Who doesn't find octopodes intriguing? I was excited to start reading this book so I would learn more about the skills of these fascinating animals. If the focus is on their cognitive and "psychological" properties - even better.

Unfortunately, the books didn't do much for me. Besides some interesting stories and anecdotes about, well, octopodes, there are VERY long passages about diving trips, the aquarium the author visited to research, and things like the author's diving instructor's childhood, and an aquarium employee's wife's medical history. Sure, these things may be mildly interesting and have surely contributed to the author's experience - to me, in this book, they were completely unnecessary; I even found myself skipping paragraphs and pages out of boredom.

Also, if I'd had to read ONE MORE description of what it feels like when an octopus touches your arm with its tentacles, I would have cried. This must come up twenty times in the book - I'm sure it is fascinating and life-changing, but I really don't need to read about it so often.

All in all, another example of an interesting topic where a non-fiction book unfortunately didn't catch me. A magazine article would have sufficed.