The Naked Ape
The Naked Ape peels back the veneer of civilization to reveal humanity in its rawest, most primal form—an intricate dance of instincts, desires, and survival etched deep within our biology. Through sharp observation and vivid analogy, it challenges us to confront the paradox of a species both marvelously evolved and perpetually at odds with its own nature. What truths lie hidden beneath our skin, and how does understanding our animal origins reshape the story we tell about ourselves? This provocative exploration invites readers to reconsider what it truly means to be human, caught between instinct and intellect, flesh and culture.
- Originally Published: 1967
- Publisher : Vintage, 2005
- Genre: Sociology
- Pages: 192
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN-13: 978-0099482017
- Access: Members
Description
The Naked Ape. A book no human animal dare miss reading.
This work has become a benchmark of popular anthropology and psychology.Zoologist Desmond Morris considers humans as being simply another animal species in this classic book first published in 1967. Here is the Naked Ape at his most primal in love, at work, at war. Meet man as he really relative to the apes, stripped of his veneer as we see him courting, making love, sleeping, socializing, grooming, playing.
The Naked Ape takes its place alongside Darwin’s Origin of the Species, presenting man not as a fallen angel, but as a risen ape, remarkable in his resilience, energy and imagination, yet an animal nonetheless, in danger of forgetting his origins. With its penetrating insights on man’s beginnings, sex life, habits and our astonishing bonds to the animal kingdom, The Naked Ape is a landmark, at once provocative, compelling and timeless.
Praise for The Naked Ape
“The chapter on sex is his best” – Brigid Brophy, The Times
“Superb chapter on exploration” – W.M.S. Russel, Listener
“On the care of the young, he is fascinating.” – Anthony Storr, Sunday Times
“The chapter on origins is perhaps the most stimulating” – Arthur Koestler, Observer
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