Elephant and Cowboy

Bob Norris was a cowboy, and he also played one on TV. But this former Marlboro Man set himself apart from the pack when he solved his midlife crisis by adopting an elephant named Amy. While Bob had a devoted wife and children and worked with horses, dogs and goats on his ranch in the Rockies, he had started to become disheartened and bored. For kicks, he rented out some of his barn stalls to house six orphan elephant babies taken from a herd in Africa and destined for zoos and circuses. He fell in love with the sickly yet beautiful Amy, and paid $18,000 to keep her. In this straightforward account of Bob and Amy's uncannily close relationship, veteran journalist and author MacPherson (Prot g ) details how Amy cavorted, danced and even purred and made fast friends with Bob's cowdogs and a goat, Michelle, who followed her everywhere. Bob once tried to ride her, but decided he ""wanted to keep her untamed nature, her wildness and beauty as an animal completely separate from human interference. He never asked her to carry him again."" The story, bolstered by elephant fact and lore, is more captivating than its simplistic, casual prose. Written from the point of view of the elephant, the first chapter reads like a children's book. But intrepid animal lovers will find Amy's unexpected journey at the end of the book rewarding. (May 7)