	The Trouble With Testosterone: And Other Essays On The Biology Of The Human Predicament by Robert M. Sapolsky (Author) Covering such broad topics as science, politics, history, and nature, the author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers writes accessible and interesting essays that explore the human struggle with moral and ethical problems in today's world. 20,000 first printing.
	Monkeyluv: And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals by Robert M. Sapolsky (Author) How do imperceptibly small differences in the environment change one's behavior? What is the anatomy of a bad mood? Does stress shrink our brains? What does People magazine's list of America's "50 Most Beautiful People" teach us about nature and nurture? What makes one organism sexy to another? What makes one orgasm different from another? Who will be the winner in the genetic war between the sexes? Welcome to Monkeyluv, a curious and entertaining collection of essays about the human animal...
	Monkeyluv: And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals by Robert M. Sapolsky (Author) How do imperceptibly small differences in the environment change one's behavior? What is the anatomy of a bad mood? Does stress shrink our brains? What does People magazine's list of America's "50 Most Beautiful People" teach us about nature and nurture? What makes one organism sexy to another? What makes one orgasm different from another? Who will be the winner in the genetic war between the sexes? Welcome to Monkeyluv, a curious and entertaining collection of essays about the human animal...

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Product Description
"I had never planned to become a savanna baboon when I grew up; instead, I had always assumed I would become a mountain gorilla," writes Robert Sapolsky in this witty and riveting chronicle of a scientist's coming-of-age in remote Africa. An exhilarating account of Sapolsky's twenty-one-year study of a troop of rambunctious baboons in Kenya, A Primate's Memoir interweaves serious scientific observations with wry commentary about the challenges and pleasures of living in the wilds of the Serengeti -- for man and beast alike. Over two decades, Sapolsky survives culinary atrocities, gunpoint encounters, and a surreal kidnapping, while witnessing the encroachment of the tourist mentality on the farthest vestiges of unspoiled Africa. As he conducts unprecedented physiological research on wild primates, he becomes evermore enamored of his subjects -- unique and compelling characters in their own right -- and he returns to them summer after summer, until tragedy finally prevents him. By turns hilarious and poignant, A Primate's Memoir is a magnum opus from one of our foremost science writers.

Amazon.com Review
Robert Sapolsky, the author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers and other popular books on animal and human behavior, decided early in life to become a primatologist, volunteering at the American Museum of Natural History and badgering his high school principal to let him study Swahili to prepare for travel in Africa. When he set out to conduct fieldwork as a young graduate student, though, Sapolsky found that life among a Kenyan baboon troop was markedly different from his earlier bookish studies. Among other things, he confesses, he had to become a master of shooting anesthetic darts into his subjects with a blowgun to take blood samples, a mastery that required him to become "a leering slinky silent quicksilver baboon terror." He also had to learn how to negotiate the complexities of baboon politics, endure the difficulties of life in the bush, and subsist on cases of canned mackerel and beans. His memoir is, in the main, quite humorous, although Sapolsky flings a few darts along the way at the late activist Dian Fossey--who, he hints, may have indirectly caused the deaths of her beloved mountain gorillas by her unstable, irrational dealings with local people--and at local bureaucrats whose interests did not often coincide with those of Sapolsky's wild charges. It is also full of good information on primates and primatology, a subject whose practitioners, it seems, are constantly fighting to save species and ecosystems. "Every primatologist I know is losing that battle," he writes. "They make me think of someone whose unlikely job would be to collect snowflakes, to rush into a warm room and observe the unique pattern under a microscope before it melts and is never seen again." --Gregory McNamee

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 76 reviews)

At it's core - an alarming book. by Cameron Reid (Boulder, CO United States)

5 Stars
November 03, 2009
A friend gave me this book to read. I'm convinced that is the best way to get a book recommendation. Your friends know you best. I loved this book. It's funny. It's sad and you learn so much about a country and its people and animals to which most of us will never be exposed.

A True Hero by algo41 (cinnaminson, nj United States)

5 Stars
October 27, 2009
Sapolsky is a hero: courageous, conscientious, well intentioned, adaptable, sensitive, hardworking. He enjoys both people and nature. As a younger man (memoir spans many years), he is too adventurous: I was almost offended by his hitchhiking adventures, in which his naiveté could easily have gotten him killed. This is a fascinating memoir, written in a light, wry style. The picture Sapolsky paints of East African life is filled with many good people, but endemic corruption, and at the end Sapolsky allows his anger to show. Many elements of Massai tradition are difficult for a Western liberal to accept. The most significant aspect of baboon behavior, for me, is that there is room for marked difference in individual personality unrelated to status or circumstance. Sapolsky is a little understated about the dangers baboons face (cf. Cheney, Dorothy L. and Robert M. Seyfarth: Baboon Metaphysics), but perhaps this varies by location - Sapolsky's troop did not have to worry about crocodiles for example; and Sapolsky is understated about the dangers he himself faced.

Should have stuck to the baboons. by Padraig Hogan

3 Stars
July 18, 2009
This book isn't about baboons, it's about Sapolsky and happens to contain baboons in it. I like Sapolsky's style of writing about the baboons, but the amount of pages on them are really not very much. Sapolsky applaudably abandons the rigid, old-style scientific "objectivity" in describing the stories of the baboons and tells them as they should be told. I liked how he spoke of who and what actions he liked and disliked (even what baboons he fancied). However he shows no remorse or acknowledgement of issues with darting and anesthetizing the baboons. Even in the non-baboon chapters, Sapolsky seems intent on telling us how this or that made him feel and interestingly seems to have remarkable (and questionable) insight into how others are feeling or thinking. With such subjective banter one might very well wonder if it doesn't also reflect into the chapters on the baboons. But much of it is just I went here and there etc. I suppose those parts can be good if you're into the "adventure in the savannas and other strange lands of Africa" type of book, and the rest if you can take Sapolsky's word on some things. But if you wanted to get a book to read about baboons, be warned that they're only a part of this one. And it's a shame because he does write very well on them.

One of the best books I have read. Ever! by Michael M. Halassa (Boston, MA)

5 Stars
February 08, 2009
This is a truly inspiring account of life among humans and baboons in Africa during the 70s. Robert Sapolsky, a McArthur Foundation genius fellow, takes us on this amazing trip during times of intense political turmoil in the region. Sapolsky had the intuition and insight to study the effect of stress on physical health long before the topic became widely recognized in medicine. His motivation was simple; find a model organism in which stress is most similarly related to that of the human. Indeed, most stress baboons experience is social in nature rather than that imposed by predators. Thus, by understanding the nature of that stress and its consequences on physiology, Sapolsky thought he'd start off his scientific career. Sapolsky documents the behavior of a particular individual, paying close attention to his/her rank in the tribe. At some point, he darts that individual with an anesthetic and collects physiological data such as cortisol level, blood pressure, etc... By correlating the behavior with the physiology, Sapolsky tries to synthesize a model by which social stress (and status) contributes to one's overall health. Sapolsky has one of the most entertaining styles of writing I have ever come across. It is simply hilarious. Not only does he talk about the science, but he discusses the personalities of these baboons. By giving them biblical names, Sapolsky allows the reader to connect to these baboons and recognize them as individuals. Sapolsky additionally describes his interactions with the people who were involved in his work and others whom he dealt with throughout his travels. There are so many of these stories that they could have been written up as a whole other book. Their merger with the baboon stories is appropriate though and gives context to Sapolsky's life among these fascinating creatures. This book is accessible to everyone. My wife, who does not normally read popular science books, loved reading it. I highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to learn about the humanity through the eyes of a close primate relative.

If I had to recommend one book to read before you die... by Dragonflies & Autumn Leaves

5 Stars
February 05, 2009
I picked up the book thinking it might be an interesting read. Upon finishing it I found it that and so much more. Even halfway through the book, I was enjoying it, but had no idea I was on my way to finishing what I would put down and realize had become my favorite book. The subjects are fascinating and interesting...baboons and the author's experiences in Africa studying them and interacting with the people who live there...but it is the insights, the humor, the humanity and honesty with which these stories are related that left me feeling like I had been given the gift of sharing some of the most beautiful treasures of the human experience. An excellent choice for a book club. I have shared it with many people, and they always end up wanting to share it with someone else. I feel like I am passing on a beautiful gift whenever I share it.

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