Alex & Me by Irene M. Pepperberg

Would it surprise anyone reading this to know that Irene Pepperberg, the author of Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence—and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process, was on You're the Expert would it? I was very interested in her work, so I grabbed her autobiography from the library.

Irene Pepperberg received a doctorate in chemistry before she decided she was really interested in animal intelligence and communication after seeing a documentary on television. She started doing research with an African Grey parrot named Alex.

Okay. Where do I start? 

First, the organization was...not great. It starts with a chapter about how Alex died and how The New York Times posted his obituary. It was all about how sad Pepperberg was. And you know what? I get it. I don't even want to think about what my reaction is going to be when my girls die (*if* they die - heaven knows Zelda might be immortal). BUT. WHY START THERE? The whole book was just a downer. Instead of starting with a funny bit about Alex bossing around the other parrots in the lab or something, she just starts with "I'm going to tell you about a dead parrot" and the whole book was framed around that.

Also? She's sort of mad that no one would take her seriously at first because she has a PhD in chemistry instead of biology? I mean, can you blame them? Then she gets a job in a biology department and doesn't think she's qualified to teach the introductory classes and gets made at the department because they don't support her. CAN YOU BLAME THEM? (I think I would probably not be friends with Pepperberg.)

But. It's also a great story about perseverance. When she's bouncing around from fellowship to adjunctship to visiting professorship to whatever, she's applying for grants, she's fundraising, she's doing all the things. I think this would be a great book to give a student who is studying animal biology and wants to do research-oriented work. There are a lot of lessons about how academia sucks balls in there. 

It's also a story about a parrot who learns a lot and teaches the humans around him a lot. If you don't think I'm here for a story about a stubborn animal who *can* do things, but sometimes refuses to, let me reintroduce you to my own personal stubborn menace. 

"Hannah, look at me!" "No."

I have very mixed feelings on this book, but I was generally invested and kept wanting to read more to find out what impish things Alex was going to do next. 4/5 stars

What I looked up:
Pei's Toilet - MIT's Media Lab is housed at 20 Ames St. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Designed by the famous architect I.M. Pei, it is colloquially known as Pei's Toilet to the locals.

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Are you a bird person? What's your preference of animal friends? I'm not sure what my preference is, but I think birds are pretty far down on the list.