Synopses & Reviews
Review
A screenwriter and the great-great grandson of Charles Darwin, Chapman heads to Dayton, Tenn., the site of the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925. As a longstanding atheist, he intends to write a sardonic cultural update of Southern Fundamentalist Christianity. But to his surprise, and the reader's delight, the book takes on a power of its own. This first-time author has written an honest, ironic autobiography that traces the development of a boyish wise guy into a complex man of letters. In an account that stands in favorable comparison to the best examples of eccentric English autobiography, such as the work of Robert Graves and Anthony Burgess, Chapman weaves the story of his life of advantage and distinguished intellectual pedigree in England, New York City and Hollywood with a travelogue into an unknown realm, misperceived to be inhabited by hillbillies. The incongruous encounters and anecdotes, moving between past and present, meld into an insightful study of a man trying to make sense of it all. Stories from the author's rebellious youth, unconventional family constellation and contemporary life are juxtaposed with images of caustic trends in modern society and Southern idiosyncrasies. The result is an absorbing and finely honed journal of courageous, often amusing self-awareness which moves from a posture of extreme skepticism regarding the possibility of the divine to a more open-minded, appreciative stance regarding the possible sacred meaning(s) of life. (Sept.)
(Publishers Weekly)
Review
"Funny, irreverent, profound, moving, instructive, and entertaining. How I wish that I had written this book."--Peter Coyote, author of
Sleeping Where I Fall: A Chronicle"This book is not just a sneer at freak-show America. Chapman is too aware of his own foibles and failures to curl his lip . . . Hilarious . . . uncomfortable . . . it's also life-affirming, even if life as lived by Chapman is often damnably itchy." --Nigel Richardson, The Daily Telegraph
“Hugely entertaining...While Chapman can be as funny and revealing as either [Bill Bryson or Paul Theroux] in the travel sections of his book, the autobiographical element plumbs greater depths.”—Tony Gould, The Spectator
“A clever, provocative and very entertaining hotchpotch of confession and redneck theology, a genre all his own.”—Patrick Skene Catling, The Irish Times
"...an absorbing and finely honed journal of courageous, often amusing self-awareness..." --Publishers Weekly
Review
"Travel essay, family memoir, or social history . . . its uncertainty is part of its charm . . . His descriptions recall Kingsley Amis at his best . . . Chapman's account of his family's ingrained melancholy, martial betrayals, and tragic decline is graceful and funny."
—The Boston Globe"Compulsively readable, surprisingly touching, and often downright funny."—Jonathan Miles, The New York Times Book Review
"Funny, irreverent, profound, moving, instructive, and entertaining. How I wish that I had written this book."—Peter Coyote,author of Sleeping Where I Fall: A Chronicle
"This book is not just a sneer at freak-show America. Chapman is too aware of his own foibles and failures to curl his lip . . . Hilarious . . . uncomfortable . . . it's also life-affirming, even if life as lived by Chapman is often damnably itchy."—Nigel Richardson, The Daily Telegraph
"A humorous, even funny, memoir of 'de-evolution.' In his insightful, confessional, and intimately human voice, Matthew Chapman reads like he's right there talking to you. My kind of book."—Spalding Gray
"As the monkey of the title, Mr. Chapman tells the story of a family tree 'hopping with regression' . . . A valuable, painfully honest memoir of what it means to be British in the past half century."—The Wall Street Journal
"Trials of the Monkey: An Accidental Memoir is candid, confessional, raunchy, and learned—not four words usually used in the same sentence to describe a work of nonfiction. It is certain to offend some readers, while other readers are just as certain to laugh out loud with glee . . . It is not only an accidental memoir, as the subtitle says. it is also an accidental classic."—The Kansas City Star
About the Author
Matthew Chapman was born in Cambridge, England and is the great-great grandson of Charles Darwin. He has written and directed five films, and lived for many years in Los Angeles. A Hollywood screenwriter he now lives in Manhattan.
Trials of the Monkey is his first book.