Customer Reviews

Sperm are from Men, Eggs are from Women

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The best book on sexual evolutionary biology. Why both men and women seem to be on different planets. Hm... is there a catchier title?
Perhaps, but not a better book.

Unfortunately, despite his extensive bibliography, Joe Quirk (What the blazes kind of name is that for a scientific researcher? ) does not have a Phd. Neither is he buddies with Oprah, so I doubt this will top the besteller list.

Never mind. I've suffered through many academese imbued evolutionary snoozefests texts. This one will keep you wide awake, I promise.

What Quirk has is brilliance, and (gasp!) an ability to write. He must have had some alpha ancestors during the pleistocene era that could spin some awesome tales by the campfire.

Among The Table of Contents we find such gems as:

Chapter 9: The Jerk Gene
Chapter 12: Why Women are Coy, Men Clueless
Chapter 26: Free Love Causes War

And, for a smaple paragraph:

" Men are attracted to nubility and health. Women are attracted to nobility and wealth. Both want intelligence, kindness, and opulence.
Both want a good sense of humor. They'll need it. "


As will the reader.
An easy 5 stars.

This book is one of the best examples of grounding real biological insight into the often humorous and more often confusing interations between the sexes. I found myself not being able to put it down, and people on my plane thought I was a little crazy for laughing so much.

A definate read!

Finally an answer to the lame stereotypes / conclusions based on anecdotal evidence of Men are from Mars ...
Give me the scientific facts and package it in a funny easy to read fashion. That's exactly what Joe did with this book.
On every other page it is like: Oh wow, that makes sense, or I never thought of it from a gene perspective. Very interesting.
Check it out, Mark.

He amazes me, that Quirk. I wish I could write like he does. Quirk's work is a delight you never tire of. And you never tire of the insight.
Howard Bloom
Author of The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the Forces of History
and Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind From the Big Bang to the 21st Century

ps Jeez, Joe, it never occurred to me that you had a mom.

I teach a college-level seminar for science-phobes using popular science literature. Of all the books I have ever used, on any topic, this was the hands-down favorite. The seminar was titled Sex, Gender and Love: A Biological View, and this book covered the love part -- haha. I read it alternately being annoyed at the corny (but devilishly clever) jokes and laughing out loud in spite of myself. Most of all, though, I was impressed by the research that went into each of the chapters and the way Quirk made all our human sexual foibles explicable and hilarious -- nothing better than laughing at ourselves since we're stuck with us! Thanks!

I gave this book 5 stars because I think once you understand what the book is about and what it is and isn't, it is truly a fantastic book. What the book is is a comparative biology book comparing the human species to other species -- primarily other mammals and our closest relatives, other primates. What the book *isn't* is a dating/relationship advice book, analogous to "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus" or somesuch. If you're having problems in your relationship, and don't understand why your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend is doing peculiar things that make no sense, this book probably won't hold the answers for you. But if you want to know how human males & females compare with the rest of nature, and learn many surprising facts about our biology, this book is for you. Not everything in the book is about sex, but most of it is. I'm not certain every idea in the book is correct, but it'll all make you scratch your head and say "oh wow" and Quirk provides references for all the scientific research, so you can investigate anything further for yourself. It's also a lot of fun to read, written in an irreverent humorous style -- a very wise approach considering the subject matter and how easy it is to be uncomfortable about it. Anyway, approach this book with the right expectations, a "comparative biology" book for non-scientists, and you will love it. It's fun to read and I zipped through it, and now I'm going back and reading it more slowly and checking out the notes and references where the scientific research comes from.

If this were purely an intellectual argument about human behavior, it would be enormously stimulating on that count alone. If it were purely a humor book, it would be one of the funniest out there. But it's both, it's seamlessly and wonderfully both: quite an achievement. I read it straight through, and I'll dip into it again just for the jokes. Highly recommended.

Why are women teases, why are men afraid to commit, and what's behind the real needs of women and men? SPERM ARE FROM MEN, EGGS ARE FROM WOMEN: THE REAL REASON MEN AND WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT takes a hilarious, quasi-scientific look at men and women from a different angle, blending a healthy sense of humor with science, sociology and biology in pursuit of the truth. The author 'studied' Playboy and Hustlers and spent some seven years researching source papers in sociobiology as well: his lively, fun read includes plenty of insights.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

When it comes to sex and love, why do we act the way we do? Joe Quirk compiles decades of provocative scientific research from all over the world and turns it into a book that's fun, very readable, and often hilarious. You'll be quoting this one at the water cooler at work...or to your partner next time you're trying to explain yourself. "Honey, I can't help myself. It's in my genes!"

This book is a great explanation of the biological roles of men and women and how it plays into our sociology. We do things as men and as women that come from our reproductive instincts and don't even know it! If you're someone that frequently says "I don't understand xxx" (XXX is either men or women), this book can provide answers on how to understand the opposite sex. Many of what we see in the opposite sex comes from our primal reproductive instincts. Best of all the author of this book portrays this information in a light, humored, no-nonsense fashion. A great read!