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The book's 29 more-or-less overlapping essays debate how far it is possible to understand animals. The views encompass "slayers" (who prove the impossibility of mutual understanding between man and beast), skeptics, and proponents who claim success in patiently developing systems of sign communication with monkeys, sea lions, or parrots. Theoretical arguments predominate, and it was mainly the occasional story about animal behavior that perked up my ears.
