A trilogy of investigations into the human animal by Desmond Morris, from the (in)famous The Naked Ape (1967) through less well known The Human Zoo (1969) and Intimate Behaviour (1971).
I picked up this hardback in a charity shop, drawn by my fleeting knowledge of the Naked Ape and the intriguing subject matter. It's taken me a few months to get through all 3 alongside various works of fiction, even though combined they only total 500 pages, and it's been an interesting read. The Naked Ape stirred controversy when it came out in 1967 for Morris' study of the animalistic, zoological approach that he takes with human nature. He looks for reasons behind human behaviour in the history and evolution of the species, as well as in the context of our busy modern lives, with comparisons made with our hairier ape cousins. The 'sequel' looks at how humanity's move to the cities is mirrored by the lives of captive zoo animals and how the conditions affect our behaviours. The final piece of the trilogy sees Morris examine the ways that human beings are intimate, from handshakes and sex to using pets, masturbation and pillows as intimacy proxies. While some of the statistics and references are dated the conclusions that Morris draws are interesting and leave many a moment for pause and reflection. It seems like Morris has an evolutionary, behavioural or childhood explanation for every single human action, from the tiniest thing like the way your cross your legs to the reasons we like certain animals over others. It's a fascinating trilogy, with the first and third books my favourites, and it's a really easy read - there are no footnotes or bothersome facts and statistics, well there are a few, but mostly the books are written to be read and understood by anyone so are refreshingly jargon-free.
but...
The dated references include some dubious responses to homosexuality. I'm surprised it's covered at all, but for the most part, as with the majority of the activities explored by Morris, homosexuality is treated dispassionately, without judgement. Maybe it was just me though but sometimes I did feel that there was a bias against homosexuality on occasion, which I take as a sign of the times the books were written. The 'prejudice' also stretches to descriptions of women as mothers and homemakers, and the assumption that couples are married before having children - a bit old-fashioned but excusable.
briefly...
Not as shocking as I expected, The Naked Ape Trilogy has been eclipsed by a more free-thinking time, where this sort of human behaviour study is not novel, but even many decades later Morris makes strong arguments that are difficult to disagree with.
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