Behold the Ape
{4.5/5} “Somehow Isaac got a script into the hands of H.G. Wells himself, who wrote back, ‘…Because you’re aiming to distress Nigel and Desmond Rowen, I’ll see you the rights for a pittance — my way of thumbing my nose at their grandfather, who routinely tormented my old teacher, Thomas Henry Huxley. However, you must preserve my anonymity by leaving my name off the credits and keeping the present terrible title.'”
Behold the Ape by James Morrow, published in 2023
With Sonya’s acting and makeup abilities she has turned herself into a horror movie star. Her brother Vasily has become a doctor, of sorts — he doesn’t have his degree. He is paid a lot of money to transfer a human brain into a gorilla. Then he finds this gorilla is part of a sideshow and is being given electric shocks. Then he finds that the human brain he transferred into the gorilla belonged to Charles Darwin.
This short novel is whimsical and has a fine message.
It’s about creationists who will do anything to convince people of their ideas, and reasonable people who fight against them. It’s about making movies that educate as well as entertain.
It references people like Orson Welles and Louis B. Mayer.
This is the 4th book I’ve read by Morrow. I previously reviewed City of Truth.