Alex & Me CD: How A Scientist And A Parrot Discovered A Hidden World Of Animal Intelligence--and Formed A Deep Bond In The Process (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
Irene Pepperberg's memoir of her work training and measuring the linguistic capacity of her African gray parrot, Alex, is emotional and intellectually fascinating. She goes into detail about the concepts Alex learned, how she taught and tested him, and why his accomplishments are meaningful, but this is not a strictly scientific book; it's a memoir, and Pepperberg places all this in the context of her life, the (largely hostile) academic climate in which she produced her work, and of course, her relationship with Alex. She speaks of Alex with great affection, and it is clear that they had a special bond. You really come to know and like the alarmingly intelligent, emotive, haughty, mischievous bird. He's full of personality, and it comes through clearly in this book. It's a great character study and it gets into complex issues about language, cognition, and human-animal communication. I love animal stories, but this was not an animal story. This was a heartbreaking look at a woman who was rejected by her own mother and was never able to have a real relationship with another person. Irene was born when abortions were illegal and her mother always resented Irene for forcing her out of her career and into being a mother and homemaker. Irene resolved that she would never be forced to give up her dreams or career. She did fall in love and get married at one point, but with no possibility of self-sacrifice or even compromise it was doomed from the beginning. Irene poured herself into her research. The research itself was interesting, and readers will adore anecdotes of her precocious parrot, but when Alex died unexpectedly Irene is faced with the fact that not only has she lost the creature she has come to love despite her efforts to remain strictly clinical, but he was also the only thing has ever let herself care about. In her deep grief over the loss of the best friend she was capable of having, she has perhaps let the reader see a bit more of her own soul than she had meant. She thought she was explaining Alex, but this book is a poignant look into the heart a woman who looks up one day and realizes that she doesn't have a personal life or a friend in the world, just research notes on a dead parrot.
What do You think about Alex & Me CD: How A Scientist And A Parrot Discovered A Hidden World Of Animal Intelligence--and Formed A Deep Bond In The Process (2008)?
A must read for any animal lover, particularly if you know a parrot.
—alovd
The story is good, but the writing is nothing special.
—olivegirl232
A fun book on language development and learning.
—hadesgirl
