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kate_elizabeth 's review for:
Alex & Me
by Irene M. Pepperberg
3.5 stars
It's astonishing to me that, as recently as 25 years ago, people questioned whether animals had comprehension skills and emotions similar to that of humans. Irene Pepperberg's work with Alex is insightful and scientific and fascinating. One of my favorite anecdotes (and there were many) occurs when Alex contracts an infection and has to be left at the vet's for an extended period of time. Pepperberg goes to say goodbye to him, and there, hunkered in his little cage, Alex says quietly, "I'm sorry. Come here. Wanna go back."
I think I tend to anthropomorphize animals, and it's especially difficult to refrain from doing so while reading this book, even as Pepperberg cautions the reader not to. I wish Alex were still with us, providing insight and bossing around graduate assistants, and in his absence, I'm happy this book exists.
It's astonishing to me that, as recently as 25 years ago, people questioned whether animals had comprehension skills and emotions similar to that of humans. Irene Pepperberg's work with Alex is insightful and scientific and fascinating. One of my favorite anecdotes (and there were many) occurs when Alex contracts an infection and has to be left at the vet's for an extended period of time. Pepperberg goes to say goodbye to him, and there, hunkered in his little cage, Alex says quietly, "I'm sorry. Come here. Wanna go back."
I think I tend to anthropomorphize animals, and it's especially difficult to refrain from doing so while reading this book, even as Pepperberg cautions the reader not to. I wish Alex were still with us, providing insight and bossing around graduate assistants, and in his absence, I'm happy this book exists.