Nim Chimpsky, Elizabeth Hess

It took me awhile to be able to write about this one. Nim Chimpsky (named by a witty academic determined to prove Noam wrong) was a chimp used in a Columbia University research experiment set out to prove that language is not exclusively human. As part of this, they raised the chimps as human - in homes, wearing clothes, sleeping in beds, etc. What happened to Nim and other chimps like him after the experiments stopped is enough to make even non-animal rights-ers pensive about animal research. The book isn't a Michael Moore-ish expose so to speak, but a more or less evenhanded study of the sexually and politically charged academia of the 70's and the lives affected.

I was particularly unsettled reading this - most likely because I've spent so much of my life wanting to interact with chimps (Project X had left a particularly deep impression I suppose...). And even though I never pursued the aspiration, this book unraveled my intentions around the whole thing...Had I ever planned to give up everything to unobstructively observe in the wild? No, I think the whole fantasy usually involved me bringing home a chimp, pretending its my kid and teaching it sign language between adorable outfit changes and Oprah. And even if I had realized the wrongness of this path, would I have turned my back on it after devoting my life to the school and research that it required? For once, it's a huge relief that I was never motivated enough to follow my dreams.

The gamut of people Hess found to interview and the piecing of the story is impressive but I certainly won't be reading her other book about animal shelters as I want to be able to at least sleep a little bit at night. (+)