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Title details for Bonobo Handshake by Vanessa Woods - Available

Bonobo Handshake

A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congo

by Vanessa Woods
Justine Eyre
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
In 2005, Vanessa Woods accepted a marriage proposal from a man she barely knew and agreed to join him on a research trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country reeling from a brutal decade-long war that had claimed the lives of millions. Settling in at a bonobo sanctuary in Congo's capital, Vanessa and her fiancé entered the world of a rare ape with whom we share 98.7 percent of our DNA. She soon discovered that many of the inhabitants of the sanctuary—ape and human alike—are refugees from unspeakable violence, yet bonobos live in a peaceful society in which females are in charge, war is nonexistent, and sex is as common and friendly as a handshake.


A fascinating memoir of hope and adventure, Bonobo Handshake traces Woods's self-discovery as she finds herself falling deeply in love with her husband, the apes, and her new surroundings while probing life's greatest question: What ultimately makes us human? Courageous and extraordinary, this true story of revelation and transformation in a fragile corner of Africa is about looking past the differences between animals and ourselves, and finding in them the same extraordinary courage and will to survive. For Vanessa, it is about finding her own path as a writer and scientist, falling in love, and finding a home.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 31, 2010

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781400197453
      • File size: 236269 KB
      • Duration: 08:12:13

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The word 'Bonobo' doesn't exist in the Microsoft spell-checker, complains author Vanessa Woods. She writes about studying these obscure chimpanzee relatives in Congo, along with the history, geography, and politics of the unstable region. Narrator Justine Eyre transforms herself into the writer. American listeners may experience some bewilderment with the Down-Under accent but will soon adjust. Eyre also imitates the native Congolese keepers, who speak African French. Woods's humorous stories, mixed with details of her scientific work, make for an audiobook that never becomes dull. Her descriptions of the internecine killings seen in both the great apes and the genocidal local tribes demonstrate an eerie likeness between the two genera. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 8, 2010
      Devoted to learning more about bonobos, a smaller, more peaceable species of primate than chimpanzees, and lesser known, Australian journalist Woods and her fiancé, scientist Brian Hare, conducted research in the bonobos' only known habitat—civil war–torn Congo. Woods's plainspoken, unadorned account traces the couple's work at Lola Ya Bonobo Sanctuary, located outside Kinshasa in the 75-acre forested grounds of what was once Congo dictator Mobutu Sese Seko's weekend retreat. The sanctuary, founded in 1994 and run by French activist Claudine André, served as an orphanage for baby bonobos, left for dead after their parents had been hunted for bush meat; the sanctuary healed and nurtured them (assigning each a human caretaker called a mama), with the aim of reintroducing the animals to the wild. Hare had only previously conducted research on the more warlike, male-dominated chimpanzee, and needed Woods because she spoke French and won the animals' trust; through their daily work, the couple witnessed with astonishment how the matriarchal bonobo society cooperated nicely using frequent sex, and could even inspire human behavior. When Woods describes her daily interaction with the bonobos, her account takes on a warm charm. Woods's personable, accessible work about bonobos elucidates the marvelous intelligence and tolerance of this gentle cousin to humans.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 30, 2010
      Woods recounts her otherworldly experience of visiting a bonobo sanctuary in civil war–torn Congo in 2005. Stepping into the sanctuary, where healing abounds and the matriarchal community of bonobos has much to teach their animal caretakers, Woods finds her life forever altered. Justine Eyre displays her wide-ranging vocal ability as she slips effortlessly into Woods’s Australian accent, while peppering the reading with pitch-perfect African and French portrayals. Eyre recreates the scenes like a visual artist, nuanced shifts in her voice as planned out as every stroke of a brush. It’s easy to get lost in the story and hard to bring oneself back from this idyll. A Gotham hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 8).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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