BONOBO HANDSHAKE A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congo

“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. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2010]