TALK TO ME by T.C. Boyle

This novel bears some similarity to Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, in that it focuses on a chimpanzee who lives among humans and has learned sign language.  In both books, the chimp’s effect on human lives is significant.  Aimee is a college student who responds to a help-wanted ad posted by Guy, a professor at her university who is training Sam, the chimp.  Sam and Aimee bond instantly, and Aimee becomes a necessity to Sam’s world, just as Sam becomes the focal point of Aimee’s life.  Sam eats cheeseburgers, drinks beer, and smokes weed along with his caretakers, but his time among humans is limited.  Once he becomes fully grown, he will be in a position to overpower them, and the consequences could be catastrophic.  Sam may live among humans, but he is not exactly domesticated, and one of his tantrums has resulted in a serious facial wound to a woman who previously worked with him.  What happens to Sam at the end of his term with Guy is not something that Aimee has really contemplated, as there really are no good options, especially since she and Guy do not “own” Sam.  His fate is in the hands of a scientist who couldn’t care less about Sam’s and Aimee’s attachment to one another and sees Sam’s value in financial terms only.  Sam is not only ill-equipped to be returned to the wild, but he has never been around members of his own species.  The humans will survive without Sam, but his survival is totally dependent on humans. In other words, proving that a chimp can develop language skills may have scientific value, but his unfortunate endgame is cruel.  Boyle reminds us that animals are not on this planet to serve the needs of humans, but somehow we humans see them as property that exists to serve our own purposes.