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Summary
AFRICA IN MY BLOOD is an extraordinary self-portrait in letters of Jane Goodall's early years, from childhood to the publication of IN THE SHADOW OF MAN, revealing this remarkable woman more vividly than anything published before, by her or about her. We see her at eleven founding the Alligator Society ("You have to be able to recognize 10 birds, 10 dogs, 10 trees and 5 butterflies OR moths"); at seventeen developing a crush on the local minister ("He has a beautiful long nose and he loves dogs"); at twenty punting at Oxford -- and falling out of the boat ("And I stood in the water -- up to my chest -- and roared and roared with laughter"); at twenty-two working at a film company and saving for a trip to Africa.
At twenty-three, she took that trip, to "the Africa I have always longed for, always felt stirring in my blood." In Kenya's White Highlands, she rode horses, danced, and developed her observational skills on both animals and men ("He is very handsome & Clo & I sat in the car admiring his bottom & feeling sorry for him because he was getting filthy & oily"). The men returned her interest ("What the devil am I to do with all these middle aged married men. They hang in multitudinous garlands from every limb and neck I've got").
The turning point of her life came when a friend told her, "If you are interested in animals, you must meet Louis Leakey." And when she did meet the legendary anthropologist, he saw in this young secretarial school graduate the ideal candidate to undertake a revolutionary study of chimpanzees. He sent her to the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve on Lake Tanganyika, where she immersed herself in the lives of wild animals as no one had ever done before. Goodall has told this story in other books, but never so immediately and emotionally. She describes a chimp rain dance ("Every so often their wild calls rang out above the thunder. Primitive hairy men, huge and black on the skyline, flinging themselves across the ground in their primaeval display of strength and power . . . Can you begin to imagine how I felt? The only human ever to have witnessed such a display in all its primitive, fantastic wonder?"); a female chimp mating with five males early in the morning ("Hello -- No 5 is queuing, down on the bottom branch. 'Thanks Big Boy, but don't hang around.' No 5 leaps out of the way as No 4 charges down . . . Soon over & off he goes. Now perhaps a girl can have a bite of breakfast"); a colobus monkey clasping its dead baby ("She kept trying to groom its poor little coat. Oh, it was heart rending. I'm only so glad I've never seen a chimp with a dead baby. I just couldn't bear it").
AFRICA IN MY BLOOD is a dramatic, moving, funny, and important book that tells the story of how an English girl who loved animals became one of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century.
At twenty-three, she took that trip, to "the Africa I have always longed for, always felt stirring in my blood." In Kenya's White Highlands, she rode horses, danced, and developed her observational skills on both animals and men ("He is very handsome & Clo & I sat in the car admiring his bottom & feeling sorry for him because he was getting filthy & oily"). The men returned her interest ("What the devil am I to do with all these middle aged married men. They hang in multitudinous garlands from every limb and neck I've got").
The turning point of her life came when a friend told her, "If you are interested in animals, you must meet Louis Leakey." And when she did meet the legendary anthropologist, he saw in this young secretarial school graduate the ideal candidate to undertake a revolutionary study of chimpanzees. He sent her to the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve on Lake Tanganyika, where she immersed herself in the lives of wild animals as no one had ever done before. Goodall has told this story in other books, but never so immediately and emotionally. She describes a chimp rain dance ("Every so often their wild calls rang out above the thunder. Primitive hairy men, huge and black on the skyline, flinging themselves across the ground in their primaeval display of strength and power . . . Can you begin to imagine how I felt? The only human ever to have witnessed such a display in all its primitive, fantastic wonder?"); a female chimp mating with five males early in the morning ("Hello -- No 5 is queuing, down on the bottom branch. 'Thanks Big Boy, but don't hang around.' No 5 leaps out of the way as No 4 charges down . . . Soon over & off he goes. Now perhaps a girl can have a bite of breakfast"); a colobus monkey clasping its dead baby ("She kept trying to groom its poor little coat. Oh, it was heart rending. I'm only so glad I've never seen a chimp with a dead baby. I just couldn't bear it").
AFRICA IN MY BLOOD is a dramatic, moving, funny, and important book that tells the story of how an English girl who loved animals became one of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century.
Details
- Title Africa in My Blood
- Author Goodall, Jane; Dale Peterson
- Binding Trade Cloth
- Edition First Edition
- Pages 386
- Language EN
- Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston
- Date 2000-04-15
- ISBN 9780395854044
Media reviews
"[Goodall]is a natural writer and riveting storyteller. Africa in My Blood confirms these additional talents." --Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"Often letter anthologies are the purview of a subject's near-evangelical followers, but Africa in My Blood is an engrossing primate primer, a treat for old fans, and a fitting tribute to the woman who first made science friendly." --Biography Magazine
"An intimate and vivid portrait" --Natural History Magazine
"Jane Goodall is more than just a remarkable scientist. She is, as other writers have noted, a real-life Horatio Alger.... this is a valuable book." The San Francisco Chronicle
"No one, perhaps, has done more for great apes than Goodall, whose decades of work with Kenyan chimpanzees showed the rest of the world how chimps live -- how they use tools, eat, sleep, have sex, raise their young, fight, make peace -- demonstrating that they deserve further study as well as human protection. Here, in a follow up to last year's spiritual autobiography Reason for Hope, are displayed the roots of that work, in a thick, fun, enlightening, somewhat diffuse compilation of letters that Goodall wrote to relatives, friends, and colleagues over the first 32 years of her life, now amplified by Peterson's introduction and annotations. The earliest letters show the preteen Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall at school in England, chattily inviting her best friend to see her collection of "quite a lot of caterpillars." Later batches describe life in "Chimpland," where Goodall and her co-workers have set up their ongoing project. We see a mother chimp and her neighbors react to a baby; we also see Goodall, then-husband Hugo van Lawick and a cast of dozens handle the practical problems of running a jungle encampment, from parasites to postage and publicity. Goodall describes her work with her mentor, paleontologist Louis Leakey; shows her continued affection for her family; keeps up with U.S. and European animal-behavior researchers such as Konrad Lorenz; and narrates "the proudest [day] of my whole life to date": the chimpanzee "David G -- yes -- he has TAKEN BANANAS FROM MY HAND." This volume covers only the "early years" (1934-1966); readers who care about animal behavior -- or who enjoy the collected letters of a fascinating, friendly, and dedicated woman -- will hope for a sequel." --Publishers Weekly, March 6, 2000
Publishers Weekly
"A sumptuous delight! A story of greatness bred from innocence and wonder of one of the most remarkable lives of our time. As Africa grips Jane Goodall, her story grips the reader. AFRICA IN MY BLOOD allow us to witness, in a very intimate way, how the early seeds of understanding and compassion for chimpanzees changed the very understanding of what it means to be human. Jane's personal letters make you feel like you are a member of the family. This absolutely MUST become the first of a trilogy! The "heart" and the "soul" must join the "blood". I can hardly wait --- it wasn't fair to leave us in 1966 when we know there is so much more." -- Roger Fouts (Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute, Central Washington University)
"Often letter anthologies are the purview of a subject's near-evangelical followers, but Africa in My Blood is an engrossing primate primer, a treat for old fans, and a fitting tribute to the woman who first made science friendly." --Biography Magazine
"An intimate and vivid portrait" --Natural History Magazine
"Jane Goodall is more than just a remarkable scientist. She is, as other writers have noted, a real-life Horatio Alger.... this is a valuable book." The San Francisco Chronicle
"No one, perhaps, has done more for great apes than Goodall, whose decades of work with Kenyan chimpanzees showed the rest of the world how chimps live -- how they use tools, eat, sleep, have sex, raise their young, fight, make peace -- demonstrating that they deserve further study as well as human protection. Here, in a follow up to last year's spiritual autobiography Reason for Hope, are displayed the roots of that work, in a thick, fun, enlightening, somewhat diffuse compilation of letters that Goodall wrote to relatives, friends, and colleagues over the first 32 years of her life, now amplified by Peterson's introduction and annotations. The earliest letters show the preteen Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall at school in England, chattily inviting her best friend to see her collection of "quite a lot of caterpillars." Later batches describe life in "Chimpland," where Goodall and her co-workers have set up their ongoing project. We see a mother chimp and her neighbors react to a baby; we also see Goodall, then-husband Hugo van Lawick and a cast of dozens handle the practical problems of running a jungle encampment, from parasites to postage and publicity. Goodall describes her work with her mentor, paleontologist Louis Leakey; shows her continued affection for her family; keeps up with U.S. and European animal-behavior researchers such as Konrad Lorenz; and narrates "the proudest [day] of my whole life to date": the chimpanzee "David G -- yes -- he has TAKEN BANANAS FROM MY HAND." This volume covers only the "early years" (1934-1966); readers who care about animal behavior -- or who enjoy the collected letters of a fascinating, friendly, and dedicated woman -- will hope for a sequel." --Publishers Weekly, March 6, 2000
Publishers Weekly
"A sumptuous delight! A story of greatness bred from innocence and wonder of one of the most remarkable lives of our time. As Africa grips Jane Goodall, her story grips the reader. AFRICA IN MY BLOOD allow us to witness, in a very intimate way, how the early seeds of understanding and compassion for chimpanzees changed the very understanding of what it means to be human. Jane's personal letters make you feel like you are a member of the family. This absolutely MUST become the first of a trilogy! The "heart" and the "soul" must join the "blood". I can hardly wait --- it wasn't fair to leave us in 1966 when we know there is so much more." -- Roger Fouts (Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute, Central Washington University)
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