3.5 stars

Walt and Judy want children, but are unable to have any. When Walt sees a chimpanzee at a circus, he decides he will get one for his wife, in place of a child. They love Looee very much, like a son, but as with all wild animals, as he ages, he is too much to handle.

There is a chimpanzee sanctuary where people are studying the chimps’ behaviour. In the story, we alternate between Walt/Judy/Looee’s perspectives, and the perspectives of the people and chimps at the sanctuary.

I listened to the audio and at first, particularly when we switched to the sanctuary, I had some trouble initially figuring out what was going on. It was interesting to see things from the chimps’ perspectives at times, though. And heartbreaking. I also had trouble getting “into” the book at the start knowing Walt and Judy had done a terrible thing treating a wild animal as a child; There was no way it was going to end well for Looee. I felt like the book didn’t fully end, but it’s possible I missed something (audio), or maybe the author wanted “life” to just sort of continue on. ( )

(Fiction, Literary)

Set in Vermont and in a Florida primate research facility, this story is told alternately from the point of view of humans, and chimpanzees.

A wealthy young couple Walt and Judy, unable to conceive children, adopt a young chimpanzee who enjoys a pampered life with them. Meanwhile, in Florida, chimps have been studied (and more) for decades. These two stories tragically intersect.

This is an extremely powerful book that continues to haunt me, though I read it nearly three years ago.

I can’t recommend this highly enough.

5 stars ( )

The best part was the way the author expressed things from the chimps' point of view. I love the way he used language to express their thoughts. Sad, though.
( )

This book really didn't work for me. But I see that my opinion is the minority, so maybe I just didn't get it.

A Beautiful Truth tells two stories in alternating chapters. In one story, a childless couple adopts a chimpanzee and raises him as a son substitute. In the other story, chimpanzees living in a facility go about their business. The storylines converge eventually.

The chapters about the couple with the chimpanzee are a bit tough to follow, due to McAdam's stark style and the omission of handy things like quotation marks. I did get the "flow" of it, but still found it tough to really fall into the story. The chapters about the chimpanzee family in the facility were not pleasant to read, and not only because of the content. The chimpanzees use a combination of English and made-up words, and the reader is left to figure out the words by context. And the chimpanzees think about bodily functions a lot. I found it tiresome. This book has a message, and it is meant to disturb the reader, and it succeeds at that. But I still would not recommend this book to my friends.

I read a book with a similar storyline earlier this year. We Are All Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler is also about a chimpanzee raised as a child, and has a similar message. Although I didn't love that book either, I did like it far more than A Beautiful Truth.

Disclosure: I received a pre-release copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Looee, a chimp raised by a well-meaning and compassionate human couple who cannot conceive a baby of their own, is forever set apart. He's not human, but with his peculiar upbringing he is no longer like other chimps. One tragic night Looee's two natures collide and their unique family is forever changed. At the Girdish Institute in Florida, a group of chimpanzees has been studied for decades. The work at Girdish has proven that chimps have memories and solve problems, that they can learn language and need friends, and that they build complex cultures. They are political, altruistic, get angry, and forgive. When Looee is moved to the Institute, he is forced to try to find a place in their world. " A Beautiful Truth " exposes the yearnings, cruelty, and resilience of all great apes. Summary HPL

Having listened to the audiobook version and then read the hard copy, I would have to say that only the audio can deliver the full impact of A BEAUTIFUL TRUTH. McAdam, like Hemingway, fills the white space between the period of one sentence and the capital of the next--with meaning, intent, shifts of mood and unspoken thoughts. I needed the narrator's brief pauses to cue me to the elisions of a story not found in print.

As it narrates the life of the chimpanzee, Looee, A BEAUTIFUL TRUTH reins in the storytelling with a taut, stringy syntax. Terse and unemotional, again like Hemingway and featuring more scientific data than is usually found in a novel.
I think McAdam wants the reader to recognize him/herself in the apes' behaviour and to realize that human society is founded on ape society. We still follow the same rules: the strongest/most powerful gets the food, the girls and the territory; when the alpha weakens, we are there to take his/her place. But if I've made A BEAUTIFUL TRUTH sound like a treatise, you have only to read the quote posted earlier. It is humorous, poignant, at times painful and sad, but masterfully told.

It would be interesting for a book club to read and discuss A BEAUTIFUL TRUTH and WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES.

8 out 10 Highly recommended to readers interested in animals and their rights, and to fans of good writing. ( )