Man in a Cage: A Novel

Man in a Cage dramatizes the true story of American naturalist Richard Garner's journey to West Africa in 1892. Garner makes his home in a cage deep in an African forest to learn the language of chimpanzees. Populated by bureaucrats, hunters, missionaries, and the indigenous peoples whose lands and lives they have intruded upon, Man in a Cage evokes life on the ground during the Scramble for Africa.

"In Man in a Cage, Patrick Nevins fictionalizes the life of American primatologist Richard Garner, whose desire to understand chimpanzee speech sends him on a quest fueled by ego, pride, and the need for validation. Inside a rough-hewn cage of his own making, he studies the animals and dreams of contributing to the scientific record. But with financial support dwindling and no phonograph to record the chimps, will anyone believe in his work? This novel is a fascinating exploration of power, ethics, and what it means to colonize—and be colonized. As his guide in the Gabon jungle tells him: 'No white man takes nothing.'"
— Sarah Layden, author of Trip Through Your Wires and The Story I Tell Myself About Myself

"Evoking rich historical details while telling a story that feels urgently contemporary, Patrick Nevins doesn't merely set Man in a Cage in the 1890's—he unflinchingly embodies the era in a way that will thrill anyone with a love for deeply immersive literature. By adopting the structure and vocal timbre of a Gilded Age novel with pitch perfection (at times it felt as though I was reading a lost manuscript from Frank Norris—or some other long-forgotten practitioner of American Naturalism) Nevins conjures a world of colonizers, profiteers, and missionaries—and the harm they've inflicted upon every living thing on this planet—proving the old adage history doesn't repeat itself, but it does indeed rhyme."
—Jeff Chon, author of ​Hashtag Good Guy with a Gun

"With meticulous attention to period detail, Man in a Cage provides an honest depiction of the racism inherent in the not too distant past, and sheds a cautionary light on the same issues, so unfortunately entrenched in our deeply flawed present. This is a sobering and important read."
—Alice Kaltman, author of Dawg Towne