Rating: 
Summary: Funny yet disturbing...
Review: For the first 2/3rds of "A Primate's Memoir" I fully planned to give it a 5 star rating. I was enjoying it thoroughly, laughing hysterically, & even wondering if my former antipathy towards baboons was misplaced. Then Robert Sapolsky hit me with a revelation that repulsed me so completely I couldn't fully enjoy the book afterwards.The awful revelation? That during his 9 months a year in the US, he personally oversees the torture, maiming & hideous deaths of lab animals. Not mice. Primates. I've heard all the justifications; Sapolsky tries to soften the blow by recalling his father's descent into Alzheimers & how he'd do "anything" to keep this from happening again. Sorry, Robert but your father, my father, I don't care what human is simply not important enough to justify the torture of animal experimentation. Sapolsky admits to having nightmares of being Dr. Mengele. GOOD! He is. Personally I cannot reconcile a man who identifies so strongly with his baboon troop that he can view his own life thru theirs, carry a picture of his favorite member Benjamin in his wallet, admit that he wanted to grow up "to be a mountain gorilla" yet return to the US & commit unspeakable acts upon the domestic cousins of his beloved primates. I wonder if he can reconcile it himself; maybe this book is a form of apology to the animals he feels he has betrayed. Politics & morality aside, "A Primate's Memoir" is fast-moving, funny, & very interesting. If at times the author seems to condescend when discussing the Africans he lived amongst, it must have been difficult to write about the inevitable culture clash without seeming patriarchal. If Sapolsky had just refrained from discussing his American activities, I could unreservedly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Heartfelt and hilarious - achingly human.
Review: From laugh-out-loud hilarity to heart-breaking sadness, this book offers a generous helping of humanity to anyone who loves to taste the diverse wonders of the world and its creatures. The narrative drags a little at times, but the writing is excellent overall, and the highlights are not to be missed. If you're looking for a break from the contrived, this is it. It isn't always happy and it isn't always fast-paced, but it is real and full of heart. Great book.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant observation of baboons, of people and of Africa
Review: Having spent too much of my own childhood in Africa indulging my father's fascination with baboon observation, I picked up Sapolsky's book with some trepidation. Having done so, however, I was hooked. It is a brilliantly written exposition, not only of the unbelievably fascinating lives of baboons, but also of the people surrounding them and of the spirit that embues parts of Africa. There are those (most likely without any direct familiarity with Africa) who might view Sapolsky's tales as patronizing. I think they totally miss the point - this book celebrates the diversity of humanity and its place in the scheme of things. It also addresses, head on and with sophistication, some rarely spoken truths about Africa and about game conservation in Africa. That it is so wonderfully written is just an additional gift to the reader. This is truly one of the best books I have ever read
Rating:
Summary: An interesting description of two primate species
Review: I found this book to be a manic-depressive romp. I bought it to examine the author's take on behavior and "behavioral neuroscience," but enjoyed reading it after seeing the author's sense of humor shine on almost every page -- his tale of a journey up the Nile through lower Sudan was one of the best descriptions of "budget travel" that I can remember reading. I can understand why so many of his students at Stanford enjoyed his classes. Science can be as entertaining as anything else in life.
Both primate species -- human and baboon-- can show wonderfully hopeful and redeeming signs of our brain's activity expressed through our behavior. Despite such an uplift, the author also shows us the dark side of both primates, and it is a very deep side indeed. His view of conflict resolution and crisis management in both species show that we carry much unpleasant baggage deep within our genes and our psyches, and that we have a lot of very very hard effort ahead of us if we think we can productively modulate our behavior and our reaction to the flow of life. As a species, there is no easy path to the Age of Aquarius.
Readers should be aware this book has but a page or two about his direct neuroscientific findings among the baboons, so don't expect to find much analysis (although you will find much descriptive value). I agree with several other reviewers who found his "researcher-centered universe" a bit annoying and rather arrogant, although I would hesitate to call it neo-colonialism. Although this book went in a different direction than I had anticipated, such detours can be wonderful, too. I cheerfully gave the book five stars because of its humor and its powerful desciptive observations.
Rating:
Summary: Laughing, Thinking, Weeping
Review: I just finished this book -- in tears. This is Sapolsky's most powerful book yet; I have enjoyed his others immensely because they approach issues of neurobiology and behavioral biology from excellent holistic perspectives. This is much more autobiographical than academic -- a departure from his other two books - so if you are interested in his theories, look at those instead. The tone matures dramatically throughout (as my review title suggests), matching the theme of the book -- a journey towards maturity -- for him, for his baboons, for the people he meets. I laughed for the first third at his anecdotes of bumbling through Africa, thought on his historical and social analyses in the second third, and cried through the conclusion, where he addresses conservation issues, not from an advocate's perspective, but from a personal one. Overall, a deeply poignant story by a great professor, scientist, and human being baboon.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read!
Review: I loved this book from cover to cover. About 15% of the book is about the baboons themselves, each with distinct personalities and the rest is about the places he visits, the people he encounters and the incredible, and sometimes dangerous, situations he finds himself in. Sapolsky at his finest. He's a wonderful writer (and an extraordinary speaker--I've had the pleasure of attending his seminars). Hope he lives to a ripe old age and writes further memoirs, sharing his wit and wisdom with the rest of us.
Rating:
Summary: fantastic read -- more about the author than the baboons
Review: I picked up this book immediately after finishing several works by Jane Goodall, and I was anticipating another in-depth exploration into primate society. I was surprised. Though 'A Primate's Memoir' does indeed describe the personalities and events in several baboon troops, the larger portion of the book focuses on the author and his colorful experiences in East Africa. That said, I have to recommend this book as a fantastic read. The many anecdotes are both hilarious and alarming, very well-written and often thought-provoking. He writes with a humor not often found in 'my life in Africa'-type autobiographies, which makes me think he loves the place as much as I do. And the chilling final chapter, describing conditions and events in certain (unnamed) East African game parks, was worth the price of the book by itself.
Rating:
Summary: Laughs all the way plus insights to social behavior
Review: I recently listened to this book on tape.
I receive it from the Handicpped Library in Pittsbuurgh, but use them while I am framing up my art work.
Robert has such insight to both the animals he loved as well as the social similar behavior of the Humans he interracted with while in Africa (and America!)
To listen to his description of the elephants with breasts like VOLKSWAGONS, add in the adventrues of Samwelli's house as the elephants ate it, then to finish off, as all of us who come to live with & love animals.
We find their social behavior similar to our own no matter what motives we initially seek.
That Robert carries a photo of his favorite Baboon to this day, tells a lot about the love he established with the troop he followed.
I carry a portrait of my favotite, Labrador, Tristan, to this day and also know that regardless of the human-animal boundry, when you start to listen to them, you cannot forget the experience.
It made me laugh & cry , but more importantly as in all great Autobiograhpihes, gave me more insight to the Author as a person.
I LOVED it.
Rating:
Summary: Authentic
Review: I spent a few months studying in Kenya in the early 90's. All of Dr. Sapolsky's vignettes of living in that country struck me as vivid and on the mark. I burst out laughing several times while reading this book, having been reminded of one of my own surreal (to a Westerner) experiences. But this book is not just for African wanna-be/has-beens like myself- it is a universally entertaining and thought-provoking account of the primate condition.
Rating: 
Summary: not so humourous
Review: I'm afraid that I would hesitate to recommend this book to any of my animal lover friends. Although very funny at points, the story can be very depressing and sends out all the wrong messages to budding conservationists. It only takes one good man to turn his back on a good cause for things to spiral out of control. Therefore if having to read a 'Primate's Memoir' take it as one man's experience and not an instruction to give up on the fight to save the environment and wildlife of our planet.
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