by Sara Gruen
Isabel laughed. "Oh, well, if Amanda made it ..."
"Cool," said Celia. "We'll go tell them it's coming." She and Nathan disappeared into a corridor.
Isabel looked at her feet, and then back up at John. "I want to thank you."
"Oh, pffft, it was nothing," he said, waving a hand.
"It was not nothing. You spent ten days in jail on our behalf."
"A journalist protects his sources."
"Celia wanted to come forward," said Isabel. "I had to remind her that you were also protecting Joel, Jawad, and Ivanka."
"And you," he said.
"Yes, and me."
There was a pause as their eyes locked.
"So, um," he said in a lowered voice, "did I detect something going on with, um ...?" He inclined his head slightly toward Gary.
"Maybe. Kind of." Her cheeks went pink. "So," she said, tearing her gaze away, "how is Amanda?"
"The morning sickness has passed, and she no longer runs screaming from the room at the smell of coffee...."
Isabel laughed. "That's good. When is the little one due?"
"In a little less than three months. Four days after Ivanka's, believe it or not."
"You must be excited."
"Excited and terrified in equal parts," he said, hoping his expression didn't betray the actual balance.
"And her new book!" Isabel clapped her hands in front of her. "I was so happy to hear about that. When is it coming out again?"
"Four months."
"I can't wait to read it. Will you tell her?"
"Of course."
"Also tell her I'm sorry about the series, unless that's a sore point."
"Not at all. She was delighted when they dropped it. She hated it and L.A. with all her considerable passion."
"And you? How are you doing?"
"I'm getting by. Also happy to be back in New York, even though our apartment is currently full of cats that Amanda is fostering for a local shelter, and because she's pregnant I get to do the kitty litter. That is, when Booger doesn't take care of it." John saw her shudder, and couldn't help adding, "Kitty-litter surprise. Yum. His favorite."
"Bleh," she said, scrunching up her face. Then she added, "So who does it while you're gone?"
"A roster of friends, backed up by a saintly neighbor."
After a moment of silence, Isabel glanced at Philippe. "The Atlantic, huh? That's pretty impressive."
"This is just a one-off, but still. Doing time seems to have done wonders for my career." He, too, glanced at Philippe. "If I'd known, I'd have held up a liquor store years ago."
Isabel laughed. "I hardly think that would have the same effect."
The bonobos burst into the observation area, peeping and squeaking, loping back and forth in front of the window. Philippe began clicking away.
Bonzi signed excitedly, GIMME GOOD TREAT! BONZI EAT GIMME YOU!
"The visitor brought it," said Isabel, pointing at John.
BONZI LOVE VISITOR!
Celia appeared on the apes' side of the glass with the cake. She had stuck a candle in the center of it. "Bonzi! Come here," she said. "There's a lighter in my pocket. Can you light the candle?"
Bonzi reached into Celia's pocket, pulled out a lighter, and deftly lit the candle. No sooner was it lit than Jelani rushed over and blew it out. He plucked it from the cake and sucked the icing from the end. Mbongo sat eyeing John suspiciously until Celia handed him a piece of cake.
"Do you like your treat? John brought it."
Mbongo pulled the perfectly formed marzipan carrots off the top of his piece and sucked them, studiously avoiding eye contact with John. Bonzi licked icing off her lips and came to the glass.
BONZI LOVE VISITOR. BUILD VISITOR NEST. KISS KISS.
She stood on the rim and pressed her lips against the glass. They smushed outward. The effect was of looking at an algae eater at work from the outside of a fish tank.
John hesitated for just a second, then said, "My apologies to whoever cleans the glass." As he approached, he saw Philippe swing his camera around to capture the moment. John lined himself up with Bonzi's lips and planted a big kiss on them.
a cognizant original v5 release october 01 2010
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Right before I went on tour for Water for Elephants, my mother sent me an email about a place in Des Moines, Iowa, that was studying language acquisition and cognition in great apes. I had been fascinated by human-ape discourse ever since I first heard about Koko the gorilla (which was longer ago than I care to admit) so I spent close to a day poking around the Great Ape Trust's Web site. I was doubly fascinated--not only with the work they're doing, but also by the fact that there was an entire species of great ape I had never heard of. Although I had no idea what I was getting into, I was hooked.
During the course of my research, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Great Ape Trust--not that that didn't take some doing. I was assigned masses of homework, including a trip to York University in Toronto for a crash course on linguistics. Even after I received the coveted invitation to the Trust, it didn't necessarily mean I was going to get to meet the apes: that part was up to them. Like John, I tried to stack my odds by getting backpacks and filling them with everything I thought an ape might find fun or tasty--bouncy balls, fleece blankets, M&M's, xylophones, Mr. Potato Heads, etc.--and then emailed the scientists, asking them to please let the apes know I was bringing "surprises." At the end of my orientation with the humans, I asked, with some trepidation, whether the apes were going to let me come in. The response was that not only were they letting me come in, they were insisting.
The experience was astonishing--to this day I cannot think about it without getting goose bumps. You cannot have a two-way conversation with a great ape, or even just look one straight in the eye, close up, without coming away changed. I stayed until the end of the day, when I practically had to be dragged out, because I was having so much fun. I was told that the next day Panbanisha said to one of the scientists, "Where's Sara? Build her nest. When's she coming back?"
Most of the conversations between the bonobos and humans in this book are based on actual conversations with great apes, including Koko, Washoe, Booey, Kanzi, and Panbanisha. After two years of research, I came away realizing that I have only seen the tip of the iceberg, and to anyone who wants to learn more, I highly recommend the following books as a starting point: Kanzi: The Ape at the Brink of the Human Mind by Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and Roger Lewin, and Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees by Roger Fouts with Stephen Tukel Mills. You can also find information about bonobos at the Web sites for the Great Ape Trust (www.greatapetrust.org) and the Friends of Bonobos (www.friendsofbonobos.org).
Many of the ape-based scenes in this book are also based on fact--such as the Philadelphia Zoo fire, the gorilla (Binti Jua) who saved the fallen toddler, the types of experiments performed on chimpanzees and the conditions under which they were kept, the treatment and discarding of the Air Force chimps--although I have taken the fiction writer's liberty of fudging names, dates, and places. Many of the worst conditions have now been outlawed, but they demonstrate how we've traditionally treated our closest relatives--as "hairy test tubes," is how Dr. Fouts put it. We've come a long way, but given that all four species of great ape are either endangered or critically endangered, we still have a long way to go.
One of the places I did not disguise or rename is the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They take in orphaned infants (usually sold as pets after their mothers are killed for bush meat), nurse them back to health, and when they're ready, release them back into the jungle. This, combined with ongoing education of the local people, is one of the wild bonobos' best hopes for survival.
One day, I'm going to be brave enough to visit Lola ya Bonobo. In the meantime, in response to Panbanisha's question, I'm coming back soon. Very soon. I hope you have my nest ready!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
So many peop
le helped me with the writing of this book that I am sure I am going to forget some; to anyone whose name is missing, I apologize.
First, and most important, I want to thank the apes at the Great Ape Trust--Kanzi, Panbanisha, Matata, Nyota, Nathan, Elikya, Maisha, Azy, Knobi, and Allie--for inviting me into their home and allowing me a glimpse into their remarkable world. I also want to thank the humans there, both for facilitating my visit and for answering my many questions as the book progressed: Liz Rubert-Pugh, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, Tyler Romine, Daniel Musgrave, Susannah Maisel, Heather Taylor, Sharon Mckee, T. J. Kaperbauer, Takashi Yoshida, Beth Dalbey, Bill Fields, and Al Setka.
To Jim Benson and Bill Greaves, the professors at York University who helped prepare me for my visit to the Trust and who never once uttered the words "rank lexical relation." Indeed, when I left your office, although I went to the bus stop, what I really wanted to do was head for the enrollment office. The chills I got when I listened to the recording of Kanzi and realized that he was uttering the words "bring water" were a precursor to the incredible experience that was my real-life conversations with the apes.
To Vanessa Woods, bonobo researcher at Duke University and a regular fixture at the Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, not just for her help with my questions and access to her gorgeous photographs, but also for her friendship to me and her unflagging devotion to bonobos.
To my writing group: Karen Abbott, Joshilyn Jackson, and Renee Rosen. Your patience, dedication, and astonishing willingness to respond positively to a DEAR ("Drop Everything And Read") despite your own deadlines is beyond what anyone could ever reasonably expect. You have provided daily--hourly--friendship. You have fed me strange martini-like concoctions with obscene names. You have consistently beaten me in poker and then done victory dances. You have listened to me moan, weep, and gnash my teeth, and you have, in multitudes of ways, made this a much better book. You are not just my critique partners, you are my dearest friends.
To Terence Bailey, Catherine DiCairano, Beth Helms, Kathryn Puffett, and the many other people who had a hand in shaping this story, for everything from critiques, pep talks, brainstorming sessions, and providing plausible medical dialogue--not to mention the occasional delivery of confit of fig and balsamic vinegar.
Thanks also to my children, who did not particularly help (and occasionally even hindered) my progress, but whom I thank nonetheless because they are the reason for everything.
To Emma Sweeney, my wonderful agent, and Cindy Spiegel, my amazing editor, for their guidance, support, love, and for helping me find the statue in the rough-hewn rock. I am also deeply indebted to Random House for giving me the support and time I needed to research and write this book.
And finally, to Bob: You are my best friend, my love, my partner in crime. You keep our world going when I cannot do anything but this. When I leap off a cliff, you pull me up by my bungee cord. When I'm hopeless, you give me hope. When I'm unlovable, you love me anyway. I can't fathom why you put up with me, but I'm eternally grateful that you do.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SARA GRUEN is the author of the #1 bestselling novel Water for Elephants, as well as the bestseller Riding Lessons and Flying Changes. She shares her North Carolina home with her own version of a blended family: a husband, three children, four cats, two dogs, two horses, and a goat. In order to write this novel, Gruen studied linguistics and a system of lexigrams so that she could communicate directly with the bonobos living at the Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa. She now considers them to be part of her extended family, and, according to the bonobos, the feeling is mutual.
www.saragruen.com
Discussion Questions for Ape House
Discussion Questions for Ape House by Sara Gruen
The bonobos in Ape House are described as matriarchal, with Bonzi acting as the nurturing and intelligent "undisputed leader" (this page) of the group. Discuss how Bonzi's relationship with her family compares or contrasts with the various human characters' relationships with their own mothers. Consider Amanda's desire--and Ivanka's--to have children in your discussion.
What does the success of the show Ape House reveal about human society? Why do you think its audience finds it especially compelling? How does it compare to the other types of media discussed in the novel?
Why is Isabel so attached to the bonobos? What does she enjoy about their company (and that of Stuart, her late fish) that other people do not offer her? What prevents her from connecting at the beginning, and how does that change by the end?
Isabel says "[the bonobos] know they're bonobos and they know we're human, but it doesn't imply mastery, or superiority" (this page). The bonobos are clearly sentient animals, demonstrating the use of both language and tools, two criteria often cited as proof of the separation between humans and other primates. What, then, actually separates us from them?
"At this moment, the story in his head was perfect. [John] also knew from experience that it would degenerate the second he started typing, because such was the nature of writing" (this page). John and Amanda are both writers who struggle to maintain integrity while making a living. Discuss the importance of writing, language, and creativity in the novel, as well as the compromises the characters are forced to accept.
In Ape House, Sara Gruen uses humor to reveal the many flaws of human society. Is this device effective for revealing human foibles? Did you identify with her portrayal of human behavior?
Which of the human characters in Ape House is most like a bonobo?
Contrast the physical and emotional transformations of Isabel and Amanda. What are the reasons for their change? How does it affect both of them and their relationships with the other characters?
Do you think the use of animals for research, even when it does not physically or emotionally harm them, is an inherent infringement upon the animal's free will, as the ELL would argue? Or is there a way for animal-related research to be beneficial to human society while also protecting and respecting the animals' rights? Discuss how Ape House explores the different sides of this issue.
Over the course of the novel, John grows increasingly concerned about the possibility of having fathered a child with Ginette Pinegar, while Isabel doesn't understand why a biological link to the boy should make a difference. For the bonobos, on the other hand, the concept of paternity is irrelevant. Discuss the way Ape House deals with family structures.
Compare the bonobos' behavior with that of the humans in the novel. Do you think of human behavior differently after reading the novel?
Ape House is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright (c) 2010 by Sara Gruen All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
SPIEGEL & GRAU and Design is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Gruen, Sara.
Ape house: a novel/Sara Gruen.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-38553025-5
1. Human-animal relationships--Fiction. 2. Bonobo--Fiction. 3. Animal rights activists--Fiction. 4. Reality television programs--Fiction.
I. Title.
PS3607.R696A86 2010
813'.6--dc22 2010008928
www.spiegelandgrau.com
v3.0
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