I fully understand that Zoo Time is a satirical work - hey, I'm all for satire - but something about it just tries far too hard. I didn't enjoy Jacobson's prose style (something which several people have told me about other works of his), and the protagonist is, let's face it, an egotistical dick. I didn't enjoy this at first, but I persevered to page fifty, and then wondered why I'd bothered, as the end result was the same: to Oxfam goes this book.