Customer Reviews

The Score: How The Quest For Sex Has Shaped The Modern Man

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In one of the episodes of the TV show "Frasier", the lead character, radio psychiatrist Frasier Crane, is having a dispute with his station manager, an attractive female. As he's describing the situation to his housekeeper, Daphne, he remarks that he thinks the manager is using her charms to get what she wants. Daphne says, "Oh, come on now, Dr Crane. It's not like men have never used sex to get what they want," - to which Frasier replies, "How can we possibly USE sex to get what we want? Sex IS what we want."

That certainly rings true, but the interesting question is: why is it true? This book provides an entertaining, extremely readable, and scientifically sound look at the reasons men behave the way they do when it comes to sex. It made me smile, laugh out loud sometimes, nod in agreement often, and shake my head in wonder other times. Faye Flam, science reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and one of the best and most versatile science writers around, wrote a delightful weekly column for that paper, called "Carnal Knowledge", about the science behind sex. Here she expands on that to focus on how the quest for sex has shaped the male of the species, and when I say "shaped", I mean everything from his behavior to his physical characteristics (check her discussion of "fibroelastic" vs "vascular" male equipment for one example).

Flam, who majored in physics at Cal Tech, has written on subjects ranging from genomics to astronomy, so you'd expect her to get the science right, and she does. Based on her previous journalism, you'd also expect her to make that science understandable and fun to read, and that she does as well. The book is written in a clear, enjoyable style that brings the evolutionary biology, human physiology and psychology to life. Chapter topics range from a boot camp for would-be pickup artists to how testosterone determines the male brain and body to why men seem to be attracted to pornography. I learned about alpha males and why they don't always win the competition for sex. I learned about gay sheep. There's a great chapter about the secret life of the sperm. If you're a man you'll understand better why we are the way we are, and if you're a woman, you may realize how difficult it is to change us! Regardless, it's a great read, for the summer or any time.

If you're at all like me, "The Score" will give you new ideas about men and women and why we men are the way we are. But it may not be the book you think.

Faye Flam, a science journalist who also wrote a newspaper column on the science of sex, here surveys biology, popular culture, zoology, evolutionary psychology, theology, anthropology, neurochemistry, and more to deliver science-based insight into the human male (and females as well).

Flam writes clearly and wittily. She begins at the beginning, with the origin of sex and the sexes, and explains how evolution takes the fundamental difference between male and female (a male makes millions and millions of sperm whereas a female produces but dozens of eggs) and runs with it over eons to produce monogamous penguins, cuckolding chimpanzees, tiny parasite-like male anglerfish, 30,000 sexes of mushrooms--and us, human men and women.

"The Score" is a fun read throughout, never dry or dull, and with the possible exception of the evolutionary psychology bits, sound science too. In the end, this book could change how we think about our humanity. It's already changing the way I look at the world and my place in it.

Faye Flam has that rare talent to take something as convoluted as genetic science and make it readable. Perhaps some of the nation's textbook publishers should take note of the way she handles the topic.

Her book is proof that Flam is more than scientist, more than writer: In "The Score," she links us to other creatures, and the one drive we all share -- to procreate. Who can read her account about the sex life of the giant squid and not wonder about the power of that instinct?

Flam has a fine wit, and is not afraid to inject a bit of her own life into the book's pages. Sure, she lampoons men, but she gets a few good jabs in at her own gender, too. And what's wrong with extolling the fact that she has a mate of her own? That's as it should be. She also manages to wrap up the book the way she began it, with her visit to the seduction workshop. Facile? No. Fascinating? Yes.

The Score is high quality science book successfully masquerading as a clever, witty and completely entertaining treatment of the nuts and bolts of male sexuality. It gives an objective and balanced tour of how man-things work. Most refreshing is the way Ms. Flam just yanks the covers off of stereotypes and folk wisdom using real science while maintaining a great sense of humor and style. From the rough crowd of praying mantises and giant squids to Mister Mom, she has it covered. It will satisfy and entertain those who are interested in the facts and it will annoy the heck out of anyone who has their mind stuck in a prior century. The highest praise I can give it is that it will probably be banned in some countries. The Score is well researched and credit is freely given where it is due. I'm waiting for the sequel!

"The Score" is a science-based book that takes its topic seriously, but avoids falling into twelve-syllable jargon and "geek speak." Instead, its conversational tone feels more like an interesting chat than a pedantic lecture. A science-based book that makes you laugh while you learn can be a rare thing, but this accomplishes that -- and more.

Her descriptions of the "pickup artists' training," the explanations of "peacocking" behavior, the quirkiness of species that can change genders on a whim ... It's fascinating stuff, and presented with the authority of an expert in the enjoyable voice of an everyman (or everywoman, as the case may be).

Why do men invest huge amounts of time, money and ego showing off for women, while it seems women need do nothing more than choose? Turns out this isn't just American tradition. It's how men behave everywhere. In fact, it's how males of most species act. The pattern is so ingrained it's even found in the egg and sperm.

How things got this way is a fascinating story that Faye Flam tells with insight, clarity and humor. I enjoyed her terrific Philadelphia Inquirer column "Carnal Knowledge" for years. Now she's taken her talent for revealing how biology, psychology and culture govern our behavior and produced this terrific, readable story. It starts with the first one-cell creatures billions of years ago and follows to the logical conclusion -- a group of men spending thousands of dollars to learn the secrets of seduction.

There's plenty of science to prove the point, but you don't have to be a science buff to keep up. It's a great book for everyone. Fair warning though: if you don't believe in evolution, "The Score" might shake your beliefs.

This book is amusing to read, although it is a mixture of exact and inexact science and also includes a flair of soap: The author did a tremendous job reviewing the varieties of sexual reproduction in all kind of different species, but then sometimes confounds these reports with personal opinions, allusions to mythology, or simplistic explanations that refers to "gentics" or "evolution". The reader is taken more to a boat and fishing expedition tour rather than to get scientific based facts or hypotheses. Moreover, some core aspects in sexuality are almost totally neglected (ie womens "slower" but nontheless powerful sex drive or cultural aspects among times and ethnicities, the power and prestige and so on) as well as aspects about sexuality going wrong (eg traumatization and violence). It finally remains unclear how the sexual behviour in fishes, worms or apes (who, according to the author, 'thinks' of nothing else than to pass their genes to the next generation) relates to the modern men in the 21th century (who is seldomly driven by that same thought, when it comes to sex). Where is the link, where is the relation? Is it genetics, evolution, power - or all of them? No clear answer. In summary, at the end of the book, one does not feels to get a good answer to the initial question why the modern man has been shaped by sex, but comes up with some confusion a not so ground breaking conclusion: Most males like having sex with females and are willing to put efforts into it. Females on the other hand, like to have healthy offspring/caregiver and are willing to put some efforts into the seletcion for a good partner. This would have shaped todays's males and females behaviour in everyday's situation. But how far that behaviour goes in daily life, has not been discussed in that book at all. For example, would that behaviour persist after founding a family and could that somehow be repsonsible for all the many divorces in western societies? Has the beauty of arts, culture or science etc. not at least sometimes more incentive than to impress females? And would that be sufficient to explain, for example, why most musicians, artists, noble price winners etc. have been males? Thinks are more complex, obvioulsy, and the burden of going through life threatening pregnancies/deliveries and exhausting baby times could also be a good reason, but coming to this was perhaps not the scope of tis book? Finally, the cover of the book is also not a good reflection for the typical "male/female" behaviour most often depicted in the book: The male is not about to spend most energies by simply following a female (or to chase her on a ladder) but, according to the author, gives it best to conquer females by impressing them and beating male rivals. This is a different scenario, but perhaps the choice of the cover has been driven by another force: to offer a picture (with sexy female legs and shoes) following a very simple rule... sex sells - the pickup artist, called Mr. Future in the book, would surely agree on that!

For me, this book hit the nail on the head. I found myself reading from cover to cover in five lengthy sessions, two while captive on long flights, becoming engrossed each time. That was a bit of a surprise because the topic--everything male--doesn't easily lend itself to an integrated narrative. Also the book is structured as a couple of dozen blocks that can stand alone.

Despite this I read straight through. This is really because the author has such an engaging, conversational tone that I didn't want to just jump to the "juicy bits". Flam moves effortlessly from topic to topic, melding together anecdotes, such as a visit to a penis museum in Iceland, with explanations of some fairly complex biology that were weighty and clear. The explanation of why two sexes is optimal, and not three or ten or two hundred, sticks in my mind. This back and forth between personal experience and imparting information felt just like a conversation with a likeable, knowledgeable friend.

Confession: I set out enthusiastically anticipating the more prurient components--hey, I'm a man. These didn't disappoint but on balance the insights into evolutionary strategy and reproductive biology shaded it. If you're looking for some insight into why us men do the things we do, and some sense of how we got to be this way, read The Score.

This is a lightweight book on male and female differences and mating strategies in the biological world, with some remarks on mating strategies of humans. The subtitle is The Science of the Male Sex Drive, and by that is not meant exclusively, nor even mainly, the human male. The bibliography is organized by topic and includes references to scientific papers.

Buying from Amazon.com was a good experience, because you will get your staff on time and in a good condition. I order this book before my finals week and I got it on time so I can be able to read it and write a review paper to my instructor. Amazon.com help me to save time and effort as well. Also the price wasn't bad and the book worth its price. Thank you Amazon.com and keep it up. About the book" The Score" it was a nice book to read everyday because of the amount of the info in it. The author Flam has a nice professional way how to take you from place to another with the scientist view of every single thing. Easy to read and understand, but biases sometimes to women against men don't know why she might have something against men we don't know it . Thank you all.