Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining and Worthwhile
Review: Sapolsky's tale does two things equally well. First, he shares his passion for both science and adventure as a young man. He rescues the notion of an active intelligence from any stereotype of driness or excessive seriousness, although the eccentricity stereotype certainly survives. This tale is entertaining, his enthusiasms contagious. He is as observant of politics with people as with baboons; does he anthropomorphize the baboons or is it the other way around? Except for the details (i.e., not wanting to have guns pointed at my head and a personal distaste for digging latrines or centrifuging baboon blood), I almost developed a desire to go join a baboon troop myself. The second story is of what happens to these youthful passions during a transtion to full adulthood, happening simultaneously for Sapolsky, for his baboons, and for his neighbors. This is a story of great moral complexity, of both great losses and great gains. It is in a real sense the story of every life, but easier for the reader when seen in a life so different from that lived by almost everyone. That the author can see this in his own life, share his fears, embarassments, irritations and grief, and continue to teach and write, and best yet, to still laugh, is what makes this book as worthwhile as it is enjoyable.
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Summary: If you're human, read this book
Review: Stanford neuroendocrinologist Robert Sapolsky accomplishes everything that scientist-writers ought to do, but rarely manage. He takes the reader along with him on his scientific quest and shares his personal experiences with a deft touch. He manages to present up-to-the-minute findings of great intrinsic interest along with just enough of his adventures and misadventures to make for a rollicking good read. He's insightful, factual, and funny. The minute I finished the book I picked up the phone to tell a friend that it was a must-read. Before I could say anything, she told me that she'd just finished a great science book. You guessed it, _A Primate's Memoir_ by Robert Sapolsky. Robert Adler
Author of Science Firsts: From the Creation of Science to the Science of Creation (Wiley, 2002).
Rating:
Summary: From one primate to another--great book!
Review: Strange title--it caught my eye in a newspaper review. But wow, does this book read well. In summary, it is a kind of a biography of a primate anthropologist as he "grows up" professionally. It makes primates human, and some humans like animals. Well worth the time and money.
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful book
Review: The memoir was disjointed in some places, and really could have used a good editing from a person who knows their compound words and verb tenses. But there is no denying the power of the book, and for that I am willing to overlook its lack of structure, grammatical precision, and the fact that there is not as much info about the baboons as I would have hoped. What was there was so powerful, and the ending is not one you will easily forget. Makes us all want to grow up to be a baboon one day....
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Summary: Gerald Durell returns
Review: The other reviews address content and sequence, so I will comment only on my reactions. I have deeply enjoyed reading this book. Being a big fan of Gerald Durrell's books, it is wonderful to see another entry to that small group of authors who can portray themselves and their animal subjects with such humor and honesty.
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Summary: The best book I've ever read
Review: The review from Scotland was way off... This is the best book I've ever read. There is nothing more worth saying.
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Summary: excellent read for anyone
Review: this book was so great, even for those with no previous background, knowledge, or interest in primatology, neuroscience, or techniques in darting wild animals. i saw the book on sale for an unbelieveably cheap (overstock) price and bought it, then shamefully let it lie on my shelf for a year and a month before actually having had the chance to read it. and once i started, could not put it down. as an architecture student with neither any previous knowledge of africa, nor interest in studying babboons, the first element that grabbed me about the book was just the author's firm belief and sheer passion for his work, which is a universal virtue to which anyone can relate. but from this element, the book unfolded into a highly engaging, entertaining, and truly inspiring as well as very informative story; on a more technical level for those of us with very little scientific background, and on a more general scale as humans as well as primates ourselves.
Rating:
Summary: As Entertaining as Great Fiction
Review: This has got to be one of the best books I've ever read, fiction or non-fiction. It is non-fiction, but Sapolsky's writing is so engrossing that the book is as entertaining to read as a great novel. It made me laugh and it made me cry, especially the ending. I've travelled extensively and worked on relief and research projects in west Africa. I read a lot of books about that area (e.g., Peter Matthiesson's "Tree Where Man was Born"). "A Primate's Memoir" is (so far) my favorite. I've given it to dozens of friends.
Rating:
Summary: As Entertaining as Great Fiction
Review: This has got to be one of the best books I've ever read, fiction or non-fiction. It is non-fiction, but Sapolsky's writing is so engrossing that the book is as entertaining to read as a great novel. It made me laugh and it made me cry, especially the ending. I've travelled extensively and worked on relief and research projects in west Africa. I read a lot of books about that area (e.g., Peter Matthiesson's "Tree Where Man was Born"). "A Primate's Memoir" is (so far) my favorite. I've given it to dozens of friends.
Rating:
Summary: More than monkeys
Review: This is one of my favorite books of all time. Sapolsky is a great writer, and very witty as he describes his time studying wild baboons in Kenya. Not only does he detail the amazing behavior of the baboons, but he introduces us to the local workers, Masai, and travelers and shares his experience living in a political atmosphere very much unlike our own. He matures with his troop, connecting with the animals and feeding some introspection for life in the world today. I initially bought the book because the title caught my attention and the back made the book seem amusing and educational as well. While every word the back says is entirely true and couldn't describe the book better, somehow it seems the understatement of the century.
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