Kindred - by Katherine Cronin (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"Cronin's expertise and storytelling draw readers into the worlds of chimpanzees to reveal their intelligence, resilience, and humor with warmth and insight. This important book is both inspiring and profoundly relevant." --Jane Goodall

A leading primatologist shines a light on the contemporary conservation movement and what humans can do to protect all creatures, with awe-inspiring stories of resilience in the fascinating world of chimpanzees.

Dr. Cronin introduces readers to over a dozen chimpanzees and, in the process, shows that these creatures are not cartoons or stand-ins for humans, they are wild animals, uniquely themselves. Readers meet Chiffon, a former pet determined to be among humans, and Masya, a mother mourning her infant and revealing the emotional depth of our primate cousins. Chapter by chapter, the reader's connection with chimpanzees, and recognition of themselves, builds, until they feel they are hearing stories of their own family. With precision and inspiration, Dr. Cronin shares the heartwarming, resilient way of chimpanzees, bringing people along to African sanctuaries, American zoos, defunct labs, and Hollywood sets as the stories of the chimpanzees create a narrative that builds compassion, one story at a time. As scientists, policymakers, and the public reckon with our relationship with nature and the planet, Kindred shows us that knowing these apes can change our perspective and offers a roadmap for humans to advocate for and support our chimpanzee relatives.

Review Quotes

"Kindred invites us to see our closest living relatives with fresh eyes. Cronin's well-written examination of the rich emotional lives of chimpanzees also provides a timely reminder of how essential it is to protect the future we share with apes."

-- "Laurie Santos, Professor of Psychology at Yale University and host of The Happiness Lab podcast"

"A moving account of the extraordinary relationships between a pioneering researcher and the awe-inspiring chimpanzees she has come to know, each with a larger-than-life personality that surprises and delights. Following in the footsteps of Jane Goodall, Cronin reveals how much we can learn about other species, and ourselves, simply by taking the time to observe beings whose inner lives are as rich and complex as our own. A major contribution to our understanding of chimpanzees and what it means to be human."

-- "Brian Hare, New York Times bestselling author of Genius of Dogs"

"Cronin's expertise and storytelling draw readers into the worlds of chimpanzees to reveal their intelligence, resilience, and humor with warmth and insight. This important book is both inspiring and profoundly relevant."

-- "Jane Goodall"

"Cronin's personal experiences and artful storytelling immediately drew me in. She also provides an illuminating foray into the intricacies of primate behavior, and the imperative that we act to prevent their exploitation in captivity, and their extinction from the wild."

-- "Jonathan Balcombe, author of What a Fish Knows, and Beyond Tooth and Claw"

"Each chimpanzee in Kindred is unmistakably an individual with a personality, a history, and a network of relationships. Dr. Cronin illustrates that truth on every page. Rigorous, tender, and urgent, this is a portrait of chimpanzees as they are, and a call to protect them."

-- "Brittany Peet, J.D., Animal Legal Defense Fund"

"From being skeptical of chimpanzees in graduate school to becoming an empathetic witness of chimpanzees in an African sanctuary to her scientifically informed advocacy work protecting chimpanzees in captivity and in the wild, Dr. Cronin has gripping stories to tell. She provides a brilliantly illuminating and at the same time deeply moving, account of her decades of work with these socially complex apes. A lot has been written on chimpanzees, but Dr. Cronin's insights deepen our understanding of our closest living relatives."

-- "Dr. Lori Gruen, author of Entangled Empathy"

"Katherine Cronin's lovely book Kindred is a story of extended family, about us, about chimpanzees, and about how all of us in this complicated relationship try to understand, to care for, and even protect each other. By the end of it, you'll know a lot more about chimpanzees - and about yourself in all the best ways."

-- "Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Monkey Wars and Love at Goon Park"

"Katie Cronin has given us a beautiful memoir of how her attitude to captive chimpanzees grew from fascination as a scientist into passionate advocacy for their well-being. Kindred is both a touching account of the sometimes rich but often troubled lives of individual apes and an important documentation of the inadequacies of the laws that are supposed to protect them from mistreatment."

-- "Richard Wrangham, author of The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution"

"Kindred is a captivating journey into the lives and minds of chimpanzees, capturing the wonder of connecting with and coming to understand an animal both so different from, yet so remarkably like, ourselves. Katie Cronin beautifully blends her research expertise and personal experiences to draw us into their complex social worlds, intelligence, emotional lives, and individual personalities. This book is both a celebration of these extraordinary animals and a powerful plea for their ongoing protection."

-- "Dr. Heather Browning, Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Southampton"

"Like Jane Goodall before her, Dr. Katherine Cronin offers compelling up-close and personal stories about the emotional lives and personalities of chimpanzees that clearly explain who these fascinating sentient beings truly are and what they need and deserve from us. By staying well within what science has revealed about their inner rich lives, not only do we come to feel a very deep connection with our close relatives, but of equal importance, Cronin clearly explains why the only way forward is to protect them and other animals from further being victimized in an increasingly human-dominated world."

-- "Marc Bekoff, Ph.D., author of The Emotional Lives of Animals and Every Elephant Has a Name (with Jane Goodall)"