Chimpanzees sit in the Venn diagram overlap of topics that are intellectually compelling and those that are emotionally irresistible. Chimpanzee Memoirs shows that it can be fascinating to study the people who have devoted their lives to their fascination with chimps. These superb essays reveal the varying backgrounds that can prompt this obsession, and show that slogging through underbrush out in the field, and battling to save chimps from extinction can both constitute heroism. This is a great read.–Robert M. Sapolsky, John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor, Stanford University