10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Where many fear to tread, September 28, 2004
This review is from: I Can't Believe You Asked That!: The Ultimate Q&A about Race, Sex, Religion, and Other Terrifying Topics (Paperback)
On every page I found myself amazed by what people asked and how they answered. This book is sure to generate conversation, gasps, shock, cheers, and outrage. I have a copy on my coffee table, and it has started more conversations than practically anything else I've read.
Get copies for everyone you know.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An adult treatment of delicate subjects and taboos, June 16, 2005
This review is from: I Can't Believe You Asked That!: The Ultimate Q&A about Race, Sex, Religion, and Other Terrifying Topics (Paperback)
I call these sorts of books, "bon-bon books" because like a box of chocolates I find myself reading one piece and then another until pretty soon I find that I've read the whole darn thing!
This is a collection of questions and answers about delicate subjects from Milano's website, "Y? The National Forum on People's Differences." Some of this is a little too delicate for an Amazon review, but let me give it a try.
Do women (pass gas)? Replies range from "Of course..." (dodo brain) to "men tend to pass a higher volume of gas than women--about 120 cc (cubic centimeters) per passage to just 90 cc for women" while "women have a higher concentration of the dreaded hydrogen sulfide in their outbursts, which makes their odor intensity greater." So now you know. (But unmentioned is the inflammatory test beloved by adolescents with cigarette lighters...)
"Why do Christian networks and shows feature people with really big hair and lots of makeup and gaudy, overdecorated sets?" I always wondered that myself. According to one guy ("MIKE, 42, Humanist gay male), the target audience seems to be "trailer park trash" from the Bible Belt "where big hair and tons of makeup seem to never go out of style." Professor Anson Shupe from Indiana University adds that the Trinity Broadcasting Network, etc. have "done their polls and market research, and they know what sells" and "The big hair and ornate sets have a certain appeal to these televangelists' biggest audience segment: lower-middle-class, middle-aged females."
One more: "Is it true that when women are together they talk in much more graphic, detailed and intimate terms about sex and their sexual partners than men do?" Answer: it depend on who you ask, but according to Milano's expert, Aline Zoldbrod, "I think men like to imagine women having all these intimate discussions about their sexual relationships, but women are as private as men." Hmm. Another truism of my youth blown to smithereens.
The book is divided into nine chapters from "COLOR-BLIND: Race and Ethnicity" to "ON THE JOB: Work." Within the chapters are sections headed by a question, followed by some answers from people who responded on the website (e.g., "DEBBIE K., 29, married female"), concluded with what Milano calls a "Y?Check" in which he cites an authority or two on the subject at hand (or in hand, as the case may be). Tacked on to the end of the chapters are some questions they are working on, with no answers yet.
And, yes, SIZE does matter. (But you knew that.)
Bottom line: adult, levelheaded and informative, mostly PC, but not overly so with some chuckles and some surprises.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gotta love the honest approach to tolerance!, November 9, 2004
This review is from: I Can't Believe You Asked That!: The Ultimate Q&A about Race, Sex, Religion, and Other Terrifying Topics (Paperback)
I enjoyed reading this book. It is obvious that the author has selected the most sincere questions and responses from what must be a great collection of sticky material. Some topics are amusing, some heartbreaking, but all of them are honest.
Adding the opinion of experts on each topic provides a great summary, while still allowing the reader to ponder the question and arrive at his own conclusion, or at least arrive at a better understanding about persons different from himself.
We need this book, if for nothing else, than to open our minds to understanding, tolerance and acceptance.
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