The Study of Animal Languages

DEBUT Things aren't going well for Ivan Link and his wife, Prue, who teach at a Rhode Island university. Ivan is an uptight philosophy professor whose obsession with logic almost rivals that of Star Trek's Mr. Spock. Young and vivacious, Prue is gaining acclaim for her research in biolinguistics, the study of the biology and evolution of language, and her career is beginning to eclipse Ivan's. To complicate matters, Prue's unstable father, Frank, comes to visit, and he's not taking his prescribed meds. When Prue gives a lecture proposing that the birds she studies might actually have their own language, it sets off a wave of controversy, and Frank is turning into a noisy animal-rights activist who soon gets into trouble, too. Meanwhile, Ivan's worry that Prue is interested in a visiting professor triggers his own midlife crisis. Can this marriage be saved?