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 relationships—but unlike most bonobos, they also know American Sign Language.Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn’t understand … Language Lab, doesn’t understand people, but animals she gets—especially the bonobos. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she’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 what’s really going on inside.
When an explosion rocks the lab, severely injuring Isabel and “liberating” the apes, John’s human interest piece turns into the story of a lifetime, one he’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 biggest—and unlikeliest—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 Gruen’s place as a master storyteller who allows us to see ourselves as we never have before.
BONUS: This edition contains a reader’s guide.
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I loved Water for Elephants, so I was excited to read more from Sara Gruen, and I was not disappointed! I love how she is able to educate and instill a real empathy towards animals through her fiction. I learned so much about bonobos, and the story was entertaining and unpredictable all the way through.
Wow! What a different topic, and very interesting! Not the same ol’ thing, for sure. Even taught me some stuff – I found myself cruising the web looking for more information on the real apes upon which this story was based. Read it!
This is an engaging book about the human qualities of large primates, and the misunderstandings between human animal activists and the researchers working on a sign language project with primates. Touching and humorous read.
A very unusual book as well as informative
I am anxiously awaiting Sarah Gruen’s next novel…they are amazing reads!
Even better than Water for Elephants.
I love Sara Gruen’s work. She makes you care about her characters. Her research serves her well. So, we benefit when read her books.
Ridiculous.
This was a great book about the intelligence of the Bonobo chimps, and how humans can be so cruel to another species. Good story.
Horrible! So disappointing after having read Water For Elephants! Don’t bother.
It is a very good book. It was an easy read. Well written.
Whatever Sara Gruen writes is wonderful. Her understanding of animals is unique. In the Ape House, I was hypnotized by her writing and the concept of apes communicating with humans. A “novel” approach and thoroughly enjoyable.
Well written kept my attention.
It really made you think about how humanity treats its animals. It was both tragic and inspirational at the same time. The bad guys were truly awful and the good guys were pretty pure in deed. Really well written and thought provoking.
Writing not on par with Water for Elephants. Contrived plot & jumbled character development.
A great read for any animal lover!
Not nearly as good as her other novels I’ve read. I lived Water for Elephants and enjoyed the one about the young girl and the horse (can’t remember title), but this one was just so-so.
I was so disappointed in this book. I t was nothing like I expected. I thought it would be more involved with the apes. Sadly, it was more human drama. Three stars is stretching it, though I was glad to learn about the apes species that I had never heard of.
I love Sara Gruen, this was a neat book. Kept me turning the pages and shaking my head!
Loved this book!