This is an intense book written by a woman who experienced many tragedies, but she keeps a kind, uplifting spirit throughout.

She loses a husband, gains a husband.
She loses a son to a lethal snake bite; she gains a baby daughter via a pregancny with husband number two.
She loses husband number two.

Personally, I've always wanted to go to Africa. But, I will keep this as a dream because it is so beautiful and yet so very dangerous.

Highly recommended! This is a tear jearker, worth reading. ( )

Have the tissues handy for the first 2/3 of the book. Her emotions and ties to her new homeland are impressive, as is her fight to provide habitat for the decimated species and thwart poaching. The pictures are a lovely addition ( )

This has got to be one of the most heart wrenching yet uplifting books I have ever read about one woman's life experiences in Africa. After divorcing her first husband Kuki marries the widower of a friend (Kuki survives the same car accident that her friend did not). Paolo convinces Kuki and her young son to move to Kenya, a far cry from the life of privilege in Italy. There, Kuki and her son, Emanuele Pirri-Gallman, fall in love with the land, the animals, and the people of Ol Ari Nyiro. Even after Paolo is killed in a tragic accident, Kuki is determined to stay in Africa. Pregnant with his child, Kuki buries Paolo at the ranch and continues to carry out their dreams. Three years later, even after her seventeen year old son dies of a lethal snake bite, Kuki is even more determined to stay on the ranch. She buries Ema next to Paolo and slowly, through grief and time, finds new purpose to her life. ( )

Memoir reading is something very personal - it requires your own personal identification with the experiences of the author. This then, is not fiction - and requires from us, the readers, an emotive attribute that is sometimes missing in other works we read. Yet, for me, while reading I Dreamed Of Africa - I missed this emotional attribute. Gallmann's story is well-known - her enduring love story with Paolo, and her love for Africa resulted in a movie by the same name.

I am fascinated by Africa, make no mistake about it, which is why I purchased the book despite the hefty price tag of more than $12. (Well, in these recessionary times, I guess that qualifies as hefty). Gallmann writes well but I found very little about Africa in the book. The people of Africa are there only as stage props, as loyal servants to Gallmann, and thus, a vast void is immediately apparent.

As a personal story, Gallmann scores - she is weepy, sentimental, psychic, loving, and courageous. But after a point, I just had enough about superhuman characters who are divinely beautiful. Paolo was one - he was the one who foretold his own death, (all of Gallmann's family seem to foretell their own death), and when he was not out shooting elephants to death, he was 'taking care' of the vast ranch. Kuki's son Emmanuel - ah, like all mothers, Kuki idolizes him. His craze of snakes causes his death eventually - and Kuki spares no effort in ensuring that his memory is still alive in the reader, who by this time must surely be wondering if there are any characters in this book who are not "beautiful," or "handsome" or "wise."

By now, you must be getting my drift - if you are interested in a lot of details about beautiful Paolo, and Emmanuel, then, by all means, pick up this book. If it is Africa you are searching for - Achebe, Wole Soyinka or Achak Deng may be a better choice. ( )

a very, sad, sad story which she tells so well. she also loves africa and its people. she always wants to make things better, plant trees, save animals, learn medicine from older women. ( )