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Synopsis
Containing an eyewitness account of the first human courtship ever, a study of the lives of an everyday, ordinary cave family includes portraits of Mom, the ape woman; brother William and his attempted animal domestication; and Dad, the inventor.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book in the early 1960’s soon after it was published. I have wanted to re-read it for many years to find out if it is as funny as I remembered it to be. The only problem was I could not remember the name of the author. Now, of course, I only have to type the title into a search engine to find out that it was written by Roy Lewis. Apparently, it was his only book. He died in 1996 having become something of a cult in translation in French and Italian. The Evolution Man is now available in English after being out of print for many years.
The story concerns a family of ape-men living in Uganda in the Pleistocene period. At the start of the book they discover how to harness fire but it is some time before they learn to cook. They suffer from chronic indigestion because they have to chew raw meat for eight hours a day. This chewing gives them plenty of time for speculation as to whether they are mid-, late- or, heaven forbid, early-Pleistocene. They learn the joys of exogamy in order to speed up the evolutionary process and by the end of the book they are beginning to develop religious theories.
I imagine that this book predates the Flintstones but, in common with the cartoon series, its humour is based on anachronism. But there are no dinosaurs in this book; as far as I can tell the science seems to be accurate, the humour coming from the anthropological and archaeological insight that the ape-men have into their situation. And is it as funny as I remembered it to be? Every bit.
The story concerns a family of ape-men living in Uganda in the Pleistocene period. At the start of the book they discover how to harness fire but it is some time before they learn to cook. They suffer from chronic indigestion because they have to chew raw meat for eight hours a day. This chewing gives them plenty of time for speculation as to whether they are mid-, late- or, heaven forbid, early-Pleistocene. They learn the joys of exogamy in order to speed up the evolutionary process and by the end of the book they are beginning to develop religious theories.
I imagine that this book predates the Flintstones but, in common with the cartoon series, its humour is based on anachronism. But there are no dinosaurs in this book; as far as I can tell the science seems to be accurate, the humour coming from the anthropological and archaeological insight that the ape-men have into their situation. And is it as funny as I remembered it to be? Every bit.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first read this book many moons ago, and I'm now desperately waiting for the postman to bring it so that I can relive all the laughs and chuckles from the first time. Set in the remote past, it chronicles how our distant ancestors discovered fire, cooking (Uncle Vanya accidently sat on the fire and the smell of roasting flesh made the narrator feel hungry) and all the little things which make modern life so worthwhile. Man's progress carries on despite the efforts of Uncle Vanya, who's cry of "Back to the trees" echoes throughout the story, if frequently muffled by a mouthful of roast mammoth, cooked on that new-fangled fire that he so despises. Read it to find out the truth about prehistoric man.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Evolution seen as if it were a conscious effort by a single family to be one better than the Jones'; numerous evoltuonary leaps played out within a single generation in the style of some prim early 20th century family. None of that should work should it? Well it does, AND Very humourously too. This is a short, light read that'll amuse everyone. The uncomfortable thing is how the whole thing begins to sound LOGICAL and BELIEVABLE...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Funny book..!!
An interesting and funny book, tells the story of a stone-age family, something like the "Flintstones", but with more interest and awareness of their "place" and "time" in history... Read more
Published 13 months ago by vince8lv
Cave Comedy Classic
A quick, fun read with the novel idea of having cavemen talk like modern folk while in the process of discovering basic things like fire. art and language. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Neil J. Pearson
Father knows best.
A great book humorous and intelligent the first time I read evolution man when I had finished the book I immediately reread it. Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2007 by Paul Calpin
Your own personal volcano
When Uncle Vanya comes down from the trees to complain about the dangers of fire, it seems to always be on particularly cold, wet nights. Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2004 by G. C. blackwood
Evolution Man
I first read this Book at school and have own the same copy for nearly thirty years. I purchased a new copy about five years ago as my old one has been read so many times it is... Read more
Published on 11 Nov 2003 by Tony Gardner
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