Many of Herriot's techniques may have evolved while his observations germinated in his mind during the thirty years between writing his diaries and writing his books. As happens in autobiography, the narrator is sixtyodd years old while he relates events that took place when he was about thirty. The reader sees the young man in light of the elder he has become. The young man is made more likable by being blended with the narrator's thirty additional years of awareness. This older narrator writes lovingly of seemingly superficial events that provide a glimpse of deeper themes while relating a simple story.

Each chapter is a separable anecdote, a short narrative complete in itself, usually featuring one new character and one incident of humor or pathos. A typical chapter shows a comic aspect of Herriot's coping with a problem involving animals and farmers. The chapter is an immediate, clear...