Will Cuppy's Humorous Guide to Distinguishing Friends from Apes

Will Cuppy's book "Comment reconnaître un ami d'un grand singe" (How to Tell a Friend from a Great Ape) was published by Anatolia/Éd. du Rocher. The author notes the book nearly had alternative titles such as "Éléments de physiologie comparative" or "Comment Dante est devenu le serre-livres le plus célèbre," but settled on the current title for its revealing nature. Cuppy, a founding member of The New Yorker, offers humorous insights into distinguishing between "perfectly undrinkable birds" like the rooster and the great bustard, and "birds one could do without" such as the babbler and the flycatcher. He poses the fundamental question: "Why be a rhinoceros?" P. G. Wodehouse admired Cuppy's remark about Pekingese dogs: "I don't really see why they look so pleased with themselves. They are no better than us." Cuppy also comments on platypuses: "We don't know much about their sex life, but that's already more than enough." He recalls that among the Egyptians, the baboon referred to Thoth, "god of literary criticism," possibly due to its callosities from prolonged sitting. The book was reviewed by Fabrice Hadjadj.