THE LAUGHING GORILLA

WELL, THIS WAS A FUN READ!

The book came out in 2009 or so originally, but JUST HIT THE PAPERBACK STANDS. The author is Robert Graysmith, the publisher is Berkley True Crime, and the page count is 374, counting the index.

WHAT CRACKS ME UP is the way Graysmith pits clear-eyed, long-suffering human cops against criminals, and constantly describes those criminals in simian terms -- this one had unnaturally long arms, like a Gorilla's. That one had no visible neck, like an unimproved ape's. A third had short legs and a big, hulking torso that reminded onlookers of an Orangutan.

The ones depicted as humans are out busting crime. The ones compared to apes are out cracking safes, strangling unarmed women and slashing strangers to death with straight razors.

I GUESS HE JUST DOESN'T GET IT.

Let me fill you in, there, Bob: EVERY CHARACTER IN THE BOOK IS AN APE.

AND SO ARE YOU, MR. GRAYSMITH.

Does he really think there is some identifiable difference between a human who commits crimes and a human who solves them? I THINK HE REALLY DOES. The joke is on him: YOU ALL LOOK ALIKE TO US, MR. GRAYSMITH.
 

At one point he quotes someone's scholarly book on Gorillas, saying that Gorllas make about 30 different sounds, but laughter is not in their repetoire. OH YES, THEY DO LAUGH, MR. GRAYSMITH. THEY ARE LAUGHING AT YOU.
(And I am laughing, too, with my squamous, water-breathing friends.)

READ THIS ONE, LADIES. It's QUITE AN EDUCATION on the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS among the Shaved Monkeys. Maybe it will help you new recruits understand why we want to TURN THEM ALL INTO FISH.