The Soul of an Octopus

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By Sy Montgomery

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Publisher Description

Finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction * New York Times Bestseller * A Huffington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year * One of the Best Books of the Month on Goodreads * Library Journal Best Sci-Tech Book of the Year * An American Library Association Notable Book of the Year

“Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus does for the creature what Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk did for raptors.” —New Statesman, UK

“One of the best science books of the year.” —Science Friday, NPR

A New York Times bestseller from the author of The Good Good Pig, this “fascinating…touching…informative…entertaining” (The Daily Beast) book explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus—a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature—and the remarkable connections it makes with humans.

In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced true immersion journalism. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food.

Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” (Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds.

1895 Reviews

3.5

Char Medich

Created about 7 hours ago

My Little Happy Nook

Created about 11 hours ago

“3.5 ⭐️ This book had a really strong start, but it fell short for me in the second half. On a positive note- I love to read a book about a topic written by someone who just loves sharing about that topic. This book is clearly written by someone who genuinely loves octopuses, and I can appreciate that. In many parts of the book I was brought back to my memories of reading Remarkably Bright Creatures- which made me smile. On the more negative side- I did not enjoy the very long and extensive descriptions of octopus sex? I really did not enjoy my front row seat to the quite extensive descriptions of an aquarium putting on these mating shows and having small children go on field trips to come and watch? Additionally- I found that this author tended on the anthropomorphism side of interpreting animal behavior, which is a sweet thought but I think it is dangerous to overdo that and have readers feel it would be safe to just go interact with an octopus on the assumption that they all feel in some ways similar to us. Finally- I have (as often in books like these) very divergent beliefs on spirituality than this author, and I found her thoughts on it to be quite extensive for a book about octopuses. That’s fine for her to share, but I found it took me out of learning about the octopuses repeatedly as I wasn’t wanting to read about her spiritual journey with various octopuses and instead wanted to learn more facts or even just stories about these octopuses. All that to be said- I enjoyed this book somewhat, but this fell short for me in a variety of ways. To me the beginning of the book was much more inspiring and interesting than the second half. Potential spoilers ahead in my content warnings so do not keep scrolling if concerned about that (general warning: there are significant potential severe mental health descriptions in this book that may be deeply upsetting to some) Content: •quite significant discussion of octopus sex (a weird amount imo- especially with taking elementary students to watch and learn about it) (not just like a regular aquarium day where it may occur but intentionally having school outings to go see the special exhibit with that as the only express purpose of the exhibit on that time/date) also there were multiple comparisons to humans in this context •discussion of suicide (suicide of a young person) and how that impacts another young neurodivergent person •mental health discussions w/ presumed or actually discussed depression •death”

Educational Moving Personal experience Easy to follow Accessible Effective visuals Death Grief Self-harm Violence

Jread

Created 1 day ago

Katie Crichton

Created 2 days ago

About Sy Montgomery

Sy Montgomery is a naturalist, adventurer, and author of more than thirty acclaimed books of nonfiction for adults and children, including The Hummingbirds’ Gift, The Hawk’s Way, the National Book Award finalist The Soul of an Octopus, and most recently, Of Time and Turtles, which was a New York Times bestseller. The recipient of numerous honors, including lifetime achievement awards from the Humane Society and the New England Booksellers Association, she lives in New Hampshire with her husband, writer Howard Mansfield, and a border collie.