Ape House

Gruen, Sara

ISBN 10: 0739368540 ISBN 13: 9780739368541

Publisher: Random House, 2010

Synopsis

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 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.

From the Hardcover edition.

About this title

Review:

DON'T MISS YOUR BUS STOP . . . reading this week's talking-point book, Ape House by Water for Elephants author Sara Gruen. It's a funny, provocative lampoon of pop culture, about a group of sign-language-speaking bonobo monkeys who are liberated from a science lab, only to wind up on a reality TV show. (Grazia)

Ape House is gripping, emotionally exhilarating and, by a large margin, the best novel I've read in the past 12 months. Or perhaps 24.... A twisting pacy plot . . . vivid page-turner . . . mining the same literary vein as Jodi Picoult and TC Boyle whose strong, conflicted characters and ethically charged plots deliver brilliant but challenging fiction. (James Urquhart, Independent)

If you love animals like I do, it's a must read. (Ellen DeGeneres, host of the Ellen Show)

had me instantly enraptured (Dallas Morning News)

Gruen's astute, wildly entertaining tale of interspecies connection is a novel of verve and conscience - the fate of the bonobos is a brilliantly satirical surprise. (Booklist (starred review))

It is a page-turner written with flair, imagination and a sharp sense of irony. (Globe and Mail)

Very, very few novels can change the way you look at the world around you. This one does. (Robert Goolrick, author of A Reliable Wife)

Consider reality TV, meth labs, over-the-top animal-rights activists, Botox, tabloids and Internet diatribes, and you, too, might come to the conclusion: People should be more like animals. Sara Gruen's entertaining, enlightening new novel will certainly leave you thinking so. (Miami Herald)

Has the dramatic tension of a crime thriller... Twists and turns, lies, and treachery abound in this funny, clever, and perceptive story. (Library Journal (starred review))

Ape House is difficult to put down, filled as it is with genuine hilarity and heartbreak. (Toronto Star)

Book Description:

From the bestselling author of Water for Elephants comes another immensely engaging novel ....

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0739368540
• ISBN 13: 9780739368541
• Binding: Audio CD