How long does it take to read West with Giraffes?
Lynda Rutledge
West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge takes about 6 hours 49 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 6 hours 49 minutes
A weekend read
First published 2021. 372 pages, about 102,300 words.
14 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 11 hours 22 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 6 hours 49 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 4 hours 16 minutes |
The page count is the median across 5 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
“Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes…” Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes.
