Monkeyluv
And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals
By Robert M. Sapolsky
SCRIBNER; 209 PAGES; $24


Robert M. Sapolsky, the author of "A Primate's Memoir," is a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford and lives in San Francisco. The essays collected in this volume, previously published in magazines including Natural History, Discover and the New Yorker, address a variety of subjects in sections titled "Genes and Who We Are," "Our Bodies and Who We Are" and "Society and Who We Are," each with its separate introduction.

Your pleasure and profit in reading this book are apt to be influenced by the extent to which you share the author's sense of humor, which is prominently and persistently displayed. If it makes you laugh and increases your appreciation, good for you. If you find yourself distracted and even cringing, and you wish for more clarity and depth in the place of attempted vaudeville, believe me, I understand.

Review continues at the San Francisco Chronicle Book Review