Customer Reviews

Dr Tatiana's Sex Advice

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Unable to read through the book in one setting, I found myself desperately trying to find ways to get back to it as soon as possible. Who would have thought that you could take the subject of sexual reproduction and evolutionary biology and made it into such a thoroughly entertaining read?

The author chose an advice column format with letters supposedly from crickets, stick bugs, stickleback fish and dozens of other creatures asking advice about their sexual situation. Needless to say most of it is fascinating and highly unnatural - for a human that is, but perfectly normal for them. Some of the situations she describes are so bizarre as to be beyond what one would expect from even the best science-fiction writers.

Olivia Judson is to be applauded for writing an educational book that is so thoroughly entertaining that it does not seem like you are actually being taught in the process. But you will learn and you will walk away with a completely different view of nature and reproduction. I was so thoroughly fascinated with the book that all I can say at this point is "Encore, encore".

This extraordinary book can be read at many levels: humor, sexology, general science, evolutionary biology, and it is amazingly successful in all its various layers; some of the information it imparts is so fantastic that it will strain one's sense of reality. Can a mammal be born through the clitoris of the mother? UH?? Well, YES, it can. The spotted hyena delivers its pups through her clitoris (leading to the frequent mortality of the pups or the hyena moms). Read all about it.

Or consider the well known fate of the male praying mantis, whose head keeps his sexual urges in check until this organ is devoured by the amorous female: the the male's sexual inhibitory mechanisms (residing in the head) are removed, and he becomes a veritable sexual athlete while in the throes of death. Adds Dr. Judson: "Something analogous even happens in humans: Throttle a man and like as not he'll get an erection, not from erotic pleasure in dying, but because 'Down, boy' signals from the brain stop coming."

The variety of sexual behavior among the critters that populate planet earth is so extraordinary that after reading this book it will be unlikely that the extremely narrow band of sexual "deviance" among humans will have much of an impact on the reader. Sexual bondage? Pschaw! Consider the sagebrush cricket(Cyphoderis strepitans), who carries a gin trap with open jaws on his back. Those teeth clamp on the female's belly when she approaches the male (the female preference is to be on top) and immobilizes her so that the male can have his way, whether she wants to or not. Incest, cannibalism, rape, masturbation, homosexuality, they all flower in incredible variety among the users of this planet.

The book is written with scientific seriousness and literary humor. Its author has the steady hand of those who dominate their field, and at the same time she displays the joy and impudence of someone who loves the theme of sexual behavior. A good index and plenty of citations round out the excellence of this work. This is a book to keep as a reference for those protracted arguments about sexuality in which humans so often engage.

Birds do it. Bees do it. But exactly *how* do they do it? Every which way! And evolutionary biologist Olivia Judson is here, in the person of Dr. Tatiana, agony columnist to the biosphere, to print their epistolary pleas for amatory advice, and to answer all their questions - and ours. Let her count the ways.

Judson's humor is not quite as sparkling as she takes it to be. But that's all right, because she doesn't lay it on too thick, being too eager to get down to what she really likes to talk about: the dazzling variety of behaviors, strategems, perils and contortions to be found in the universal mating game. And let's not kid ourselves, that's what her readers also really want to get down to.

From the Asian stick insect who stretches one copulation out for months at a time, to the fruit fly only five percent as long as one of his own sperm, to the slime mold with its 500 sexes, 13 of which have to get together to make a little baby slime mold, Dr. Tatiana covers the beat and covers the bases. There's a fresh astonishment on every page. They're delivered in bite-sized two or three paged morsels, which explains why Nature magazine's generally favorable review suggests this as the perfect book for your family sittin-and-thinkin room.

The fun, like the devil, is in the details, and there's a cornucopia of details, ranging across a hundred species or more. But the good Doctor manages along the way to touch on plenty of possible generalizations, evolutionary conundrums and controversies and imponderables. For example, she thoroughly debunks the one dogma about animal sexuality that I was brought up on: Bateman's principle that sex is more costly to females, making males more promiscuous. It turns out that, for most species, the reverse is true. Judson considers what determines an individual's gender (it's not always in the chromosomes); just how much sex a species needs to stay healthy; and how the whole crazy business of mating ever could have been invented.

But it's never more than a page or a half a page of pondering, before we're back at the zoo, gawking at another juicily indecent display, another cross between Ripley's believe it or not and Sally Jesse Raphael. I defy anyone not to have fun with this book, and not to come away with both more amazement at and more understanding of the natural world.

Whether the reader is a newcomer or season ticket holder with regards the comparative sex behaviour literature, this volume will surely prove itself to be both tremendously entertaining and educational. Judson?s novel ?agony aunt? Q & A style of presentation makes for a clearly accessible text for a wide audience of all ages and levels of understanding. This is a great way to impart much of the bewildering array of comparative morphology and associated knowledge concerning the rich diversity of sexual behaviour across a broad swathe of species. This book will surely attract many from the younger generation to the study of evolutionary and comparative biology/psychology. Many of us will wish that we had written this one! Not only do we read here about the birds and the bees?, mammalian phyla are well represented throughout the 13 chapters. The full tour includes gender differences (as well as similarities) and the how?s and why?s of the sex that might take place between them, whether that be in (serial) monogamy, polygyny, polyandry, or even parthenogenetic circumstances. The implications of each section for our better understanding of human sexual behaviours (both normal and abnormal) are rarely explicit, and for the most part (possibly intentionally so), are presented rather tongue-in-cheek. This is not a failing of the work, however. There is ample material here to occupy the lateral-thinking reader in this regard.

Although this book makes for a terrific vacation or conference-trip read whilst in transit, it also has much of seriousness to offer the student of comparative psychology, sociology, anthropology, zoology or medicine. For those wishing to cut to the chase with the primary literature concerning particular issues, over 20 pages of extensively referenced notes are provided. Although by no means dealing extensively with theoretical issues in the aetiology of particular sex behaviours, we do meet (albeit briefly) with Darwin, Fisher, Hamilton, Bateman, Muller and Wallace. The notes cover every "Dear Dr. Tatiana..." Q & A presented in the book, and could well form the basis of core tutorial reading and/or stimulation for small group discussions.

A welcome volume for the shelf at home as much as for the academic library, unless you?re comfortable with the public at large thinking that you?re undergoing sex therapy counseling, be sure to carry it in a brown paper bag when moving between the two!

We live in a very kinky world. Promiscuity, genitalia issues and sexual insecurities are severe problems that affect most of the planet's creatures. Thank goodness for sex columnist Dr.Tatiana. Informed and confidential she eases many a worried soul from nymphomaniac stick insects to homosexual manatees. Unfortunately she doesn't seem too interested in helping humans, perhaps because sexually we are very boring creatures. Dr.Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation by Olivia Judson is a fascinating and entertaining romp through the sexual battleground of animals, big and small, simple and complex. You will laugh out loud, shake your head and be thoroughly absorbed at the incredible sexual antics described, explained and prescribed. Through her advice to the lovelorn writing to her in desperation on such troubling issues as necrophilia, sex changes and male pregnancy, Dr. Tatiana enlightens us on the evolutionary biology of sex in an often humorous, always interesting and never tedious manner. Olivia Judson has created a real winner with Dr.Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation. It is an impressively researched, enjoyable and very original read and afterwards you'll breathe a sigh of relief for being merely a dull human.

It is not often that I give the same book to friends regardless of their general interest in biology. I have been doling this one out left and right for months now.

Written as a series of sex advice columns to various distressed or confused non-human creatures, Judson's tone is light but her research is extensive. If you're wondering whether such a humorous, light-hearted book can be scientifically accurate, wonder no more. Olivia Judson (through her alter ego, Dr. Tatiana) shows it can be done. This is easily one of my favorite books of recent years.

Judson's motivation in assembling such a volume, or at least my interpretation of it, is both a desire to expound on the diversity of bizarre sexual practices in the (animal) world and to foster some tolerance in her human audience. If you feel either intolerant or squeamish when it comes to the sometimes messy, sometimes violent practices surrounding reproduction, then this book --newly out in paperback -- may not be your ideal summer read. Having said that, I have yet to encounter a negative reaction to the book's content among my friends, who have devoured the book with an enthusiasm similar to mine. Dr. Tatiana does not glorify or endorse any particular reproductive strategy; she simply documents the truly astonishing diversity of practices and seeks to explain them from an evolutionary perspective. She'll make you look at the world in a different way, and that's a rare quality in such an easy to read book.

Write again soon, Dr. Tatiana!

What an amazing world! This book is filled with some of the strangest behavior I have ever read about. The book would still be an excellent read if it limited itself to fascinating examples of very odd animal & insect reproduction rituals. However, Judson uses these examples to examine the forces of evolutionary biology, and the result is a lucid tour across the scientific terrain. I particularly enjoyed the many examples of bizarre and seemingly paradoxical animal behavior, that only make sense in the broader context of evolution.

As the title suggests, the book is a bit racy in places. The persona of Dr. Tatiana is charming, a witty Victorian scholar who has surely acquired experience with a number of gentlemen. Dr. Tatiana is a mix of Dr. Ruth, Steven Jay Gould and Gary Larson.

Like the other reviewers, I couldn't put this book down. It's a great read!

My thoughts about this book are best served by examples:
1. the newly matured male elephant is sexually frustrated for 20 years. Why? Because the females prefer the older males and because elephants apparently keep growing as they age, the older guys are bigger. So I didn't have it that bad after all when I was young; at least my period of frustration didn't last for 20 years!
2. Human females prefer males who have differing Major Histocompatibility Complexes from their own. How can they tell this? By whether the guy's odor is pleasing to them or not. And furthermore, being on the birth control pill abolishes the female's ability to sniff out the right guy! (Hey, the book mentions our species, too!)
3. The male sponge louse disguises himself as a female, so he can get past the husband and possess his wife. And we call them dumb animals and smugly believe we are so smart!
4. When a new male lion takes over the harem of an older male lion, he kills all the previous owner's cubs, which brings all the females back into heat! Now I realize why all those women desire those mafia hit men. Women say they like nice guys, but it's the really bad, power hungry guys who turn them on.
5. Why does the female praying mantis try to bite off her lover's head? Get this! Because then he performs wilder sex. Well, that explains why sex with femmes fatale is so much more ecstatic - we guys lose our heads with them. For some reason evolution is doing this stuff to us humans also.
6. Dolphins copulate with turtles, sharks, and eels as well as with their own kind. I must say, that loveable dolphin is much less inhibited than we are. We even have a hard time accepting homosexual and interracial sex.
I could go on with fascinating, thought provoking examples from this book. I feel this book achieved its goal as expressed in the final paragraph, that is, to put my problems in perspective and to be more tolerant for the predilections of others. And it helped me appreciate more fully the awesome power of genetic evolution and for example, how it causes the battle of the sexes - even in humans, I think.
The only weakness I found was in some of the theoretical discussions, like how can homosexuality be as prevalent as it is, when homosexual sex does not cause reproduction. Or, why is there sex in the first place? These were difficult to follow.

Though knowing the genetic basis of reproduction in Slime molds, or why male elephants' members turn green when their lusting after females will never get me through a job interview and will probably be detrimental to my getting a date for next weekend, I will always be thankful to Olivia Judson for the five or so hours of my life tha tI truly enjoyed while reading this book. If you are the kind of person who enjoys learning new and arcane facts, and if you've always known that sex is really what makes the world go 'round, but never knew how - this book is for you. Judson starts her book with a section entitled "Let Slip the Whores of War!", taking on the myths surrounding the war of the sexes - upholding some, and debunking others. She moves on to "The Evolution of Depravity", a look at the ends to which many species will go in order to find a mate. At the very end of this section she discusses the most unusual reproductive strategy of all - monogamy. Her discussion of theories of why humans are monogamous (sort of) is one of the best parts of the book. Though theirs no more evidence for one theory over another, my personal favorite is MAD - Mutually Assured Destruction. In other words, we can't live with each other, but we can't live with out either.In the last section, Dr. Judson tackles the question "Are Men Necessary?" - and carries it off with wit and candor. (The answer - most of the time.)This book only took me a couple of hours to read, but I've been going back to it ever since just to read snippets for fun. Good reading.

Endlessly fascinating, erudite, stylish and, at times rib-crackingly funny. Olivia Judson somehow manages to successfully interpolate "bonking", "copulating", "successful reproductive strategies" and "sexual cannibalism"--practically in the same sentence!--while wisely posing as many (or more) questions as she is answering, and does it with totally engaging wit and style!.