Love in Infant Monkeys

Love in Infant Monkeys is a short story collection centered on interactions between animals and famous figures throughout history. Each story features a real or imagined encounter between a celebrity and an animal, drawing from actual events or news stories. The ten stories include encounters with Madonna, Thomas Edison, Jimmy Carter, and other notable personalities. The animals range from elephants to monkeys to parrots, with each story examining the complex dynamics between humans and other species. The collection pivots between humor and darkness while exploring themes of power, celebrity, and the boundaries between civilization and wildness. Through these varied encounters, Millet probes questions about humanity's relationship with nature and our attempts to understand, control, or connect with the animal world. The book challenges readers to consider how fame, science, and human ego intersect with our treatment of animals, while blurring lines between historical fact and literary imagination.

Readers note the dark humor and irony in these stories about celebrities' interactions with animals. The collection maintains a consistent tone while covering diverse figures like Edison, Madonna, and President Carter. Readers appreciated: - The sharp commentary on human nature and fame - Clean, precise prose style - The way real historical events blend with fiction - Strong opening and closing stories Common criticisms: - Some stories feel underdeveloped or end abruptly - A few readers found the celebrity focus gimmicky - Several mentioned the collection is uneven in quality Ratings: Goodreads: 3.7/5 (387 ratings) Amazon: 3.9/5 (12 ratings) Reader quotes: "Each story peels back layers of human behavior through our treatment of animals" - Goodreads review "The Edison story alone is worth the price" - Amazon review "Some stories land perfectly while others feel like exercises" - LibraryThing review

Laboratory: A Novel by Carole Morin A sequence of interwoven stories examines human-animal relationships through experiments and encounters in research facilities.

The Animals by Christian Kiefer The narrative follows a wildlife sanctuary keeper confronting his Vietnam War past while caring for wounded animals.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler A family's life unravels through the lens of a psychological experiment involving a chimpanzee raised as a human sibling.

Fauna by Alissa York The lives of urban wildlife rehabilitators intersect as they care for injured creatures in Toronto's hidden wildlife corridors.

The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore by Benjamin Hale A chimpanzee recounts his transformation through language acquisition and scientific experimentation at a research facility.

🔸 Each story in this Pulitzer Prize finalist collection is based on a real-life encounter between a celebrity and an animal, including Elvis Presley's famous meetup with a chimpanzee and Thomas Edison's electrocution of an elephant. 🔸 Author Lydia Millet worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council and continues to be an environmental activist, which influences her frequent exploration of human-animal relationships in her writing. 🔸 The book's title comes from psychologist Harry Harlow's controversial experiments in the 1950s, which separated infant rhesus monkeys from their mothers to study attachment behavior. 🔸 The collection includes a story about Madonna's interaction with pheasants during a hunting expedition, based on actual events reported in British tabloids. 🔸 Despite the celebrity focus, the stories are told primarily from the perspective of secondary characters—handlers, assistants, and observers—rather than from the famous figures themselves.