Review: Ape House
I should know that Sara Gruen is a big surprise, going places with her books I never would have guessed. However, I was worried about Ape House : the publication was delayed multiple times (which I wouldn't have known had I not been keenly watching for it) (after Water for Elephants , can you blame me?) and the title didn't wow me. Don't let that kind of foolishness — or any other, really — stop you from this book. I consumed the book in almost a single gulp because it was that compelling. (Plus, Carole had finished it two days before.) It was bizarre, compelling and more than a little eerily foretelling. The journalist John meets a group of bonobos (apes who are very similar to chimpanzees in appearance) and is mesmerized by them, as well as by their human caretaker, Isabel. When tragedy strikes, he tries to find a way to use his journalism and his knowledge about the bonobos to not only help his career, but also benefit Isabel, and maybe even the six ape-...