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The wildly entertaining new novel from the bestselling author of Water for Elephants.
Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani, and Makena are no ordinary apes. These bonobos, like others of their species, are capable of reason and carrying on deep relationshipsâ??but unlike most bonobos, they also know American Sign Language. Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesnâ??t understand people, but animals she getsâ??especially the bonobos. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than sheâ??s ever felt among humans . . . until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter who braves the ever-present animal rights protesters outside the lab to see whatâ??s really going on inside. When an explosion rocks the lab, severely injuring Isabel and â??liberatingâ? the apes, Johnâ??s human interest piece turns into the story of a lifetime, one heâ??ll risk his career and his marriage to follow. Then a reality TV show featuring the missing apes debuts under mysterious circumstances, and it immediately becomes the biggestâ??and unlikeliestâ??phenomenon in the history of modern media. Millions of fans are glued to their screens watching the apes order greasy take-out, have generous amounts of sex, and sign for Isabel to come get them. Now, to save her family of apes from this parody of human life, Isabel must connect with her own kind, including John, a green-haired vegan, and a retired porn star with her own agenda. Ape House delivers great entertainment, but it also opens the animal world to us in ways few novels have done, securing Sara Gruenâ??s place as a master storyteller who allows us to see ourselves as we never have before. BONUS: This edi… (more)
This was a very quick read. I liked it but I think it could have been better. Considering this book kept my attention enough that I read through it in one afternoon, I'm probably being overly critical. But I felt like the story was zipping all over the place. Locations and scenes changed quickly and the story jumped from character to character. One minute the main characters are living in Philadelphia; then they've fled to Kansas; the story moves to LA; then New Mexico and I think they finish up in Hawaii. Also, I was expecting the story to concentrate more on the bonobos and was hoping for more character development there. Having said all that, I did enjoy it. I can't really write a review about the storyline though without giving it away. I would recommend it. It's a quick read with a bit of a love story, animals and a mystery too. ( )
I liked just about everything about this book; the main characters, the fast pace, the happy ending. But I did have a problem with the whole premise of a family of bonobo apes "starring" in a reality TV show. In the novel the show becomes a sensational hit and I just don't think humans would pay money to watch a family of apes living in a house fit for humans. I liked the idea of reading a novel which discussed the mistreatment of great apes, I just wish Sarah Gruen had come up with a more plausible premise to get her point across. ( )
Isabell deeply cares for the bonobos she is studying and teaching to use sign language to communicate. John, a reporter who is getting frustrated with how he's treated at work, is doing a story on Isabell and her primates. When someone attacks the lab, nearly killing Isabell and letting loose the monkeys, who are soon secretly sold to a TV producer who makes a reality show out of them, both Isabell and John find their lives turned upside down.
I'm not sure how this one got onto my TBR, but I'm glad it did. It's not my usual fare, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The characters are interesting, and although the story isn't exactly complex, it's fun, and the bonobos are a delight. ( )
The parts of the story that dealt with the bonobos and the language projects associated with them were great. Other parts veered into the implausible and then straight to just plain bizarre. I did NOT enjoy the narrator. He could be OK at times, but most of the time he just sounded flat. Then, in voicing for one female character, I couldn't tell if he was going for a British accent or valley girl. That became extremely distracting. ( )
Gruen's gift for reaching across the species divide is as evident in "Ape House" as it was in her mega-selling "Water for Elephants," which featured Rosie, the Depression-era circus elephant. Not since Jack London explored the boundaries between the domesticated dog and the wolf in "The Call of the Wild" has a writer dramatized the bonds between humans and our fellow creatures with such empathy.
The wildly entertaining new novel from the bestselling author of Water for Elephants.
Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani, and Makena are no ordinary apes. These bonobos, like others of their species, are capable of reason and carrying on deep relationshipsâ??but unlike most bonobos, they also know American Sign Language. Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesnâ??t understand people, but animals she getsâ??especially the bonobos. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than sheâ??s ever felt among humans . . . until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter who braves the ever-present animal rights protesters outside the lab to see whatâ??s really going on inside. When an explosion rocks the lab, severely injuring Isabel and â??liberatingâ? the apes, Johnâ??s human interest piece turns into the story of a lifetime, one heâ??ll risk his career and his marriage to follow. Then a reality TV show featuring the missing apes debuts under mysterious circumstances, and it immediately becomes the biggestâ??and unlikeliestâ??phenomenon in the history of modern media. Millions of fans are glued to their screens watching the apes order greasy take-out, have generous amounts of sex, and sign for Isabel to come get them. Now, to save her family of apes from this parody of human life, Isabel must connect with her own kind, including John, a green-haired vegan, and a retired porn star with her own agenda. Ape House delivers great entertainment, but it also opens the animal world to us in ways few novels have done, securing Sara Gruenâ??s place as a master storyteller who allows us to see ourselves as we never have before. BONUS: This edi
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Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, embarks on an adventure with reporter John Thigpen to rescue a family of bonobos that escaped from her lab and have been cast on a reality television program.
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