The best-selling author of Stiff turns her outrageous curiosity and infectious wit on the most alluring scientific subject of all: sex. The study of sexual physiology--what happens, and why, and how to make it happen better--has been a paying career or a diverting sideline for scientists as far-ranging as Leonardo da Vinci and James Watson. The research has taken place behind the closed doors of laboratories, brothels, MRI centers, pig farms, sex-toy R&D labs, and Alfred Kinsey's attic. Mary Roach, "the funniest science writer in the country" (Burkhard Bilger of The New Yorker), devoted the past two years to stepping behind those doors. Can a person think herself to orgasm? Can a dead man get an erection? Is vaginal orgasm a myth? Why doesn't Viagra help women--or, for that matter, pandas? In Bonk, Roach shows us how and why sexual arousal and orgasm, two of the most complex, delightful, and amazing scientific phenomena on earth, can be so hard to achieve and what science is doing to slowly make the bedroom a more satisfying place. 16 illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Didn't learn this in biology class!:
Sex has always had its humorous aspects for me, and I'm very happy to learn that Mary Roach has the same feeling. This book really covers many facets of sex and sexuality, but it does it with as funny twist, which takes it out of the realm of the pornographic and puts it into perspective as a scientific study (even though some of the "science" is a bit suspect). The casual reader will probably learn a lot of things about sex that he or she didn't know, and that he or she could have lived a long and happy... more info
Bonk:
Another Mary Roach classic: everthing you wanted to know about sex, but did not have a clue to ask!
Prepare to laugh:
I had read "Stiff" and loved it. Not a lot of writers get me laughing out loud, Ms Roach does, consistently. She does find the absurd in human expectations and endeavors, but also enlightens. I did learn I am unable to find any humor in a reference to a six year old boy being killed ("beaned" as the author puts it) by an oxygen tank during an MRI, and wished she'd seriously assaulted the tiger penis and rhino horn use thinking of ancient Chinese medicine, since the practice continues today. But I recognize... more info
disappointing and a waste of time:
I rarely write reviews, but felt so utterly annoyed with this book that I had to share my experience with others in the hopes of saving someone else hours of wasted time. I am in the medical field, so I did not expect to learn anything about the anatomy or physiology of sex. What I did hope to get out of reading this book was some entertainment, and the book failed to deliver on that. The author seems to insert random anecdotes throughout each chapter. There's not much organization or structure to... more info
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