A Tale of Two Realities

I enjoyed this as both an autobiography and a bit of an insight into animal communication. This is a light read, a rapid read, and well worth the time.

You never know with an an author how much of what they say is fact and how much is the presentation of self that they want you see. Irene Pepperberg presents a compelling personal tale that I can relate to. She gives you a bit of an insight into how she ended up deeply involved in bird research. It starts with a child who found a conversational friend in a parakeet and ends up in language experiments with Alex, an African Gray parrot. I enjoyed the peek into the ups and downs of her life. I'm always fascinated with measuring my life with others. We all follow distinct paths but the progression is shared, and we all start and end the same way: born and died.

The scientific bits are fun. You get a behind-the-scenes sense of the ups-and-downs. As she points out, it was lots of repetition because she was trying to accumulate statistically meaningful results. But along the way you have a recalcitrant and creative bird who both amuses and frustrates. That was fun to read.

This was a thoroughly entertaining book. You get a sense of the accomplishments of Alex and a very gentle introduction into the avian mental competencies Irene Pepperberg investigated.