Ape House

A Novel

By: Sara Gruen

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani, and Makena are no ordinary apes. These bonobos, like others of their species, are capable of reason and carrying on deep relationships - but unlike most bonobos, they also know American Sign Language.

Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn’t understand people, but animals she gets - especially the bonobos. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she’s ever felt among humans...until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter who braves the ever-present animal rights protesters outside the lab to see what’s really going on inside.

When an explosion rocks the lab, severely injuring Isabel and “liberating” the apes, John’s human interest piece turns into the story of a lifetime, one he’ll risk his career and his marriage to follow. Then a reality TV show featuring the missing apes debuts under mysterious circumstances, and it immediately becomes the biggest - and unlikeliest - phenomenon in the history of modern media. Millions of fans are glued to their screens watching the apes order greasy take-out, have generous amounts of sex, and sign for Isabel to come get them. Now, to save her family of apes from this parody of human life, Isabel must connect with her own kind, including John, a green-haired vegan, and a retired porn star with her own agenda. Ape House delivers great entertainment, but it also opens the animal world to us in ways few novels have done, securing Sara Gruen’s place as a master storyteller who allows us to see ourselves as we never have before.

©2010 Sara Gruen (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

"While the set-up may sound improbable, Gruen’s characters – both human and ape – are finely drawn and ultimately believable. Gruen’s research into the use of American Sign Language as a means of communicating with the bonobos informs her story (and the reader) without weighing it down. This is a satisfying, entertaining page-turner of a novel." ( San Francisco Book Review)

I wish I had read these reviews

I will as kindly as possible suggest to Mr. Boehmer that in the future he only read books with male characters, and that insipid and whiny does not equal female. The women's voices are horrible and very distracting - so distracting that I'm not even sure whether my disappointment in the story is because of the story or the reading..

Not what I expected

This one leaves me feeling kind of flat. I'm not sure if my disappointment is due to my expectations of it having the apes play more of a central role, or if it really was just a matter of the story not really "clicking" for me. The storyline was "ok", the narrator was good, but overall I can't find any part of it that I would say I thoroughly enjoyed.

Potential unfulfilled

...more a story about the reporter John than the scientist Isabelle...mediocre character development....lost me after the explosion....finished only because it was our book group title

Very disappointing

Because I so enjoyed "Water for Elephants" I was looking forward to this book, and the premise seemed fascinating. But "Ape House" is weak and forgettable.

Not the same.

This book was recommended by a friend who said it was "okay". I thought I'd give it a chance because I read Water for Elephants and really enjoyed that story. I figured this story would be similar. This book was so brutal that I've actually blocked out the story from memory....I don't even remember what happens past the initial beginning (*the beginning was well done, I thought it had potential), but I have no idea how it ended, quite frankly, I don't care. Not impressed with this and would not recommend.

Disappointing

This book held a lot of promise. Sara Gruen's novel Water For Elephants was excellent. However, this book was a disappointment. The reader had great difficulty pronouncing basic words. The story line was contrived and the ending obvious early on. The book also attempted to develop several different story lines. The only redeeming quality was the Bonobos. Should have worked on developing that more and given up on many of the other tangents. Don't waste your time or your money!

Good story idea, extremely poor plot

This book starts out with a good introduction of the story idea and principle characters and then spirals out of control. Mist characters are not believable , esp Amanda who seems to a basket case. The plot meanders without purpose and includes inane diversions. Would not have finished it if it was not for a book club.

Not as good as her first book

While The Ape House presents some interesting concepts-communiation between the apes and humans-there is no comparison to Water for Elephants, which I absolutely loved and could listen to over and over again. At times, The Ape House is too wordy and drones on and on. Overall, this book was a disappointment.
Janet in Carmel

Boring. The narrator drones on and on.

What a waste of a credit. A real disappointment. The premise holds promise but, for me, did not deliver. A little like a boring Robin Cook or Michael Crighton.

Too much filler

The story was ok but there were so many extraneous details (who cares how seedy the hotel room was or how overbearing mom is?) that I ended up skipping to the last few chapters - I don't think I missed much in between.