Book Review: Bonk
Aug 28th, 2008 by jeremy
Book thirty-five in 52 books in 52 weeks
Bonk:The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex is a history of scientific studies. The fact these studies are all about sex does make it less dry than you’d expect a collection like this to be, but it’s far from exciting. Only the author’s style saved me from being bored for much of the book. Mary Roach is able to find the most humorous examples in studies about sexual positions, early gynecological doctors, and the breeding of pigs. Her footnotes are especially funny, and in some of the slower chapters are all that kept me reading.
One of the funniest situations involves she and her husband volunteering for a study, they have sex in an MRI machine while a doctor looks on, telling them what to do and when they can finally finish. It was interesting to read about early studies and how doctor were forced to tell people they were working on reproductive issues just so they could study the human body and how sexuality affects it. It also talks about early gynecologists not even being able to look at a woman while they worked, they were forced to practice on cadavers, trying to become experienced enough that they could figure out problems just by touch.
She’s a very funny writer, discussing the topic without mocking the people involved or questioning their intentions. It was very refreshing to read how respectful she was of even the silliest sexual studies.
C+
My other reviews in 52 weeks
Other people reviewing books this week
- Jaime reviews My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte
- Heliologue reviews Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson
- Nick reviews Ivanhoe by Walter Scott
[...] was written by the same author of Bonk (my thirty-fifth review), Mary Roach, and is my fortieth book in 52 weeks. It’s written in [...]