Customer Reviews

Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(62)
3 star:		(45)
2 star:		(37)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

"Why Do Men Have Nipples?" was big fun. I have to admit having had some of the sillier questions take up space in my head for years. You aren't going to find answers to life or definitive information on the origin of the universe here, just some of the more interesting facts we can't live without. This book had me laughing out loud, sometimes at the questions, sometimes because the question was ever asked in the first place. I am proud to say I already knew why your teeth chatter in the cold or with a fever (body trying to warm up) and sucking the poison from a snake bite wasn't such a good idea. I didn't know the average desk in the average workplace could kill you with the amount of germs and bacteria outnumbering those on the toilet seat. Think hand sanitizer for stocking stuffers this year!! There are hundreds more interesting and sometimes strange facts I didn't know but the team of Goldberg and Leyner has now educated me to the level of expert. I am not sure if that's something to be proud of or not but I laughed and laughed hard while reading "Why Do Men Have Nipples?" and I suggest it to anyone who might be tempted to accost a doctor outside of his office for answers to some of the more pressing questions you have about the human body. Recommended highly!

A great book. In somewhat of a twist, it was actually one of my patients that recommended this book to me. As a physician practicing almost 25 years, I've heard a lot of these strange but interesting questions before--"Can my contact lens get stuck behind my eye?"--but others I've never met anyone with the gall to ask ("How do people in wheelchairs have sex?").

It's an interesting premise: there's tons of things people would like to know, but are too afraid to ask. Well, all of these questions are easily answered by a knowledgable person with a little medical experience. But it's the funny, fast-paced format of Leyner that makes this book a success. This is a terrific bookeasy to read, and if you still have questions, give me or your doctor a call.

This is a great coffee table book. In fact, perhaps doctors can put one in their waiting rooms. This book reminds me of Joel Achenbach's two "Why Things Are" books, which contains basically the same type of questions, except on more topics. If you like irrelevant factoids, check them out as well.

I knew why men have nipples before I read this book. Because we're all female for the first six weeks after conception until the male hormones kick in. Yes, macho men, the default human is female. But I can never resist the kind of book in which there are questions we'd like the answers to and answers.

Ah, but this book is a little different. First, some of the questions are given equivocal answers, which is to be expected, since most of what there is to know isn't known. Some of the questions, like "Will using a cell phone give you a brain tumor?" or "Is it true that left-handed people are smarter than right-handed people?" aren't answered at all. Leyner, who is a writer, and Goldberg, who is an MD, have a way of going around the question. I got the feeling that the extent of their research didn't go much past the Internet--which might raise the question, how did this book ever become a best seller and inspire a sequel? The answer, my friend, is in the comedy.

Leyner and Goldberg are a comedy team. While the bulk of the book is in the Qs and As, a good part consists of some hijinks at a cocktail party (thus the three martinis, although Leyner is mostly into Don Julio tequila). A third part seems to be lifted verbatim from their emails to each other.

Part of the fun are those emails because they seem to give the reader a realistic glimpse into the cooperative creative process. It is also kind of fun to read what a doctor writes when he lets his hair down, so to speak, or at least takes off the white coat. However all of this is carefully staged. This is one of those "best seller" ideas that actually worked. These guys trade raunchy humor spiked with some information and lo and behold it works.

Well, it semi-works. I liked the book and read it through in a setting, but some of the humor may be a little too raunchy for some.

Bottom line: diverting enough for a rainy day or for that cross country flight, or if you need a break from War and Peace.

Ever since I turned 40, I have had cause to wonder about a number of new physical issues that seem to be cropping up for me...not to mention hairier ears! Thank goodness for Leyner and Goldberg, who seem to understand all of those nagging little (or sometimes not so little) issues that bring consternation to so many of us "at this age."

They manage to give good, solid information while at the same time making that information interesting, relevant, understandable, and--at times--hilariously funny. Let's face it, the human body is often a funny thing. It certainly does funny things. When it's not doing scary things, that is! While the book is a bit random in some of the questions and issues that it raises, the truth is that our minds and our concerns are sometimes random also.

And, while it is very well-written and might even make you laugh out loud, it could actually save your life--or at least improve your health. Great job!

Did you know that holding back a sneeze can potentially cause damage to the eyes and ears? Do you realize that the common cold cannot be caught due to cold weather or being wet, like the old wives' tale states? Did you know that beer and liquor, regardless of the order consumed, will have the same affect on the body? If these and other questions fascinate you, then you might find some interesting reading in "Why Do Men Have Nipples", a book with facts about the human body combined with some attempted humor from its two authors.

This book is at its best when it is providing answers to some of life's puzzling questions. Some of these questions and answers will be old news to the majority of readers, like the fact that catching a cold requires contracting the virus from someone else and has nothing to do with the actual feeling of cold. Other questions and answers are just as obvious and they won't provide any new learning material. On the other hand, there are a good number of questions and answers in this guide that involve topics I had never really though about in the past. An example is the fact that a woman's natural milk has been found, in some studies, to cure warts. Another example is the scientific explanation behind the causes of bags under the eyes. These, and other facts like them, are usually explained very well with medical sources to back them up.

Now, let's talk about this book's negative points, because there are several worth mentioning. First of all, the humor used in this book is lame and it isn't likely to amuse most readers. To give you an example, after talking about the chemical composition of snot and boogers, the authors provide some recipes that explain how to make homemade snot. Also, some of the explanations to the different questions end in a lame punch line- often the type that would only cause a chuckle or two in an eighth- grade locker room.

Another thing I don't like about this book is the "story" that begins each chapter, with a scenario involving guests at a party and the events that unfold. This was silly, and I don't know why it wasn't edited out because it adds nothing of value to the book. I also didn't like the inclusion of the scripts from (what appears to be) an on- line chat session. These appear several times throughout the book and they show the time of day, the author's name, and what he said as the two men (authors) chat back and forth. What they say often makes no sense and it isn't funny either. Again, something like this should have met its death at the hands of a good editor.

With the answers to the questions, the authors are careful to cite sources on some of them and to point out when no definite answer has been found. With other answers, there is a statement made that seems like it is factual, but there is no source cited. There is no list of sources in the back of the book either. It would have been better and made the book more credible if it included a list of sources in the back. It would make the explanations more convincing.

I appreciate the medical facts presented in this book and I can see how this type of reading material could prove to be interesting. I also like the fact that the book directly states when an answer isn't really known to be true or untrue (it will say "not enough scientific evidence exists to confirm this" or something to that affect). But the humor in this book is lame, and it even starts to get irritating after a while. Don't get me wrong- bathroom style humor can be fun and entertaining if presented and stated the right way. But this book doesn't do that and the humor it uses had me rolling my eyes more frequently than it had me laughing.

Overall, this is a decent enough book if you like to discover trivial information about some well- known and lesser- known facts about the human body. It would have been better if it had stuck to the facts and avoided trying to be funny. If you read it, my advice is to skip the chapter introductions and the chat room scripts. They have nothing of value to offer and they will frustrate more than anything.

This book is hilarious! I can't recommend this enough. The questions that everyone asks, but no one answers. Just make sure you're not drinking milk while reading, or you'll be seeing one of the authors soon enough. . .

This book is like a comedy movie that only has enough humor to make a preview. You go to the movie thinking it's going to be a riot, but the only funny parts were those in the preview. Why do men have nipples? It's an intriguing question and makes you think you're going to learn all sorts of trivia and interesting facts about human anatomy. WARNING: If you made a C or better in biology there's nothing earth shattering in this book. If you ever took a human anatomy class, you could've written this book. I got the CD to entertain me on a road trip. It was a big fat waste of time and money.

I found this book to be humorous and informative. I read the entire book in one day. It is very easy to read and has a comic twist at the end of each answer. I liked the format of the book...question and then answer. I did skip some parts, for example conversations that happened between the doctor and the author. I would recommed this book to anyone with a sense of humor!

I suppose I was one of a handful of people who actually expected this book to be a bit more serious and informative than it was. Perhaps the title should have tipped me off, but alas - it didn't.

For Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg, actually answering the questions listed in the table of contents seemed to take a backseat to filling the book with lots of pages of witty 'chat transcripts' (over 35 pages, to be precise), brainless jokes and useless lists.

Many of the questions are left unanswered entirely, with a paragraph of dirty jokes and clever puns replacing actual medical facts. Of course, this is covered up by the phrase, 'scientists don't yet know the cause of this,' followed by another tiresome joke. If you don't know, why even bother putting the question in the book in the first place?

While the book is mildly entertaining and does answer a few of the questions *somewhat* professionally, I was disappointed overall. I'm sorry, I guess I just expected a bit more for my money.