Graphic, no-nonsense scenarios of human sexual behavior, and evolutionary biology as the framework for interpreting who did what to whom in a given scenario, are the hallmark of this extraordinary work by Univ. of Manchester (England) biologist Baker. His thesis? That humans, no more or less than other animals, are driven by biological forces to ensure their genetic survival. Males need to ensure it is their genes that inseminate; females that they get impregnated by the best genes available. Does that sound like sexual warfare? Game theory? You bet. Baker's credentials are based on lifelong animal research combined with studies of 100 English couples willing to be interviewed and observed in the act. In a nutshell, Baker opines that women are masters at concealing their fertility, men at promoting sperm warfare. The latter relates to evidence that in the face of deposits of sperm from two or more partners in a women's genital tract, there is competition in which one contender's sperm ``blockers'' and ``killers'' try to outdo the other's to succeed in fertilizing the ovum. In 37 fictional scenarios of sexual activity Baker plays out variations on this theme from routine marital sex to homosexuality, group sex, wife-battering, and marital rape, and lifelong monogamy—coming to startling conclusions that infidelity, masturbation, bisexuality, even rape may pay off in the survival- of-the-fittest-genes game. Baker is well aware that he has written a controversial book that will inflame many readers. To his credit, his sexual scenarios are coolly descriptive rather than prurient, as are informative passages on anatomy, the menstrual cycle, and other aspects of physiology. All the same, in reducing complex human behavior to biological urges, he omits emotional motivations and forces. To the question, ``What has love got to do with it?'' Baker would say, ``Not much.'' Expect fireworks and rebuttals, but also serious consideration for the ideas expressed by someone bold enough to open the bedroom door.
Pub Date: Oct. 23, 1996
ISBN: 0-465-08179-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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