Customer Reviews

What's Love Got to Do with It?

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

 

 

This is a very easy-to-read book on the genetic or evolutionary basis of sexual behavior. However, in an attempt to make the topic acceptable as a popular psychology piece of writing, the author's coverage of issues such as mating choices, sexual behavior, etc. is very bland and superficial.

The entire book is based on assertions not backed up by research. This leads the book to look like a compendium on urban folklore rather than an introduction to evolutionary psychology. The very superficial explanations given to topics such as "why humans is the only species whose females have developed breasts" or "why even married men masturbate" make a mockery of what properly researched genetics have found.

Anyone wishing to learn about evolutionary psychology applied to human sexual behaviour is recommended to read "The Evolution of Desire" by David Buss. Probably the best thing written for readers with limited background on the subject matter.

Small has an interesting thesis, but I found the book to be quite redundant, restating the same information over and over again in several chapters. In some cases the information changed when restated. As a scientist Small should be ashamed that she confuses millimeters (a measure of distance) with milliliters (a measure of volume) when discussing the amount of semen ejaculated. Her discussion of AIDS is also poorly done. For a book published in 1995, it is out of date on epidemiological and risk factor information. For example she fails to even mention that HIV can be transmitted through vaginal secretions and breast milk. In summary, I found this book very disappointing and would not recommend it.

I found that this book balances scientific data, psychological research, the author's personal experiences and area of expertise, and cultural influences on human sexuality very well. The end result is a thoughtful discussion of human sexuality - why we have strong sexual urges, how millions of years of evolution still affect us today, some of the qualities people look for in mates, and so forth.

While there is a certain level of repetition in the book - which the author, I believe, does in order to stress her main points - I did not find it redundant or dull; instead, I found myself coming away from the book with a clear sense of her position, which is not always the case with books exploring scientific subjects and incorporating information from different disciplines. The concrete examples with which she illustrates her points are well chosen, and I also appreciated her honesty about her own limitations in describing male sexuality.

I truly enjoyed this book and learned a great deal from it, from the physiological changes that occur during sexual arousal to the complex interactions between culture and biology, the obsession with finding a 'cause' of male homosexuality and the possibility that AIDS may, in some manner, affect human evolution. I think that those looking for an accessible, thoughtful, broad and informative overview of human sexuality will find this particular book a fascinating and educating read, one I recommend highly.

After a couple more years of education and reading, I have to look back and re-review this book.

Frankly, the reader from Ohio is correct; this book isn't perfect, is redundant, and I definitely cannot accept it as an introduction into these sorts of topics.

Rather, I'd like to turn your attention towards a far better book, "Anatomy of Love" by Helen Fisher, Ph.D.

This is a very easy-to-read book on the genetic or evolutionary basis of sexual behavior. However, in an attempt to make the topic acceptable as a popular psychology piece of writing, the author's coverage of issues such as mating choices, sexual behavior, etc. is very bland and superficial.

The entire book is based on assertions not backed up by research. This leads the book to look like a compendium on urban folklore rather than an introduction to evolutionary psychology. The very superficial explanations given to topics such as "why humans is the only species whose females have developed breasts" or "why even married men masturbate" make a mockery of what properly researched genetics have found.

Anyone wishing to learn about evolutionary psychology applied to human sexual behaviour is recommended to read "The Evolution of Desire" by David Buss. Probably the best thing written for readers with limited background on the subject matter.

This book is an honest look at human sexual behavior. It covers a broad range of topics and offers some possible explanations for our sometimes confusing behavior. I liked the fact that the author used information from a variety of scientific areas: evolution, psychology, physiology, anthropology, etc., to explore this fascinating topic.

Not the best book. Here's a piece of data (...) "A student once told me...there are 50,000 appropriate partners in the world for each of us." I could get this kind of data at the local bus stop. The millimeters vs. milliliters sperm-count typo (pg 111), i.e. "...most men ejaculate 3 millimeters of semen...", made twice, is inexcusable almost humorous to the point of visual silliness; there are way too many footnotes used for meaningless common sense sentences; and the repetition of facts, such as: "10 percent of infants are not fathered by those indicated on their birth certificate" (mentioned at least 2 or 3 times), as though the reader had forgotten what they just had read in the previous chapter, is very poor.

As far as the title goes, the word "love" is not discussed predominately until the last two pages of the book, where she concludes that love has nothing with it. (...) "Over millions of generations, sexually reproducing species have found mates, copulated, conceived, and produced offspring, and love wasn't really the point."

(...)

In this provacative book, Small talks about sex in a way that most people would not in public. She brings up some interesting and informative ideas but doesn't completley follow through with them and seldom gives her own take on the subjects. As a result, she left the door open for discussion on such topics. She has sparked my interest in sex, mating, and why we are attracted to the people we are.

I absolutely loved this book. It is a nice look at the relationship between sex and culture. I would reccomend this to anyone who is interested in the evolution of human sexuality.