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A review by anitaofplaybooktag
A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons by Robert M. Sapolsky
3.0
The title may be "A Primate's Memoir", but let's just put it out there that the primate in question is Robert Spolsky not a baboon. Had I known that, I probably wouldn't have read this particular book, but it was enjoyable. Sapolsky details his work with baboons, yes, but he spends at least as much, if not more, time describing anecdotes about his human interactions in Africa. My takeaway is there is a LOT of bribery and corruption in Africa. A lot may be an understatement.
Sapolsky is a pretty witty guy, and I did laugh aloud a few times as he relates what seem like the most preposterous tales with enough detail to reassure the reader that he is not exaggerating.
On the flip side, I really wanted even more about the baboon troop he followed. What he wrote about them was very interesting, and I could have a read an entire book strictly focused on them.
The final chapter of the book is the perfect denouement as Sapolsky discovers a diseased baboon and must try to unravel this threat to his beloved baboon troop.
Sapolsky is a pretty witty guy, and I did laugh aloud a few times as he relates what seem like the most preposterous tales with enough detail to reassure the reader that he is not exaggerating.
On the flip side, I really wanted even more about the baboon troop he followed. What he wrote about them was very interesting, and I could have a read an entire book strictly focused on them.
The final chapter of the book is the perfect denouement as Sapolsky discovers a diseased baboon and must try to unravel this threat to his beloved baboon troop.