Soul of an Octopus : A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

Finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction • New York Times Bestseller • A Huffington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year • Library Journal Best Sci-Tech Book of the Year • An American Library Association Notable Book of the Year

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 animals' color-changing techniques. Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this remarkable mollusk as she tells a unique love story, exploring the emotional and physical world of the octopus—a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature—and the remarkable connections it makes with humans.

By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, this fascinating book reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds.