Britain's Favourite Meerkat Makes a Special Appearance at Harrods to Launch New Books

LONDON, October 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Britain's favourite meerkat, Aleksandr Orlov launched his latest literary offering, Meerkat Tales today with a rare and exclusive appearance at Harrods.

Appearing by satellite link from his Russian mansion, Aleksandr gave a live reading from Sergei's Space Adventure, one of the six books in the Meerkat Tales collection, before taking questions from the audience.  The event was the first time the entrepreneur has ever appeared live in public. The first 50 people to purchase the two of the six books from Harrods, which went on sale today, were invited to attend the intimate gathering.

Advanced sales have meant the collection has already soared into the Top 10 of the Amazon "Movers and Shakers" chart, and it is now hotly tipped to reach the coveted Christmas No. 1 bestseller slot going head to head with offerings from Cheryl Cole, Miranda Hart, and Clare Balding.

The publication of Meerkat Tales follows the success of Aleksandr's autobiography, A Simples Life, published in 2010, which sold over 500,000 copies, outselling celebrity memoires by Lord Sugar, Katie Price, Michael McIntyre, Tony Blair and Keith Richards.

Narrated by Aleksandr in his own unique style, Meerkat Tales tell the stories of Aleksandr's own dreams as well as those of five of his meerkat friends. Speaking at the Harrods event, Aleksandr said, "I very much enjoyed giving book readings to peoples of the UK, although one child at the front seem to have a bad case of the fidgets. If I was his Papa I would be have stern words with him about respecting your elderkats."

Fans of Aleksandr who missed out on the live reading at Harrods will be able to tune in and watch on Aleksandr's facebook page.  A series of live online readings of the complete collection will also take place in December.  

The Meerkat Tales collection by Aleksandr Orlov is published by Ebury Press (RRP £35.94) and is available nationally from all leading book retailers. The six books can also be purchased individually priced at RRP £5.99.

About The Meerkat Tales collection

Narrated by Aleksandr in his own unique style, the Meerkat Tales tell the stories of Aleksandr's own dreams as well as those of five of his meerkat friends: his faithful head of IT Sergei who dreams of a space adventure to the moon; Bogdan the mischievous meerpup who takes part in the Meerkovian Grand Prix; Maiya the school mistress who dreams of debuting in the 'Romeero and Juliet' ballet; Yakov the toymaker who must help save Christmas when 'Santa Claws' falls ill; and leather-clad rocker Vassily who finally achieves rock stardom.

About Aleksandr Orlov

Aleksandr Orlov has amassed over 800,000 Facebook fans and around 50,000 followers on Twitter since he first appeared on TV in January 2009, urging those looking for car insurance at http://www.comparethemarket.com not to come to http://www.comparethemeerkat.com by mistake.  

His iSimples iphone application attracted over 700,000 subscribers, reaching No.1 on the iTunes free app download chart.  His catchphrase 'Simples' has even entered the Oxford English Dictionary.  Aleksandr's biography "A Simples Life" sold 500,000 copies, topping the Christmas bestseller list in 2010.  More recently he has given over a million people an official Meerkat soft toy as a reward for knowing the difference between http://www.comparethemarket.com and http://www.comparethemeerkat.com.