Author Claire Cameron has a new book out entitled THE LAST NEANDERTHAL, in which her primary character is a member of that alternate species of human. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my list. When I finish it I’ll give you all a review, but as my stack of books to be read reaches all the way to the ceiling in my bedroom, that may be a while. Ms. Cameron was asked about the research she did in order to prepare to get inside the head of a Neanderthal, and she provided a handy list for anyone who would like to know more about these mysterious distant relatives of ours. Allow me to encapsulate, and then I will offer a few suggestions of my own to add to the list.
First, Ms. Cameron recommends THE NEANDERTHALS REDISCOVERED by Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse; HOW TO THINK LIKE A NEANDERTHAL by Thomas Wynn and Frederick L. Coolidge; NEANDERTHAL MAN: IN SEARCH OF LOST GENOMES by Svante Pääbo; MASTERS OF THE PLANET by Ian Tattersall; SEVEN SKELETONS by Lydia Pyne; SAPIENS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND by Yuval Noah Harari; and CAFÉ NEANDERTHAL by Beebe Bahrami. Now, might I suggest supplementing all that Science with a little escapist Fiction or speculation? Try NEANDERTHAL by John Darnton; SOMETHING HIDDEN BEHIND THE RANGES by Daniel Taylor-Ide; GRENDEL by John Gardner (a retelling of BEOWULF from the Monster’s point of view, and a beautiful, haunting novel); and Lyle Blackburne’s THE BEAST OF BOGGY CREEK. Read all them books an’ you’ll be an educated feller where Bigfoots an’ Yetis an’ Neanderthals is concerned, sure nuff!
