Rating: 
Summary: So good that it will gratifyingly enrage its opponents
Review: I read some of the earlier reviews before starting this one, and was hugely amused by the standard and tone of the negative ones. Personally I find the book most impressive and most enjoyable. The unfavourable critics seemed to think that it claimed to be flawless, ex cathedra dogmatism, whereas it actually is light in touch, relaxed and balanced. Some very sacred cows seem to be getting gored among the fundamentalistically politically correct anti-sociobiolists.Pardon my sniggers. On the other hand the book must have taken a vast amount of work to research and write. It covers a great deal of ground and integrates it very well. It does not make great demands of the reader's erudition, but requires a bit of basic intelligence, common sense if you like, in balancing all the varied threads of evidence and argument. There is a great deal of substance, you see, and not all the arguments deal with hard fact as opposed to intelligent handling of qualitative observations of complex systems, namely humans. Also, there are wide ranges of opinions to balance and discuss, and, juggle the themes as he will, Wright cannot spoon-feed every reader who wants to see his own pet opinions emerge as confirmed and predigested pabulum. You needn't be a biologist to enjoy it, but if you are not prepared to contribute your own thinking, do not read this book; otherwise I give it high marks for entertainment, substance and interest. An undoubted classic.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent: Backed by scientific evidence and an easy read
Review: Author did a superb job of providing good scientific backing for his findings but, at the same time, made this an easy, even humourus read for the layman.
Rating: 
Summary: great, but problematic
Review: This book is a throrough introduction to a very interesting and relatively new field of social science. However, it is not, repeat NOT, as good as some people are saying. It is true that it is full of stretches of logic and combinations of wild theories and speculations. It is also true that it scares me to think that people are taking this book literally, like some sort of bible. It is an introduction to the ideas of a new field, it is not a compendium of knowledge. There is little, if anything, even close to "proven" in this book, if such a things ever can be proven. However, it is incredibly thought-provoking, and I do think these ideas have a strong place in any social scientist's intellectual toolkit. No one should see this as the one and only, final theory that "finally gets it," especially if they find themselves feeling that it validates ideas they have already had for some time. Emotions shouldn't get much involved in these sorts of things, and I don't think I need to say why ("Nazi" has already been mentioned here). My view is simply that this book and the theoretical approaches it represents are an important milestone in our never-ending attempts to learn about ourselves and "why we are the way we are." I advise everyone to read this book, with an open mind, and with the intention of gaining an addition, rather than a replacement, to older theories.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Exposition on Contemporary Behavior
Review: If you're interested in searching for the meaning of human behavior as it relates to all facets of relationships or in obtaining a greater understanding of why we as a species think and interact the way that we do,then your search is over. Mr.Wright,as a Darwinian,brilliantly explains his concepts in a humorous and secular fashion for those whose intellect may find his proposition a bit disturbing. A definite must read for everyone of all ages,creeds and beliefs.
Rating: 
Summary: A good place for creationist to attack
Review: The so called science of evolutionary psychology has dismayed many psychologists like myself. I find the work to be poor scientific reasoning and often just helps to prove old sterotypes. When my father, who has a 2nd grade education, told me that evrything that he ever thought about women was correct and validated by science, I became sick. My father thinks that beating his daughters into submission is the way to react to them and telling his girls not to think is the way to get them a man. (By the way he is also a Nazi sympathizer). He even was validated by using the term "whore" for his three daughters. Evolutionary psychology reinforces his need to be powerfull or seem powerfull. He does not believe in evolution itself but this book is something he loves,covets and points out to his male buddies. Evolutionary psychology needs to own up to it's responsibility and say that this is all speculation instead of fact. I found old reviews of E.O. Wilson's book Sociobiology that were very harsh. Wilson said that his feelings were hurt but today their are no harsh reviews for Wrights work and nobody who will point out that their is a parallel with social darwinism and this work. Don't think that evrything you read is correct. Be a skeptic. This is a great place for creationist to attack and win.
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Summary: It's all about Sex and Money
Review: This book is awesome. Dispense with theology and college philosophy. The answers lie here.
Rating:
Summary: Have our morals been shaped by evolution?
Review: Among believers in evolution, there is little doubt that -say- the shape of our thumbs has been determined by selection pressure: the best grasper, climber or spear-thrower survived, procreated, and passed on his or her dextrous advantage. There has been little examination of how selection pressure might have affected our moral sense, although it is difficult to find any explanation of how it could NOT have done so. Robert Wright considers just that question, although it can be posed in hundreds of ways: is there a biological (or genetic) basis for the male/female "double standard;" why do we exhibit altruism; whoever made up that whole "whore/madonna" thing (hint - it goes further than just a Victorian-era convention); why do we bitterly remember a double-cross, while silently vowing revenge? Wright uses Charles Darwin's passage through life, from ambitious young scientist to respected patriarch, as a framework for his study. It is well-written and engaging, and at least for me, rang very true to life. Several times I found myself reading descriptions of the primitive basis for male adolescent behaviour, and was sure that Mr Wright had observed (and interviewed) my college buddies. The book is thought provoking and insightful, while providing a view inside a new science.
Rating:
Summary: Superb, but balanced introduction to evolutionary psychology
Review: This is a wonderful, well written book. Excellent explanation of the role of natural selection in behavior. Very balanced, unlike some sociobiology or evolutionary psychology texts I just used the book as reading in a course on evolutionary theory. The students loved it and could follow the arguments well. I highly recommend the book as an introduction. It is a good read. Despite what some reviewers said, Wright really understands the neo-Darwinian theory well and correctly.
Rating:
Summary: Wright leads Darwinism into the 21st Century.
Review: Wright sheds light not only on Darwin's achievement but also on the environment which shaped him as the moral animal he was. He heralds evolutionary psycholgy as a major field of study and presents his ideas with courage and clarity, showing that free will does not belong to the world of the spirit or the soul but is to be found when intelligence and self-awareness have understood our biological inheritance and sought to override it. A coherent and fascinating study, each sentence packed with meat and a welcome addition to anybody seeking to discover both more about Charles Darwin the man and his wonderful and irrefutable theory. Rational, intelligent and gripping.
Rating:
Summary: It's a good book, but there are better ones in the field.
Review: This was the book that introduced me to Evolutionary Psychology several years ago. Since then, I have read The Anatomy of Love by Helen Fisher (which got the highest possible recommendation from the U of Chicago Feminist Majority Book Review - they called it "just plain wrong"), The Evolution of Desire by David Buss, Chimpanzee Politics, Peacemaking among Primates and Good Natured by Franz de Waal and The Adapted Mind, edited by Jerome Barkow, Leda Cosmides and James Tooby. Of these, I would rate The Adapted Mind as a better (but much more technical) introduction to Evolutionary Psychology, The Evolution of Desire as the most interesting, and Good Natured as the least depressing. Unlike Wright, the other authors have done a lot of original research and their books are cited in Wright's book. Furthermore, Wright's and Fisher's books seem the least straightforward and worst organized of the lot. One more point, if you're looking to uplift your spirits and improve your self-esteem, stay away from these books in general and Wright's book in particular. De Waal said that a fundamental thesis of Wright's book was that we are "all hypocrites in constant denial of our thoroughly selfish nature," and both Wright and de Waal are probably correct. Then again, this level of inwardly directed cynicism is something that we all could stand to develop.
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