Nearly Human: The Gorilla's Guide to Good Living

by Andrew Y. Grant

Andrew Grant, former managing director of the London Zoo, draws on research, interviews and experience to illuminate hundreds of fascinating details on the wild mountain gorilla, one of our closest... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0977614239
• ISBN13: 9780977614233
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Tatra Press
• Length: 159 Pages
• Weight: 0.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

WOW! Great Book

Nearly Human is a hybrid of self help, natural history and zoology referenced with modern day facts in an amusing and easy to read book. Grant explains what we can learn from the Gorilla's behavior and environment and how to apply it to our lives. From our daily diet to long term parenting skills it seems we have much to learn from these amazing animals. One concludes that their survival is of the utmost importance.

Entertaining Guide to Gorillas

Andrew Y. Grant's Nearly Human is an entertaining exploration of the many similarities between people and gorillas. It's a quick read -- I finished it in a week or so at an hour a day (and I am not the only non-skimmer in the immediate family). The text is liberally illustrated with black-and-white drawings, many of gorillas in very "human" poses captioned with text of one might be saying to the other. Though the text is concise, the book is certainly not light on content. There is an appendix describing, for example, the differences between the different subspecies in greater detail than the earlier text. And though the gorilla is endangered, Grant keeps a generally calm -- even upbeat -- tone through most of the book, and provodes a list of conservation groups (with links) for those interested in helping out. There's also a thourough bibliography giving chapter-by-chapter references. Caveat: I had an advanced reader's copy, which contained many, many typoes and used a very annoying Courieresque typeface. The index and a good portion of the art were also clearly missing (with "art to come" placeholders); I hope that the errors and the typeface were fixed when the index and art were put in. Cross-posted from: * LibraryThing (http://www.librarything.com/review/22332049) and * my blog (http://theloopweaver.blogspot.com/2007/11/book-review-andrew-y-grants-nearly.html).

Fascinating comparisons

This book is a very quick read: it only took a couple hours. It's also a fun and interesting read. The cover illustration is a clever takeoff on the famous Leonardo da Vinci image of a man standing inside a circle, but done with a gorilla, and its quite different proportions. The author has been an executive at the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, the London Zoo, and other Southern California theme parks. It appears he doesn't work directly with the animals, though he has had many opportunities to work with those who do. The text itself is aimed at an interested but non-specialist audience. The parallels between gorilla and human are explicitly spelled out. Information on gorilla diet, for instance, is accompanied by similar statistics about human diets, and even has an example of a day of human food that emulates the gorilla approach to nutrition. There are chapters on child rearing, communication, the silverback's leadership style, and how the gorilla child grows up. The book concludes with a plea to aid in the conservation of the gorilla. There is an outline of gorilla evolution, and of the last almost two hundred years, in which modern man first found that these gentle giants even exist. There is also a short description of each of the three main subspecies. I was shocked to find that there are fewer than 400 mountain gorillas left, and only a few thousand of the others. The science appears sound, there are citations for the evidence the author presents, and a lot of good sources in the bibliography. The illustrations are charming. On the down side, I hope more proof-reading will be done, because the typos were distracting. I recommend this book as an introduction to the life of the wild gorilla, and hope it may spark an interest in readers to delve a bit deeper into the references the author provides.

Nearly Gorilla: The Human's Guide!

I must confess, it's partly because my initials are KK that I've always had a certain fascination with King Kong and the gorilla. Ever since the big screen was filled with the giant ape, I have often speculated about their evolutionary connection with humans and what their lives are truly like. I mean, how do King and Queen Kong make love, for example? Or what massive amount of food do these massive creatures consume (they're vegetarians)? Here and now, Andrew Grant fills us in on the entire story -- the real story of the gorilla. A fascinating chronicle which will smash the mirror of your preconceived notions. This is certainly everything you ever wanted to know about gorilla's.....and a lot more. The education is vast, thorough and full of surprises. Every school should use this small volume as a required textbook. And that's one of Nearly Human's strongest points: it can be read and enjoyed by virtually anyone with a thirst for knowledge of the natural world. It's even fully illustrated, indexed, and annotated. Besides, it's a delightful read! Beyond the astonishing ethnography of the various gorilla species it portrays, there are strong messages. First, of course, is the means by which this evolutionary cousin can peacefully thrive successfully in the wild in a social organization which functions perfectly well without things, money, cell phones, the internet, television, or any of the many accoutrements of civilization. Secondly, that we can learn a great deal from them on many levels - from their diet, their child-rearing skills and leadership qualities, to their social and psychological make-up. In this regard, the book could have been titled Nearly Gorilla: the Human's Guide to Good Living. We can certainly learn a lot about living on planet Earth from the gorilla. Third, that human's represent their greatest threat -- as we are killing them off to the point of near-extinction. In this regard, the plight of the gorilla is symptomatic of the rapid ecocide human's are participating in during our indiscriminate scramble for material wealth and power. Mr. Grant's book serves as a clarion call for saving the gorilla from extinction, along with the thousands of other species which are being exterminated each year. Such lovely creates! How dare we eviscerate one of our closest living relatives? Nearly Human is a wonderful read, a fascinating feast for the curious mind.