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35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Creating Empathy for the Helpless and Unfortunate ..., June 19, 2008
This review is from: Captivity (Hardcover)
Debbie Lee Wesselmann provides a spell binding novel which sheds light on the precarious plight of chimpanzees which are raised in captivity and after having served the purpose of humans their lives are left in limbo. In a world concerned with saving our planet by going green, decreasing carbon dioxide emissions from gas-guzzling automobiles to keep our air cleaner and prevent global warming from destroying everything - here is another cause which deserves our attention and support with economic resources. The book is written with sensitivity, compassion, and knowledge about the lives of chimpanzees in captivity. It is a superbly written highly original novel which combines adventure, romance, and human interest, maintaining the reader's attention from start to finish.
Essentially, the book is about the scientist, Dr. Dana Armstrong, Director of the South Carolina Primate Project and her attempts to keep afloat the sanctuary which serves as home to chimpanzees who have been discarded after being involuntary participants in scientific experiments at labs or residents at zoos which have closed. The major problem she is facing is how to convince the University president and a major donor that her facility is a safe place for the animals and is not a threat to the neighborhood. Unfortunately, there was a break-in at the sanctuary and the animals were freed because someone obtained a key and simply opened up the cages, letting the animals roam about the offices, sanctuary and beyond, into the nearby family neighborhood.
Dana, Andy, the vet for the animals, Mary one of the research associates and graduate students helped round up the missing animals - all except one - the most dangerous, named Benji. Benji had been owned by a cruel animal trainer and had unpredicatable behavior as a result. Dana had to call the local sheriff to help find him and she had to admit Benji could be dangerous. Sadly, when Benji was found - he was dead, having been hit by a car. It caused Dana much grief because it reminded her of Annie, a chimp with whom she was raised as a child. The chimp came into their household as an experiment by her psychologist father, who wanted it treated as a family member. Annie was taken away after an unfortunate incident occurred to Dana. Annie was supposed to have gone to a lab for experiments but the trail as to what really happened to her led to a dead-end. No one knows whether Annie was alive or dead. No one knows what kind of experiments were performed on Annie. This incident haunted Dana ...
Unexpectedly, a free lance reporter Sam Wendt entered Dana's life. He threw her world upside down. Initially, he asked questions about the experiment led by her father, regarding teaching chimps the use of language. Later, after learning about the break-in and delving deeply into the politics of animal research and competition for funding, Sam became a willing accomplice in her quest to save the chimps and discover who was behind this disastrous event. The author deftly connects a haunting past event in Dana's life to her present predicament, where her qualifications to lead and direct this sanctuary are being seriously questioned. The reader will learn much about the sad circumstances which surround the lives of these most endearing animals, chimpanzees. Most readers will empathize with their condition and be hooked on this story where the goal is to keep this non-threatening primate sanctuary thriving and maintain the safety of its residents. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To Enhance the Human Condition, February 1, 2008
This review is from: Captivity (Hardcover)
"For the most part, nonhuman primates are research subjects because they are so similar to humans, and the principal reason for this similarity is simple: humans *are* primates. Current ideas are that the first primates appeared more than 60 million years ago. In contrast, the common ancestor of humans and African apes lived only about 5-8 million years ago; so, for more than 50 million years, humans and the African apes have shared primate ancestry. Shared ancestry is a major reason why human and nonhuman primates have many characteristics in common -- tool use, long-lasting social relationships, and complex communication systems. By learning about nonhuman primates we may come to learn more about ourselves." American Society of Primatologists
"Captivity is the state of being confined to a space from which it is difficult or impossible to escape" Wikipedia. Debbie Lee Wesselmann has written a provocative novel that begins to unlock the secrets of and enhance the human condition. By understanding the Chimpanzee, the nonhuman, of our own kind we are on the way to learning about ourselves. Why is it that we keep our beloved kind behind cages? What is it about our thinking and behavior that thinks keeping primates locked up is the safest aspect of our society?
Dana Armstrong is the Director of a Chimpanzee Sanctuary in South Carolina. She has a familial history of living with a chimp as a child. And just as suddenly as Annie was brought into her life, Annie was removed. Dana has searched her entire life for Annie and in doing so found her avocation as a primatologist. She is teaching rescued chimps to live with one another and is able to study their behaviors. At some point someone has sabotaged her sanctuary and has released the chimps. This is not only dangerous for the chimps but for the society. Some of the chimps carry diseases from their medical captivity. Dana must find the perpetrator and fight to keep her sanctuary open. The mystery deepens once we begin to delve into Dana's life, and the people she loves, lives and works with are opened for inspection. Dana Armstrong and her story are but just an acorn in the deep forest of the primate world. Debbie Wesselmann has opened a page for us to peer into and learn about the wonder of primates.
Monkeys, chimps and apes are not meant to be pets. They are intelligent, autonomous, thinking, feeling beings that do not belong in cages and strongly resist captivity. There are many primate sanctuaries in the United States and one of their goals is to promote research and understanding of primates. The New England Primate Sanctuary in Winthrop, Ma tells us that "There are few data available regarding the number of captive primates in the US. Here's what we do know about the numbers imported into the US annually: 164,138¹ primates were imported into the United States between 1995 and 2005. The most common destination is research. This statistic reflects imports only and does not represent the numbers bred in the US for research, trade, zoo exhibits and entertainment." The delicate balance of nature depends upon the survival of diverse plants and animals. We are part of this natural cycle, and it is up to us to assist the delicate balance. Annie, the beloved chimp of Dana and her Sanctuary friend's, Benji, Kitabu, Barfu, Lesbina and Sifongo, are a sign of our humanity and how we treat our own.
Kudos to Debbie Lee Wesselmann for this captivating novel. It was a novel difficult to put down, and at the same time so stimulating I had to know more. I have become a member of the New England Sanctuary and hope to visit my friends soon. Wesselmann's love of the written word is very evident in her savvy and precise writing. I was struck that Debbie Wesselmann wants to leave us all with an intelligent insight into the world of our nonhuman counterparts.
Highly Recommended. prisrob 02-01-08
Biography - Wesselmann, Debbie Lee (1959-): An article from: Contemporary Authors
Trutor and the Balloonist
The Earth and the Sky: Stories
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's About Cages, July 3, 2008
This review is from: Captivity (Hardcover)
I gave this book four stars because it's not Pulitzer material. But it's an excellent novel. The story unfolds with enough background to allow us to begin immediately to feel involved, and builds on the basic information with just the right amount of well-timed exposition. Each character "unfolds" exceptionally well so that the reader definitely experiences "getting to know" them moments. It's a skill to be able to do that well, and Debbie Lee Wesselmann is a skilled story-teller.
The basics of the story have been outlined well by other reviewers so I won't recap those. What I will say is that the book is one to be savored because the themes the author offers us are worthy of careful consideration. As I savored this book, I realized that it's not just about the "captivity" of the primates... or, rather, it IS about the captivity of ALL of the primates, including the human ones. And the careful reader will be fascinated by how each handles their "imprisonment" and if or how each escapes.
And, in the meantime, reading about ape behavior is fascinating and great fun. And you may also enjoy the irony of learning about how university boards and funding committees can behave.
Good book. I recommend it.
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