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The astonishing, true account of one man's quest to immerse himself in nature and live with wild deer for seven years.
Geoffroy Delorme never felt he fitted into the human world. As a boy, he dreamed of transforming himself into a fox so he could escape to the forest. As he got older, he would disappear into the woods, drawn to the rhythms of animal life and away from the rules of a society he did not understand. One night, an encounter with a deer changed his life: from then on, he knew he wanted to live among them.
In Deer Man, Delorme describes becoming a creature of the forest, working to blend in with the deer, not disrupt them, and living without a tent or sleeping bag. Slowly, the deer allow Delorme into their world. He witnesses births and deaths, loves and battles, ostracism and friendship over the cycles of their lives.
Above all, he experiences the beauty, pain, fear, and joy of a life lived within nature, not separate from it. In his seventh year in the forest, Delorme meets a woman walking through the trees. He knows he can stay in the forest and die with his friends – or he can leave, and speak their truth to a human world that desperately needs to hear it.
Geoffrey Delorme is a naturalist and photographer. Deer Man, a bestseller in France, has been translated into eleven languages. He lives in Normandy.
"A story of extraordinary power and tenderness, showing that intimate relationship with the wild world and the wild self is both possible and vital. Delorme is the best possible guide through the tangle of the woods and the tangle of the psyche. Deer Man will change you. It has the distinctive scent of an enduring classic."
– Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast and Being a Human
"An extraordinary, unique story about how one man connected to the natural world in the 21st century"
– Northern Life
"Haunting, remarkable and ultimately very moving"
– Sunday Times
"A startling portrait of an animal that is both familiar to us and yet shockingly misunderstood [...] it is a delightful, moving read – and a quietly revolutionary one."
– Melanie Challenger, Guardian
"Some deeply eccentric books have crossed my path in my time, but this one probably takes the biscuit [...] This is a lyrical, rather lovely book by a talented writer."
– Markus Berkmann, Daily Mail
