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)

One Hit Author

This is the 3rd book of Sara Gruen's that I have read. Obviously, Water for Elephants was the best. Riding Lessons was the worst and this was inbetween. I did not see good character development. There are a high number of insignificant side issues that add nothing to the story: a meth lab that blows up, a possible illegitimate child, family issues galore. None are developed to much detail.

The female characters seem to be weak and wimpy. Both lead females crumble in terror and become helpless in times of stress. Although they each come out of it, evidence of this "woose" factor remains visible. It does not make them endearing people.

Where there could (and should) have been a lot of danger and suspense surrounding the end of the book, especially due to all the side issues, there wasn't. It is such a dud.

Then there is the narration. The timing, or pauses, are infuriating. Female voices are insulting. The punk kids sound more like brahmins than street smart characters. None of it meshes with the story line.

I really was looking forward to this book. I heard Ms. Gruen speak after the success of WFE. But this just wasn't a worthy result. Even the adorable bonobos could not salvage this wreck.

A disappointment after Water for Elephants

I was very anxious to listen to Ape House after Water for Elephants, one of my favorite books. To me, Water for Elephants had a near classic style that was enhanced by the author's attention to character development and detail of the period. Not so with Ape House, which is set in today's world. Ape House reads like the script from an ABC Mini-Series, a genre that I personally dislike.

The characters are near cartoon-like in their predictability and lack of depth. It has them all, seemingly borrowed from recent paperbacks: a greedy and corrupt scientist; a good-hearted, protective female lead scientist with a wisecracking assistant; a journalist striving for the truth in the face of insurmountable obstacles; the hard but kind, warm-hearted Russian prostitute; but most of all the almost human group of apes who are exploited by the cruel, ambitious, pornographer. And it all ends with everyone getting what he deserves, good and bad.

I know the author can do better, and would encourage her to redirect her efforts into books that don't seem to pander to the lowest type of readership. Maybe this will be popular, and may become a movie or mini-series and make Sara a lot of money. I hope with all that money she can again concentrate on more quality work that I know she can do.

slow at first but worth it

This purpose flour 1st took me a while to really like the characters but once it crept me I couldn't stop listening. The story of the bonobos was addictive I think I love to the more than the human characters

The Ape House

I loved everything about this audio book. So much so that after I finished the first time, I started it over and listened again.

Just OK

Once you set the bar with a book like Water for Elephants, it is hard to surpass it. Ape House had potential, but ended up being too much about the humans and not enough about the Bonobos.
The story revolves around two couples, a journalist John Thigpen and his wife Amanda, a book author. The other couple is Isabel Duncan and Peter, boyfriend and girlfriend. Isabel is a scientist and the human connection to the Bonobos at the Great Ape language Lab. The apes all have their own unique personalities and attachments to her. As the story progresses it brings these two couples together. Can’t say how without revealing spoilers. I really enjoyed the part about these great apes, but there just wasn’t enough of it. The story about the humans, overshadowed the reason I was interested in this book in the first place…the bonobos, because of their ability to communicate with humans using ASL (American Sign Language) and computers. I have to admit to being disappointed.
After Water For Elephants I expected a much more complex and magical story from Sarah Gruen with this fascinating subject!
The narrator Paul Boehmer was excellent. He certainly added some depth to the characters, even the apes!

An author I've added to my MUST read list.

I truly enjoyed Water for Elephants and so I was anxious to read this book, also written by Sara Gruen. And she didn't disappoint. I like her characters very much, and am glad there were no relationship cliches to have to forgive. The research was great and the story refreshingly different. What will be next from her??

Great fun

The book is great fun. The reader was serviceable but detracted from the story. His tone of voice is more suitable for a fairy tale or young adult book. The story carried me through. Wonderful description of animals. Some funny and pointed commentary on contemporary culture.

Interesting Premise

The lives and loves of the Bonobo apes were appealing and compelling, especially, for the purposes of fiction, their use of ASL. The reality show "Ape House" was an awesome invention, and the reader couldn't help getting pulled in by the thoughts and behavior of the apes. But...and why does there have to be a "but"? The action just became too frenzied towards the end, too many change-ups, creating narrative whiplash. It's almost as if the novel was being tweaked by editors, and the real work by Sara Gruen is only there at the beginning. It's unfortunate that "Water for Elephants" was so good, as all Gruen's other novels will suffer by comparison, unless she comes up with something better. Which this novel was most definitely not, lacking the depth, detail, measured pace and multi-leveled characterization of the first novel. This book is definitely a good read, but it's primarily an "action" story, and nothing like "Water for Elephants", which is on another plane entirely.

Funny, compassionate, entertaining, educational

For a minute at the beginning I thought I smelled a gushy romance. Thank God I was wrong. I read Sara Gruen’s “Water for Elephants” so I should have known better.

This was a story of the bonobos, a primate I had never known about until now. I loved the detailed descriptions of their language learning, their distinct personalities and interpersonal relationships amongst themselves, their environments and human associates.

As a mystery, the book had many twists and turns but it was also compassionate, entertaining, and very educational. It made me want to meet the hilarious bonobos.

Like “Water for Elephants” I would recommend this book to all.

Just OK

Having listened to and loving Sara Gruen's "Water for Elephants" I was excited to listen to "Ape House". Alas, it was just OK for me. I was not drawn in to the story as I was in WfE. The ending left me feeling like there should have been more to it. If you haven't listened to Water for Elephants you might like this one more than I did.