What happens when a man wonders aloud if a pig would make a good pet? A great deal - once his wife discovers a kind the size of a handbag...
Matt Whyman is a writer and a house husband. He enjoys the quiet life. His career wife, Emma, prefers the chaos a big brood can bring. On top of four challenging children, one freaked-out feline, a wolf-like dog and a wild bunch of ex-battery chickens, she brings minipigs Butch and Roxi into the fold.
But can the new arrivals really cuddle up on the sofa, or will their growing presence spark a battle of hearts, snouts and minds?
Shortlisted for the 2012 Prix Littéraire 30 Millions d'Amis (French edition)
Move over Marley, a pair of cute mini-pigs are about to take over the world.
New York Post
This merry memoir of family growing pains and too many pets has so many laugh-out-loud sequences it's embarrassing to read in public... the most good-hearted, hilarious memoir in years.
Shelf Awareness
A memoir this funny and touching is a rarity... you will laugh and possibly cry numerous times throughout... pick this up now! You do not want to miss it!
Chick Lit Reviews and News
What a fabulous, funny read! I enjoyed every page. Highly recommended for anyone with a pet, a partner, a family, a sense of humour...or even a minipig.
Sophie Kinsella
Funny, frank and charming.
Lisa Jewell
Definitely my favourite pigs since Babe... funny and completely charming.
Jenny Colgan
Written with wry humour and accompanied by numerous photographs, Oink is a moving salute to love, family and commitment.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
With so many characters carousing about the household, Whyman's raucous mini-pig memoir becomes an endearing meditation on the difficult, but ultimately worthwhile, relationships between people and the pets with which they share their home.
Publishers Weekly
Funny, well-observed & endearingly honest - a real pleasure to read.
The Bookbag
This lighthearted but affecting account from the porcine frontlines has appeal for animal lovers and readers of contemporary family memoir alike.
Library Journal
Be careful where you read this book because it is laugh-out-loud funny... Whyman has a flair for self-deprecating asides and for making the "ordinary" sparkling. It's compelling, bristles with irony and is sure to delight animal lovers.
Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
A darling book - very funny and definitely for animal lovers.
ABC
Published in hardback as Oink! My Life with Minipigs by Hodder & Stoughton 2011
Published in paperback as Pig in the Middle by Hodder and Stoughton 2012
Also published in the USA, Germany, Italy, Denmark and France