferring to continue in the vocation and place (the Yorkshires) he loved rather than turn into one of the "rich and famous". Who, as someone who had idealized the beautiful Yorkshire country in his books, was someone who actually lived the way he wrote - why go on vacation, when I have everything I could want, right here?
A beautiful biography of a wonderful person, and highly recommended for anyone, especially a "James Herriot" fan.
Rating:
Summary: Affectionate and tactful but still revealing
Review: It is clear from this book that Jim Wight, like his famous father, doesn't like to say negative things about anybody, but this is a thoroughly honest book that includes information available nowhere else, and it is quite detailed. It makes the hoped-for identifications of what real individuals paralleled characters and how they reacted to their portrayals (Tristan loved his portrayal and Siegfried was so unhappy he actually threatened to sue!), and is honest about the embellishments in stories as well. It doesn't shy away from describing very bad times in the personal life of Herriot. The bottom line is that any fan of James Herriot will truly enjoy reading this book, gain real insight about the man, and enjoy going back and reading the story books with the knowledge gained from this biography.
Rating:
Summary: Make it Four And A Half Bright Stars For James Herriot
Review: It was with shock and sadness that I learned a couple yers ago that James Herriot (actually Alf Wight) had died in 1995. While I never quite managed to appreciate his veterinary stories, I was totally charmed by the TV series and had somehow just assumed he would live forever. Well, in a way, he does in the TV series and, of course, in his popular books. And now, he lives in his son Jim's fine memoir of his father. I was curious about the man behind the books and the TV series and "The Real James Herrit" answered many of my questions. It is a warm book that will choke you up in places. I wish there was more insight into making the TV series but that is not really a flaw as apparently that did not involve James Herriot that much. Here you will find the real James, Seigfried, Tristan and wife Joan. It's quite a story and well worth it for the Herriot fan and any one interested in knowing about a brilliant, hard-working, lovely man.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Work For James Herriot Fans
Review: James Herriot is a compelling writing to many of his readers. But there is a veil of idealism that hangs about his life and times in Yorkshire. This work gives us a glimpse behind the veil. But, perhaps, it is better to keep it in place.
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