A Simian Tale

If you like reading autobiographies and stories about the Golden Age of Hollywood, then I can thoroughly recommend Me Cheeta, ostensibly the autobiography of the chimpanzee who starred alongside Johnny Weissmuller in the Tarzan fims of the 1930s and 1940s.

 

Mind you, this is a scabrous autobiography, as Cheeta lifts the lid on the sleaze behind the silver screen. I don’t think I’ve been as appalled, or laughed as loud, since I read Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon.

 

Me Cheeta is a brilliant piece of writing by his handler, James Lever. A must-read. But don’t just take my word for it; here’s Nicholas Lezard in the Guardian Review.