Review:
For Frans de Waal, man is not the only moral entity, as he made clear in his last book--Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals. The author has long been intrigued by chimpanzee politics and mores, and now he has turned his human heart and scientific mind to a species science has tended to celebrate solely for its sex drive. Bonobos may look like chimps, but they are actually even closer to us--far more upright, physically, for a start. Furthermore, where chimpanzees hunt, fight, and politic like mad, bonobos are peaceful, often ambisexual, and matriarchal. (Of course, hyenas are matriarchal too, but that's another story ...) De Waal's collaborator, Frans Lanting, has been photographing these gentle creatures for some years and augments the primatologist's explorations and interviews with hundreds of superb color shots. The penultimate picture is of bonobos crossing a road while schoolchildren stand watching, a short distance away. If, as the truism goes, all books about animal behavior are ultimately about us, this exploration of the bonobo may be a step in the right direction.
From the Back Cover:
"Here at last is a book that will give the fourth great ape the visibility that this wonderful species deserves. You will learn that bonobos are not just 'little' chimpanzees, but are every bit as different from chimpanzees as chimpanzees are from gorillas. If you care about the great apes, this book, with its superb photographs and vivid text, is a must."―Jane Goodall
"Bonobo provides a tantalizing introduction into the natural history of one of our closest living relatives and uniquely enhances our understanding of our own place in Nature. Anyone who has the pleasure of reading this book will come away with deeper insights into why we humans behave the way we do. We should not be afraid of acknowledging the Bonobo in all of us."―Don Johanson, Director, Institute of Human Origins
"With this book, de Waal and Lanting ask us to give bonobos their due―to be considered along side the better known common chimpanzee as close human cousins. How nice to have the peaceable, sexy, bonobo added to the path of human evolution! Bonobos represent the silver lining in our ape heritage."―Meredith Small, author of What's Love Got to Do With It? The Evolution of Human Mating
"As a chronicler of natural history today, Frans Lanting is a singular, extraordinary talent. He has the mind of a scientist, the heart of a hunter, and the eyes of a poet. He is as persistent, adaptable, and hard as the wild creatures he observes. His bonobo photographs bring us face-to-face with a group of highly endangered apes. Eerily, aspects of their behavior mirror our own."―Thomas R. Kennedy, Director of Photography, National Geographic Society
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