Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Pyg: The Memoirs of Toby, the Learned Pig
    Unavailable
    Pyg: The Memoirs of Toby, the Learned Pig
    Unavailable
    Pyg: The Memoirs of Toby, the Learned Pig
    Audiobook5 hours

    Pyg: The Memoirs of Toby, the Learned Pig

    Written by Russell Potter

    Narrated by Simon Callow

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A heartwarming debut introduces readers to the adventures of its overachieving porcine narrator

    Blending the sophisticated satire of Jonathan Swift with the charming exuberance of a Pixar film, Pyg tells the story of Toby, a truly exceptional pig who lived in late eighteenth-century England. After winning the blue ribbon at the Salford Livestock Fair and escaping the butcher's knife, Toby tours the country, wowing circus audiences with his abilities to count, spell, and even read the minds of ladies (but only with their permission, of course). He goes on to study at Oxford and Edinburgh-encountering such luminaries as Samuel Johnson, Robert Burns, and William Blake-before finally writing his own life story. Quirky, beguiling, and endlessly entertaining, this memoir of a "remarkable sapient pig" is a sharp and witty delight.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJul 31, 2012
    ISBN9781101579640
    Unavailable
    Pyg: The Memoirs of Toby, the Learned Pig

    Related to Pyg

    Related audiobooks

    Humor & Satire For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Philosophical Boar

      Jun 9, 2021

      The Philosophical Boar
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Royally Good Day Out

      Jun 30, 2022

      catherine.austen@futurenet.com @cfausten123 WIMBLEDON, the FA Cup, the Ashes, the Open, the foxhound show at Peterborough. What do they have in common? Tennis, football, cricket, golf and hunting all benefited from the Victorians’ zeal to organise an

      4 min read

    • Article

      Hog In The Limelight

      Dec 17, 2020

      Hog In The Limelight
      3 min read

    • Article

      Love And Literary Landscapes

      Feb 15, 2024

      The landscape of Britain and Ireland is steeped in literature, and Fiona Stafford, a romantic realist and Oxford literary professor, is the best possible companion to unearth its secrets. Born in Lincolnshire and the daughter of an RAF father, she wr

      2 min read

    • Article

      This Little Piggy Went To Winnipeg

      Mar 9, 2022

      TODAY, Beauport Park near Hastings, East Sussex, is a popular hotel and spa. Two hundred years ago, it was a destination of a very different kind. Charles Lamb, the son of Charles and Mary Lamb, was born at Beauport on October 7, 1816. Aged seven, he

      2 min read

    • Article

      Welcome

      Apr 15, 2021

      Welcome
      1 min read

    • Article

      Great Sporting Lives

      Aug 18, 2021

      LT COL JK STANFORD OBE MC 1892 1971 It’s hard to believe today that magpies were once rare birds in Suffolk. In April 1909, the first magpie of the century was recorded flying high over the coastal town of Aldringham. Out of control, it was carried o

      2 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Dec 28, 2022

      I was saddened to hear the news of the passing of Nick Fisher. Nick wrote some cracking articles for this great magazine, in particular one on the Waterloo Cup, the magnificent hare-coursing event that was once held in February each year at the Altca

      3 min read

    • Article

      Of Pastimes And Pleasures

      Jan 19, 2022

      I POUNCED on this slim volume having just listened to Emma on Audible, beautifully read by Juliet Stevenson. Where and what exactly was Astley’s? Robert Martin was invited by John Knightley to join him ‘at Astley’s’, to which he was taking his two el

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Sword Of Swords

      Nov 23, 2022

      (Birlinn, £22) THE perfect sword—the highest expression of the blacksmith’s art—is arguably a pattern-welded, 7th-century blade of iron and steel, buried three centuries later at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland. After 1,000 years, the rusted blade

      5 min read

    • Article

      Peculiar Postcards

      Dec 1, 2022

      Just look at him, Coco, the Human Baboon! On a postcard stamped and posted in London, 15 March 1905, advertising his appearance at the Walthamstow Palace, this ludicrous character is monkeying about, dressed in an over-large coat and a tall hat, and

      2 min read

    • Article

      Missing You Pig Time

      Jan 13, 2021

      Missing You Pig Time
      4 min read

    • Article

      Letter Of The Week

      Oct 14, 2020

      I WALK my dogs on our local bridleway and footpaths, which are regularly used by locals, as well as visitors to Exmoor. I am very aware of the risk of picking up the Covid-19 virus when opening and shutting gates and, now the weather is turning chill

      3 min read

    • Article

      Town & Country Notebook

      Sep 27, 2023

      1) Who painted The Monarch of the Glen? 2) In the harbour of which English city can you find the 558ft-high Spinnaker Tower? 3) The UK is home to roughly how many thousands of beetle species? 4) What animal is Rudyard Kipling’s Rikki-Tikki-Tavi? 5) A

      4 min read

    • Article

      Read This!

      Sep 22, 2022

      By Alex Bescoby Michael O’ Mara; £20 Crossing 23 countries on the mother of all road trips, filmmaker Alex Bescoby recreates a journey originally documented in the mid-1950s, when a group of students drove for the first time from London to Singapore

      2 min read

    • Article

      Vampire’slair

      Aug 31, 2021

      Vampire’slair
      4 min read

    • Article

      Hokusai’s Forgotten Works

      Sep 30, 2021

      Hokusai’s Forgotten Works
      5 min read

    • Article

      Scotland’s First Zoo

      Apr 11, 2020

      Scotland’s First Zoo
      6 min read

    • Article

      Mad Dogs & Englishmen

      Mar 6, 2020

      Mad Dogs & Englishmen
      7 min read

    • Article

      Sporting Dogs In The Frame

      Feb 15, 2024

      Sporting Dogs In The Frame
      7 min read

    • Article

      Editorial

      Feb 24, 2022

      This issue, under the expert guidance of our resident fairyist Simon Young, we focus on a half-forgotten figure that once occupied a central position in English folklore and forteana: the boggart. What exactly is a boggart, you may ask – which proves

      2 min read

    • Article

      Editorial

      Feb 24, 2022

      This issue, under the expert guidance of our resident fairyist Simon Young, we focus on a half-forgotten figure that once occupied a central position in English folklore and forteana: the boggart. What exactly is a boggart, you may ask – which proves

      2 min read

    • Article

      From Surtees, To Spectres

      Dec 7, 2023

      From Surtees, To Spectres
      6 min read

    • Article

      For The Love Of Panto

      Dec 17, 2021

      For The Love Of Panto
      7 min read

    • Article

      1942: Cage Birds at 40

      Jan 19, 2022

      Sir, I have been a regular reader of Cage Birds for three years. Many thanks to your boys who put it to press, and to our heroic seamen whose lives are risked delivering it. My mother sends your journal to me every week, and although it has decreased

      4 min read

    • Article

      A Bird-lover’s Lament

      May 26, 2022

      I AM AT BEST AN ACCIDENTAL BIRDER: any notable avian sightings I’ve managed — Falklands steamerduck, albino jackdaw — have been by-products of expeditions with rod and line, so a book aimed at hardcore twitchers or one freighted with ornithological s

      3 min read

    • Article

      These Fair Isles In Focus

      Mar 16, 2023

      His Irish baronet ‘Uncle Jack’ Leslie was Winston Churchill’s first cousin who, in later life, became a disc jockey sensation in Ibiza. His mother was the prolific biographer Anita Leslie. Now Tarka King has added to the family literary tradition wit

      2 min read

    Reviews for Pyg

    3.5/5

    39 ratings11 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      A cute book. Not much knowledge to be oinked about, but it does place some learned names into their milieu, such as Robert Burns, Dr. Samuel Johnson, Anna Seward, and Sarah Siddons.Great gift for those who collect inanimate pigs, but my turn off the appetites of those addicted to pork. Perhaps a good book for one's local Congressman?
    • 2/5
      Pyg, by Russell Potter, promises much and delivers little. For a book that is supposedly the "memoir of a learned pig," a subject which sounds at first inclination to have the potential to be most amusing, the actual narrative is very dry and lacking in much plot development. Essentially, Toby the pig is rescued from the slaughter, learns to spell as part of a performing act, and when it is recognized that he can actually read and understand the words in front of him, he gets the chance to become more educated. Nothing else of interest takes place that is not articulated in the cover description. Pyg is neither a comedy nor is it a social commentary in the style of Animal Farm. It is simply a matter-of-fact narrative that, had its protagonist been human rather than animal, would have no interest to readers whatsoever. As it stands, Pyg might be more interesting to advanced middle grade readers, providing that they have the necessary vocabulary and sufficient patience to wade through this text.
    • 5/5
      Was there really a pig who could read and write English? Reading this finely-crafted narrative is like watching an expert magician perform. Deep down you know it couldn't be real, yet from the first page onward, there is a nagging feeling that maybe, just maybe, it might have really happened.The book begins with an Editor's Note (Potter credits himself as the book's Editor, not its author), which in scholarly language states that the present volume is based on Toby the Pig's original published memoir of 1809. There was indeed a "miraculous sapient pig" named Toby, who toured the fairs and performing halls of late 18th Century England and Wales. As he tells it, Toby begins life on a farm, has a narrow escape from the slaughterhouse, and ends up in the care of a traveling entertainer with his troupe of performing animals. His linguistic skills are developed subtly, from first hints of understanding to training in card tricks and onward to...well, no plot spoilers here. Toby's travels through England and Ireland are depicted with nicely drawn details of places, clothing and transport. But this is not a cute, archaic "Babe the Pig". More like Charlotte's Web meets Stromboli's Circus in Pinocchio. The relationships between Toby and his human caretakers, and the portrait of the cruel world of late 18th Century traveling circuses, are touching, funny, sad and gut-wrenching, and often terrifying.The real joy of Pyg is the language. At first the slightly archaic terms and spelling might seem off-putting, but by the second page they meld into the rich and sonorous voice of Toby, which sweeps you along for the next 230 pages.The book ends with a generous section of historical notes. It turns out that most (or all) of the people and places which appear in the narrative actually existed. As did a short book published in 1805, entitled The Life and Adventures of Toby, the Sapient Pig.At the end you'll feel happy at having just enjoyed a well-told, unique and eccentric story, and you'll be scratching your head wondering just how much of it was true. Finally, if you can get your hands on the original British hardcover edition, you won't regret it. Rarely do you find books these days with so much craft put into the design. From the exquisite, tactile cover to the slightly yellowed paper to the typeface, which mimics the look of 18th Century metal type, the book is a treasure to hold and look at.
    • 3/5
      I'm more than a little confused by this book. I understand there were "learned" animals touring Europe in the early 19th century, but beyond that, I'm not sure how much is fact and how much is fiction. By that, I mean that I've found some reference of an autobiography of Toby the pig and his opinions on men and manners, but a wikipedia entry does not a fact make. I found other references as well, but I can't determine if they're just clever seeds sown by the author or a publicist, or if there was indeed a purported "autobiography" written nearly two centuries ago. I don't believe a pig wrote an autobiography at any time, but I'm wondering if someone pushed a purported autobiography out to the public way back and inspired this book. I guess the backstory is more fascinating to me. Regardless, the book seems true to what an account written by a celebrity of the time might provide - a little dry, almost exciting, maybe worth a quiet chuckle or two. I liked it just well enough not to dislike it, but that's about as far as it went. Of course, it fails in some ways in authenticity. . . I didn't bother to check dates to names, but there were many famous people from way-back-when making appearances in the book. I'm not sure if the timeframe is correct for all of them - but then, I didn't care enough to figure it out. Also, the style of writing is definitely modern, I think the author fell a little short on that effort as well.
    • 4/5
      Summary: Pyg is the autobiography of Toby, the world's first genuine Learned Pig. Toby was born and raised as a prize-winner, but after the fair, he escapes from his destiny in the butcher's yard with the help of his young human friend, Sam. Together they find their way to the traveling show of Mr. Bisset, who trains Toby to recognize subtle cues and respond by selecting the proper letters, so as they might amaze village fairgoers with Toby's knowledge. But Mr. Bisset does not realize that Toby is in fact learning to read, again with the help of Sam, and thus begins Toby's adventures across Britain, studying at Oxford and meeting such great thinkers of the day as Robert Burns and Samuel Wilberforce.Review: This was a very interesting conceit for a book, and Potter pulls it off remarkably well. I had known of the existence of this kind of sideshow act before I picked up this book - horses that count by stamping, that sort of thing - but I don't think I realized how detailed the acts got, nor how popular the "sapient pig" was in Britain back in the day. I really enjoyed the fact that this book let Toby speak for himself; because this is a (putative) autobiography, Toby gets to muse on his existence, and what it says about the human (and porcine) condition, in such a way that is both insightful and more genuine-feeling than it would if this were a book about Toby, rather than by him. As I said, Potter manages it really well; it took surprisingly little suspension of disbelief to believe that I was reading a book pieced together one letter at a time by a very intelligent pig. Potter also captures the style of the time very well, with somewhat haphazard capitalizations and italics, that could have been intrusive or obnoxious, but which I thought helped give the book an appropriate period flavor. My main complaint about this book is that it sort of ran out of steam about 2/3s of the way through. The early story, about Toby's escape and education, were very interesting, and the trials of his time on the stage and his struggle to be accepted in a world of men were equally compelling, if a little slower. But after that, the action sort of started to peter out, and there's not much drama or conflict to sustain the last section of the book. It's a shame, because while I enjoyed the book as a whole, the ending kind of left me feeling as though I wasn't entirely sure what the point of the story actually was. 3.5 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: If you like early 19th-century literature, or stories set in that time (or Charlotte's Web), or even if you think a book narrated by a pig sounds like fun, then this book should be worth checking out.
    • 4/5
      This short novel, which falls loosely into the historical fiction genre but adds significant satire and imagination to the usual fare, uses a once-popular figure as its centerpiece, purporting to be his definitive autobiography. That eminent figure is, of course, Toby the sapient pig, who was a standard of the fair circuit in England around the turn of the nineteenth century.Yes, apparently this was an actual thing.Russell Potter's notes certainly encourage that understanding -- the last several pages of the novel are populated with explanations, in wry and cheeky tones, of the other famous historical personages who pop up in the course of the novel -- and any reader of this novel should take the time to peruse those carefully. But one doesn't have to know the historical context to find this book enjoyable. The "memoir" uses a narrative style that echoes a combination of 'Tom Jones' and 'Black Beauty' to produce a story that is clever, witty, and even occasionally heartfelt. That this novel is significantly shorter than those two previously mentioned will also please the modern reader -- Toby's adventures, from birth through showmanship through scholarship and back again, take only the space of an afternoon to read. While this isn't the stuff for everyone, I can recommend Potter's book for the diversion of many of our group. After all, what's not to love about a memoir written in the 18th century style by an educated pig who quotes classical philosophers? Wait... where are you going? No, really, you might like this! It's quite funny!
    • 4/5
      Cute, fun, funny, charming. This book is also very nicely packaged, with great little prints of Toby spelling out the chapter titles, an unusual font that mimics that of 18th- and 19th-century books, strange use of italics, and an attractive spine. It's a clever and sweet book that might be nicely packaged with the excellent movie, Babe.
    • 3/5
      A memoir of the life and adventures of Toby, a pig who has been taught by his owner to spell, read and count. They travel from town to town and from troupe to troupe, performing, until they end up at Oxford, where Toby is encouraged to study, and Edinburgh, where he continues his studies. He meets many illustrious persons along the way.An interesting concept, but not a very exciting or interesting book. It was like reading anyone's memoirs, and there was nothing that marked it as special.
    • 4/5
      Toby is a sapient pig living in England in the late 1700's. He has written a memoir of his life on the stage and at University with the assistance of his friend. Toby faces adversity in the form of a scornful and disbelieving public, but also finds his champions and admirers are many. The tale is alternately heartbreaking and heartwarming. Toby is a likable narrator and the reader will fall in love with him. He understands much about the world about him and makes valuable observations about the nature of humanity and the thirst for knowledge. My only complaint about the book were the various italicized words, which I felt interrupted the narrative flow, as it did not seem that these words were to be emphasized. In fact, I could discern no rhyme nor reason for the device, except that possibly this was frequently done in texts of this era. The Capitalization of words that have come to be more frequently lowercase in today's grammar was more readily ignored as well as accounted for.
    • 3/5
      It's a very cute premise for a book: a learned pig writes the memoir of his life and how he became so learned. It's actually written like an 18th century memoir as well. Trouble is, this can get in the way sometimes. I was looking forward to a quick cute read, which it is at times, but it often feels like a legit 18th century memoir (which, I suppose, was the point). Overall, I did enjoy the book; it's a very unique idea. I just had trouble staying 100% engaged throughout.
    • 3/5
      There was an actual pig named Toby, who had a famous stage act in the late 18th century. He could respond to questions by spelling out words with placards that he manipulated with his snout. The act was very popular, so much so that there were many imitators, and Toby was mentioned in the popular press of the day.This is a work of fiction, an imagined memoir of Toby. It seems to be very accurate in it's treatment of the historical characters around the pig. Toby is presented as being extremely intelligent . The writing is in the style of works from the period, and is very reminiscent of Jonathon Swift and Gulliver's Travels.Unfortunately, it left me wanting more. Very little is mentioned about how Toby attained the spark of intelligence, or about how a pig would respond so differently than a human to stimulus. Toby is portrayed as a mute human more than anything else, and nothing like a pig. There is very little drama. I thought that the story could have been so much better, along the lines of the novels by Richard Adams.