Jennie [Hardcover]

Douglas J. Preston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1994

An orphaned African chimpanzee moves in with a typical 1960s American family, in a story inspired by studies of actual primates raised by humans. By the author of Cities of Gold. National ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The protagonist of this good-humored though long-winded novel is a chimpanzee. Jennie lives for almost a decade during the 1970s and enjoys the period's activities, e.g., peace marches and dropping LSD. Written in the form of diary entries and interviews, the narrative draws on research with actual primates (Preston is the author of Dinosaurs in the Attic and other nonfiction works on scientific subjects) and advances the theory that chimps are nearly human. Naturalist Dr. Hugo Archibald delivers baby Jennie from her dying mother in the Cameroons and brings her home to his American family. His young son Sandy bonds with Jennie, but daughter Sarah, only eight months old when Jennie arrives, grows to fiercely resent the chimp. A minister who sees Jennie as a "child of God" teaches her about Jesus. After being trained in ASL (American Sign Language), the apt chimp learns to converse, wheedle, taunt, lie and swear. Her antics resemble those of a gleeful, willful human brat, given to tantrums that include tearing up furniture. She hoards and steals. She shops at Bloomingdale's. She meets celebrities. She gets arrested. Sexual maturity is Jennie's downfall. Sent to a wildlife camp, she identifies her fellow chimp as a "black bug," feels betrayed and violently grieves for her lost freedom. The tale gives Preston a chance to discourse on evolution and socialization, aggression, love, suffering and death, successfully integrating these topics into his whimsical narrative. While some readers may delight in Jennie's exploits, others may find the narrative cartoonish and one-dimensional, a joke that keeps repeating itself in different keys. 50,000 first printing; film rights to Disney; audio by Brilliance; author appearances.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Jennie, an orphan chimpanzee, is brought to America from Africa by anthropologist Hugo Archibald. Jennie learns American Sign Language, which allows her to communicate with her new family, neighbors, and scientists. Major problems arise when Jennie becomes an adolescent, and her forced realization that she is not human has catastrophic results. The novel is divided into a series of interviews and diary entries made by the various people who have a hand in raising Jennie. So realistic are these different accounts of Jennie's life that many readers will believe the book is a nonfiction case history of a chimpanzee. The book's conclusion raises provocative questions about our relationship to, and treatment of, other species. This first novel features an enchanting heroine who will not soon be forgotten by readers. An excellent purchase for public libraries of all sizes.
Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 302 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (October 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312112947
• ISBN-13: 978-0312112943
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #586,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Douglas Preston, who worked for several years in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, is the author of the acclaimed nonfiction works Dinosaurs in the Attic and Cities of Gold, and the novel, Jennie. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent novel. Ignore harsh editorial reviews., October 10, 2003

By 

James Cleaveland "webcomic artist" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jennie (Mass Market Paperback)

In real life in the 1960's, a number of experiments were performed in which an infant chimpanzee was raised as a child in a human family. In every case, the ape did astonishingly well until puberty, at which point its strength increased drastically and its moods became unmanageable. In every case, the animal died tragically. "Jennie" is a work of fiction based on these experiments.

I'm astonished at the editorial reviews above. One actually describes the book as "cartoonish"? Did we read the same novel? If this is the way the book was handled in the press, then it's no wonder that it's out of print, and no wonder that the author has since resorted to writing "thrillers" that sell better.

Jennie is one of the most haunting, intelligent books I've ever read. If you've ever wondered about the psychology of other creatures, or even whether they can be said to have a psychology, you should read this book.

In particular, I appreciate that the priest character who befriends the ape is handled completely sympathetically, and not treated as a cruel "monkey trial" caricature. Indeed, the plot rarely takes the "obvious" route, even though the subject matter can lead it to only one possible ending.

Disney did a TV movie based on it recently. The commercials made it look like a childish farce, and I couldn't bring myself to watch it.

This book is an excellent read. I keep giving it to friends as gifts, and they invariably love it.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jennie Archibald: Very Good, Very Gentle, Very Brave, July 6, 2000

By 

M. Tedholm - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jennie (Mass Market Paperback)

An amazing, thought-provoking book, "Jennie" is the fascinating story (actually a composite of several case studies of the time period) of Jennie, a chimpanzee raised as a human as part of an experiment to see how chimps acquire language. Because one of my main interests is language, I found this book extremely interesting.The research presented in this book (which is based upon real experiments) has major implications for both chimps and humans. As a story, "Jennie" is weak in parts: the characterizations can be sketchy and in some places the presentation of the information (diary entries, interviews, etc.) seems kind of gimmicky. However, this should not deter you from a most interesting read. "Jennie" shows the human side of scientific research (except, of course, for the little fact that the book's main character is a chimpanzee).. It's about the malleable nature of perception. It's about evolution, and ethics. This book raises many more questions than it answers-- and that is what it is designed to do, as the most meaningful gift a writer can bestow is to make his readers think. After reading this book, I found myself questioning exactly what my relationship, as a human, is to the world around me.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story w/ intruiging Scientific/Philosophical Questions, October 4, 2001

By 

stephlee (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jennie (Mass Market Paperback)

Preston uses the points of view of several different characters through their journals or scientific writings to give an account of the story of Jennie, a chimpanzee taken into captivity by an American scientist. Through these varied perspectives and with a touching story, Preston raises all sorts of questions about what sets humans apart from animals, where God fits into the natural world, etc...there's all sorts of fuel for thought. Excellently written, thoroughly researched, and an all out great book. I'm a more complex thinker for having read it, and I've recommended it to many of my professors and friends.