Rowlands is a lecturer in philosophy, and author of several books of popular philosophy.

In this gem of a book, he discusses his life with a wolf, while in his twenties. Rowlands admits to being fonder of the wolf than of other humans. Indeed he explores, quite provocatively, the meaning of being human; deciding that he doesn’t like his own simian nature very much at all.

Being high on the evolutionary scale, humans have had to compromise in big ways to rise to the top. Rowlands portrays the human as having ape soul, with his main premise that, as apes, human beings are deceptive and always trying to think of ways to outwit each other. In his struggle to overcome his inherent disgust with his simian self, he searches to find a lupine self within and to develop it more. This results in his withdrawal from the human side of intimacy and increasing reliance on the pack mentality of the wolf and dog.

Rowlands explains it thus:

“The augmentation of intelligence that we find in apes and monkeys, but apparently not in other social creatures, is the result of twin imperatives: to scheme more than you are being schemed against and to lie more than you are being lied to. The nature of simian intelligence is irredeemable shaped by these imperatives”.

Hmm. Perhaps out of context this sounds like harsh condemnation of the ‘ape’, but Rowlands had me convinced.

I also admired Rowlands for his application of philosophical argument to his everyday life and his profound commitment to animal rights. Despite enjoying eating meat, he explains his conversion to vegetarianism with the theory of ‘original position’. This is a theory of a 'fair society' put forward by Rawls of Harvard University and discusses the moral position of humans in the world order.

“How do you ensure that the society you live in is a far one? Just as we ensure a fair slicing of the pizza by making sure that the person slicing it does not know which piece he is getting, so we could ensure a fair society by allowing a person to choose how it is to be organized, but by making sure that this person did not know who they were going to be in this society.”

Therefore, if you don’t know if you are going to be a cow or a duck or a disabled person or a King, you could only consider being a vegetarian. The only fair endpoint.

He has some cogent philosophical points, such as: “I always judge a person by how they treat those who are weaker than them.” Or “Humans are the animals that engineer the possibilities of their own evil,” or “What is most important is the person you are when your lucks runs out.”

His writing is accessible and his anecdotal illustration of various philosophical points often amusing and instructional. With humour and sensitivity he touches on life lessons learnt by his life with his lupine friend.

While I do have a cautious skepticism about living and bonding with wild animals, anthropomorphizing their behaviours and attributing meanings and mystical reverence to such creatures, this book just worked for me. Indeed, to some, it may seem like to very epitome of exploitive simian behaviour. It might grate on the sensibilities of some purists, but not mine. I really enjoyed his musings – and now will strive to be more lupine and less simian in my relationships and dealing. ( )

Heavier on the philosophy, lighter on the amusing antecdotes, but somehow reminded me of "Marley and Me". Mr. Rowlands tells a brief story of his life with a full-blooded wolf. Along the way he engages in a number of philosophical arguments. I have to admit, I wanted more wolf, less philosophy, though I found the book very readable. ( )