Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: A fascinating read, with a humorous and quirky "sex advice column" approach. Who knew the many various ways in which we reproduce? And you though human sex could get wild! Research on the topic of sex is delivered in a very easy-to-read format that'll have you very entertained even as your eyes are opened to the ideas of incest being okay in some species, more than two genders, the rarity of monogamy, the evolutionary arguments of homosexuality, and many more. Sure, you might know that the lady praying mantis tries to dine on her lover in the act, but did you know why? Do you know how common it is to engage in self-pleasure? Or when it's in a male's best interests to masquerade as a female? Pick up the book and find out; you won't be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: never mind the cloth, feel the width
Review: A fine read on evolutionary biology.
That Judson has used the macro mechanics of sex to both illustrate some of the more current hows of the theory of natural selection and to give rein to a delightful style is the reader's jackpot.
For those whose interest is awakened by the chapters in agony aunt style, the detailed Notes are a gratifying bonus.
The index is better than most in popular science writing these days and I hope that enough readers still in the dismal creationist camp are at least stimulated to follow up on the clearly outlined evolutionary lines of inquiry.
If just one creationist realises there is more to biology than slick biblical revisionism, Judson has done good work indeed.
Rating: 
Summary: A carnal carnival of animals
Review: Birds do it. Bees do it. But exactly *how* do they do it? Every which way! And evolutionary biologist Olivia Judson is here, in the person of Dr. Tatiana, agony columnist to the biosphere, to print their epistolary pleas for amatory advice, and to answer all their questions - and ours. Let her count the ways.Judson's humor is not quite as sparkling as she takes it to be. But that's all right, because she doesn't lay it on too thick, being too eager to get down to what she really likes to talk about: the dazzling variety of behaviors, strategems, perils and contortions to be found in the universal mating game. And let's not kid ourselves, that's what her readers also really want to get down to. From the Asian stick insect who stretches one copulation out for months at a time, to the fruit fly only five percent as long as one of his own sperm, to the slime mold with its 500 sexes, 13 of which have to get together to make a little baby slime mold, Dr. Tatiana covers the beat and covers the bases. There's a fresh astonishment on every page. They're delivered in bite-sized two or three paged morsels, which explains why Nature magazine's generally favorable review suggests this as the perfect book for your family sittin-and-thinkin room. The fun, like the devil, is in the details, and there's a cornucopia of details, ranging across a hundred species or more. But the good Doctor manages along the way to touch on plenty of possible generalizations, evolutionary conundrums and controversies and imponderables. For example, she thoroughly debunks the one dogma about animal sexuality that I was brought up on: Bateman's principle that sex is more costly to females, making males more promiscuous. It turns out that, for most species, the reverse is true. Judson considers what determines an individual's gender (it's not always in the chromosomes); just how much sex a species needs to stay healthy; and how the whole crazy business of mating ever could have been invented. But it's never more than a page or a half a page of pondering, before we're back at the zoo, gawking at another juicily indecent display, another cross between Ripley's believe it or not and Sally Jesse Raphael. I defy anyone not to have fun with this book, and not to come away with both more amazement at and more understanding of the natural world.
Rating:
Summary: fun but inadequate to its task
Review: First, let me state unequivocally that this is an immensely enjoyable book. Creating an alter ego, Dr, Tatiana, who's a sex advice columnist to the animal world, Olivia Judson offers numerous fascinating examples of the myriad bizarre and entertaining ways in which bugs, fish, birds, and mammals (and a few other things) procreate. The format of the book, with her answering nervous letters from various creatures, is derived from a column she wrote for The Economist in 1997 and it allows her to keep the discussion light and sometimes very funny... The humorous style allows her to explore sexual strategies like adultery, rape, murder, cannibalism, asexualism, homosexuality, etc., without getting too bogged down in their broader implications. That latter point though leads to what will be an equivocation. It seems, particularly in light of the anthropomorphism that Ms Judson utilizes, like this survey of the sexual mores of other species is ultimately intended to inform our understanding of the various practices we humans engage in. If not strictly suggested by the humanized manner in which she presents her case studies, it is certainly implicated in her conclusion: I hope that having seen the prodigious variety of sexual practices out there, you'll be more tolerant of the predilections of others. This hope is hardly justified by what has come before. Even if we grant for the nonce that Ms Judson has demonstrated that evolutionary pressures have created a wide range of reproductive strategies, a "predilection" is a mere preference for something. Assuming that evolution is sound science, animals respond to an overwhelming force of nature; they don't just pick and choose sexual behaviors because they seem like fun; only humans have this privilege. Taken at face value, Ms Judson's point might invite us to broaden our minds to the point where Jeffrey Dahmer's cannibalism may be tolerated as just another in a wide range of entirely natural sexual practices. Or rape could be accepted as just an evolutionary adaptation; indeed, evolutionary psychologists have proposed that this may be the case. If Ms Judson is trying to suggest that any behavior we can find in another species deserves our tolerance, she really ought to have made a sustained argument, rather than, in effect, just saying that this stuff happens therefore it's natural, therefore it should be tolerated. If she's not suggesting any such thing, then one wonders what the purpose of the book is. If it's just a titillating entertainment that's fine, because it is very entertaining. But if we are supposed to be able to draw any conclusions from the book, the simple fact that neither survival nor reproduction appear to offer much challenge for modern humans would seem to mitigate against the idea that aberrant behaviors are anything more than mere preferences. Factor in the unique human soul and our free will and it seems fair to ask why the exercise of personal preferences should not be subject to moral judgment. Ultimately, Ms Judson overreaches her material, but not before she's made reading the book worth our while. GRADE: B-
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Informative Reading on an Important Topic
Review: Having trouble getting your teenagers to read? They might willingly read this. They will learn a lot about a subject that is near and dear to their hearts; and perhaps they will begin to understand that, like it or not, nature has her own rules that are founded on practical considerations (reasons). They might even be encouraged to actively search for more information on the subject from legitimate sources (e.g., a visit to a library). Reading other people's reviews of this book, I'm reminded of how deeply ingrained the association of sex and morality is in at least the American mind. I think Ms. Judson's intents were to inform and to entertain on a subject that is of central importance to humans as part of all creation (many of us seem to forget we are part of nature), and about which people don't seem to know very much (relative to how important it is). She may also have wanted us to get a feel for how little we really know. She succeeded in all 3 points, in my opinion. I do not believe her intent was to even hint that what's normal for other critters is right for humans (refer to my first paragraph; the "reasons" must apply). I also don't believe she intended for her work to be used in making moral judgements. (Is anyone qualified to judge nature's morality?) The mixture of American English and English English is...um...curious.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: I love this book. It was interesting and seemingly well researched. The format, an advice columnm to a myriad of species, is gimmicky, but it is cute and it keeps the discussion moving forward.
The author commendably distinguishes issues of science which are well decided and those which aren't. And when she's offers her own opinion, she makes that clear.
Rating:
Summary: The time has come, the Doctor said, to talk of many things
Review: It is not often that I give the same book to friends regardless of their general interest in biology. I have been doling this one out left and right for months now.
Written as a series of sex advice columns to various distressed or confused non-human creatures, Judson's tone is light but her research is extensive. If you're wondering whether such a humorous, light-hearted book can be scientifically accurate, wonder no more. Olivia Judson (through her alter ego, Dr. Tatiana) shows it can be done. This is easily one of my favorite books of recent years.
Judson's motivation in assembling such a volume, or at least my interpretation of it, is both a desire to expound on the diversity of bizarre sexual practices in the (animal) world and to foster some tolerance in her human audience. If you feel either intolerant or squeamish when it comes to the sometimes messy, sometimes violent practices surrounding reproduction, then this book --newly out in paperback -- may not be your ideal summer read. Having said that, I have yet to encounter a negative reaction to the book's content among my friends, who have devoured the book with an enthusiasm similar to mine. Dr. Tatiana does not glorify or endorse any particular reproductive strategy; she simply documents the truly astonishing diversity of practices and seeks to explain them from an evolutionary perspective. She'll make you look at the world in a different way, and that's a rare quality in such an easy to read book.
Write again soon, Dr. Tatiana!
Rating:
Summary: The time has come, the Doctor said, to talk of many things
Review: It is not often that I give the same book to friends regardless of their general interest in biology. I have been doling this one out left and right for months now.
Written as a series of sex advice columns to various distressed or confused non-human creatures, Judson's tone is light but her research is extensive. If you're wondering whether such a humorous, light-hearted book can be scientifically accurate, wonder no more. Olivia Judson (through her alter ego, Dr. Tatiana) shows it can be done. This is easily one of my favorite books of recent years.
Judson's motivation in assembling such a volume, or at least my interpretation of it, is both a desire to expound on the diversity of bizarre sexual practices in the (animal) world and to foster some tolerance in her human audience. If you feel either intolerant or squeamish when it comes to the sometimes messy, sometimes violent practices surrounding reproduction, then this book --newly out in paperback -- may not be your ideal summer read. Having said that, I have yet to encounter a negative reaction to the book's content among my friends, who have devoured the book with an enthusiasm similar to mine. Dr. Tatiana does not glorify or endorse any particular reproductive strategy; she simply documents the truly astonishing diversity of practices and seeks to explain them from an evolutionary perspective. She'll make you look at the world in a different way, and that's a rare quality in such an easy to read book.
Write again soon, Dr. Tatiana!
Rating:
Summary: Fun, learned a lot, made me think
Review: My thoughts about this book are best served by examples:
1. the newly matured male elephant is sexually frustrated for 20 years. Why? Because the females prefer the older males and because elephants apparently keep growing as they age, the older guys are bigger. So I didn't have it that bad after all when I was young; at least my period of frustration didn't last for 20 years!
2. Human females prefer males who have differing Major Histocompatibility Complexes from their own. How can they tell this? By whether the guy's odor is pleasing to them or not. And furthermore, being on the birth control pill abolishes the female's ability to sniff out the right guy! (Hey, the book mentions our species, too!)
3. The male sponge louse disguises himself as a female, so he can get past the husband and possess his wife. And we call them dumb animals and smugly believe we are so smart!
4. When a new male lion takes over the harem of an older male lion, he kills all the previous owner's cubs, which brings all the females back into heat! Now I realize why all those women desire those mafia hit men. Women say they like nice guys, but it's the really bad, power hungry guys who turn them on.
5. Why does the female praying mantis try to bite off her lover's head? Get this! Because then he performs wilder sex. Well, that explains why sex with femmes fatale is so much more ecstatic - we guys lose our heads with them. For some reason evolution is doing this stuff to us humans also.
6. Dolphins copulate with turtles, sharks, and eels as well as with their own kind. I must say, that loveable dolphin is much less inhibited than we are. We even have a hard time accepting homosexual and interracial sex.
I could go on with fascinating, thought provoking examples from this book. I feel this book achieved its goal as expressed in the final paragraph, that is, to put my problems in perspective and to be more tolerant for the predilections of others. And it helped me appreciate more fully the awesome power of genetic evolution and for example, how it causes the battle of the sexes - even in humans, I think.
The only weakness I found was in some of the theoretical discussions, like how can homosexuality be as prevalent as it is, when homosexual sex does not cause reproduction. Or, why is there sex in the first place? These were difficult to follow.
Rating:
Summary: Fun, learned a lot, made me think
Review: My thoughts about this book are best served by examples:
1. the newly matured male elephant is sexually frustrated for 20 years. Why? Because the females prefer the older males and because elephants apparently keep growing as they age, the older guys are bigger. So I didn't have it that bad after all when I was young; at least my period of frustration didn't last for 20 years!
2. Human females prefer males who have differing Major Histocompatibility Complexes from their own. How can they tell this? By whether the guy's odor is pleasing to them or not. And furthermore, being on the birth control pill abolishes the female's ability to sniff out the right guy! (Hey, the book mentions our species, too!)
3. The male sponge louse disguises himself as a female, so he can get past the husband and possess his wife. And we call them dumb animals and smugly believe we are so smart!
4. When a new male lion takes over the harem of an older male lion, he kills all the previous owner's cubs, which brings all the females back into heat! Now I realize why all those women desire those mafia hit men. Women say they like nice guys, but it's the really bad, power hungry guys who turn them on.
5. Why does the female praying mantis try to bite off her lover's head? Get this! Because then he performs wilder sex. Well, that explains why sex with femmes fatale is so much more ecstatic - we guys lose our heads with them. For some reason evolution is doing this stuff to us humans also.
6. Dolphins copulate with turtles, sharks, and eels as well as with their own kind. I must say, that loveable dolphin is much less inhibited than we are. We even have a hard time accepting homosexual and interracial sex.
I could go on with fascinating, thought provoking examples from this book. I feel this book achieved its goal as expressed in the final paragraph, that is, to put my problems in perspective and to be more tolerant for the predilections of others. And it helped me appreciate more fully the awesome power of genetic evolution and for example, how it causes the battle of the sexes - even in humans, I think.
The only weakness I found was in some of the theoretical discussions, like how can homosexuality be as prevalent as it is, when homosexual sex does not cause reproduction. Or, why is there sex in the first place? These were difficult to follow.
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