Book News : Book News Reviews This collaborative work on humans' attitudes toward chimps (generally demeaning) shows Peterson's and Goodall's writing in two different typefaces to distinguish them. The appendices present the conservation status of the chimpanzees of Africa in 1990, and reprint (from the Journal of Medical Primatology ) recommendations to the USDA on improving conditions of psychological well-being for captive chimpanzees. Inexplicably, the book lacks an index. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 1993 February #1 In this sequel to his book about endangered primates, The Deluge and the Ark ( LJ 9/1/89), Tufts English professor Peterson uses Shakespeare's The Tempest as an extended allegory of the relationship between chimpanzees (Caliban) and humans (Prospero). Goodall's comments and recollections are inserted in italics throughout the text, which takes us from the remaining chimpanzee population in the wild and their capture and mistreatment in Africa to their use and abuse in the West as pets, entertainment figures, research subjects, and captives in zoos. Much of this material is heartrending, especially the accounts of chimps raised as humans, taught sign language, and then relegated to research labs or rehabilitation colonies in Africa. By the end of the book, readers will agree with Goodall's recommendations that the use of chimps for pets, entertainment, and research be outlawed and their remaining habitats preserved. This book suffers a bit from some incomprehensible accounts of legal proceedings, the belabored Caliban analogy, and Peterson's weakness in science (at one point, Goodall must gently correct his enthusiastic comparison of tool use by chimps with the purely instinctive behavior of birds and insects). Overall, however, this is a gripping account of an extremely important subject and essential for all libraries.-- Beth Clewis, Prince William P.L., Va. Copyright 1993 Cahners Business Information.
Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 1993 January #4 In an unusual collaboration, historian Peterson ( The Deluge and the Ark ) and anthropologist Goodall ( In the Shadow of Man ) explore human-chimpanzee relationships, beginning with a look at the interaction of the primitive chimpanzee-like figure of Caliban and the powerful Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest . Peterson reports on the current conservation situation; he gives a chilling account of the illicit international trade, and of the animals used as pets and in the entertainment business. It is an ugly story. Goodall discusses ethical issues associated with our treatment of chimpanzees in captivity, focusing on biomedical laboratories. She advocates legislation to prohibit private ownership of great apes, to prevent their use in entertainment and to phase them out of medical research. Both authors draw on personal observation and experience to make a powerful statement for humane treatment of these close-to-human creatures. (Mar.) Copyright 1993 Cahners Business Information.
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