Book description
The Philip K. Dick Award–winning sci-fi novel: “A riveting page-turner” about the behavior of primates―human and otherwise―“in a very near and dire future” (The Washington Post).
Winner of the 2019 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award for Speculative Fiction
One of The Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of fiction in 2018
…
Why read it?
1 author picked Theory of Bastards as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I loved the setting of a remote near-future research facility where the fascinating personalities of our primate brethren are being explored.
The focus is on lusty bonobos and their mating choices, but when there's an abrupt societal collapse and human researchers, and simian subjects are cut off from the world, it becomes a dystopian survival story like no other. I was deeply moved and left feeling oddly hopeful about the human ape.
From Dennis' list on The best books that transform how we see ourselves in the world.
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