Adam's Navel
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An "entertaining, witty and erudite" (The New York Times Book Review) field guide to our anatomyIn this amusing and brilliantly conceived book, Michael Sims introduces you to your body. Moving from head to toe, Sims blends cultural history with evolutionary theory to produce a wonderfully original narrative in which he analyzes the visible parts of the body. In this fascinating brew of science and storytelling, readers encounter not only accessible explanations of the mechanics of their anatomy, but also the layers of mythology, religious lore, history, Darwinian theory, and popular culture that have helped to shape our understanding of any given body part. A titillating and unique book, Adam's Navel is learned and entertaining, a marvelous lens through which to study the form we all inhabit-but may not really understand.
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Dirty girl that I am, I almost wish this book had been condensed into the chapters on the sex organs (preciously named “Madonna del Latte” and “Privy Members”). Which were excellent. There were certainly gems in other sections of the book–informative tidbits on why we have back pain, attitudes towards hair, the bogusness of palmistry–and I LOVED how snarky he was about Freud, with other good jabs at the occasionally absurd attitude of patriarchy towards various elements of the female body, but once in a while his quirky sense of humor got a little too quirky. While in general it's fascinating to hear the skips and stops a quick mind makes (he's a positive genius with selecting funny quotes), once in a while it was a little disjointed. Don't spend too much time on it, and you'll remember some good cocktail factoids and let the rest slide.
